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Alton passes smoking ban
ALTON — This city of fewer than 5,000 plans to officially go smoke-free on April 1.Tuesday evening, the Alton City Commission passed a ban on smoking in restaurants, bars, stores and workplaces.
Among the more than 30 Texas cities that have passed smoking bans, only one — the Austin suburb of Rollingwood, population 1,359 — is smaller than Alton, according to a list of municipal smoking bans kept by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. (More on smoking bans in the Valley)
And Rollingwood, like Dallas and Corpus Christi, bans smoking in bars and restaurants, but not in all workplaces.
“Communities of every type have done this,” said Bronson Frick, an associate director at the California-based foundation. “Everyone has to breathe, not just in California and New York.”
Harlingen and McAllen also ban smoking in most places, but Alton’s law is stricter than either of those. Smokers in Alton will have to move away from air vents, doors and open windows when lighting up in public under the new rules.
The unanimous vote was met with a smattering of applause from roughly 35 advocates of the measure. Other than city officials and staff, the council room is usually virtually empty during city meetings.
“I think it’s good for (the city commissioners) to know that there’s someone listening to their decisions,” said Martha Sanchez, a member of La Union del Pueblo Entero, a nonprofit group committed to empowering Latinos.
The ordinance sailed through three readings by the City Commission without controversy and with large groups of supporters in attendance. Texas A&M University’s colonias program organized health workers and community leaders to propose and lobby for the smoking ban as an exercise in civic participation.
Alton does not have any bars, whose owners are typically the strongest opponents of smoking bans.
“No bars, but there will be — 100 percent smoke-free,” resident Margarita Vasquez said with a smile.
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Sara Perkins covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472.
