Some on Folly Council favor county smoking ban

Folly Beach City Council may have voted down a smoking ban, but several council members said they would support a countywide ban.

City Council voted 4-3 against a law that would have banned smoking in all enclosed workplaces, including bars and restaurants. More than 60 people showed up for the vote May 27, and about 25 of them spoke at a public hearing immediately before the action.

After voting against the ban, Mayor Carl Beckmann Jr. said, "It has to be larger than citywide. ... The county and state needs to take a proactive leap."

Council member Laura Beck, who voted in favor of the smoking ban, said, "It would be nice if we could talk the county into passing it."

Beck said significant changes had been made to the smoking-ban ordinance to help business owners who thought they would be negatively affected.

But workers of the local food and beverage industry and their clientele still showed up to tell City Council to reject the ordinance.

"You're going to lose business when people can go right down the road and do something they enjoy," said DJ Rich, owner of Planet Follywood. A smoking ban doesn't fit in a city known as being laid-back, Rich said.

"We've always been a place to kind of take people how they are," Rich said.

Mike Kirages, owner of Snapper Jack's, said many of the food and beverage industry workers the ordinance was designed to protect from second-hand smoke are smokers, including most of his bartenders.

He told council that prohibiting smoking would greatly hurt the area businesses that allow smoking. "This is insane. I don't understand the rationale. But I'm telling you it's going to go really bad, really fast."

Dan Carrigan disagrees.

Citing studies of smoking bans' effects in other cities, the executive director of Smoke-Free Action Network said, "It is a fact. There is no economic harm. ... We have to change the way that we think about second-hand smoke and not be afraid of change."

Carrigan said after the meeting that the four council members who voted against the ban made an uninformed decision, and he hoped to educate them on the facts.

City residents also will force them to examine their reasoning, he said. "There are going to be people disappointed in the lack of leadership."

Another person in favor of the smoking ban, and the first to say so during the public hearing, was Hellen Dekle. She was interrupted and harassed by multiple members of the crowd, many of whom complained she wasn't a Folly resident.

"I like Folly Beach," said the Columbia resident who vacations there regularly. "This is the first time I've had people be mean or ugly."

Dekle said, "I think all workers should have the right to clean, indoor air. ... Please don't just think about yourselves."

Eight people, or about a third of those who spoke, were in favor of the smoking ban.

Councilman Charlie McCarty, who supported the ban, said after it failed to pass, "I'm not at all sure council was exposed to the will of the people."

Councilman Tim Goodwin voted against the ban, saying it was not a public health issue, and that a better idea would be smoking cessation programs.

Other council members who voted against the ban were Eddie Ellis and Tom Scruggs, while Councilman Dave Stormer voted for the ban.

"It is a public health issue," he said. "I hope what we have changed is that you will read a little more about it and have a better understanding of the effects of second-hand smoke."

Reach Kristen Hankla at 937-5548 or khankla@postandcourier.com.