July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
An issue that's not going to go away (01/28/08)
Editorial
The guy probably thought he was going to be invisible.
He probably expected a crowded roomful of people, someplace he could slide into anonymously.
He hadn't counted on the openness of a typical meeting of the Jay County Commissioners.
"Anything we can do for you?" the commissioners asked.
The sole member of the audience, aside from the press, squirmed a bit and said no.
"Who are you with? Are you with anybody?" asked the commissioners in a friendly tone as if trying to set him at ease.
The guy hesitated, then said, "Lung association."
The commissioners didn't seem to hear him, but they smiled to let him know if he had anything to say they'd be glad to hear it.
The meeting was one week after the commissioners took action - of a sort - on the Jay County Health Department's request for a countywide ban on smoking in public places.
A week earlier, the commissioners had approved a compromise - one that critics would describe as a fig leaf - which didn't ban public smoking as requested but called for public labeling of what places were smoke-free and what ones permitted smoking.
The guy from the lung association probably assumed he'd encounter some backwoods politicians ignorant of the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Instead, he ran into three guys - non-smokers all of them - who were struggling to find the always shifting middle ground on a controversial issue.
All three of them were aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke.
All three of them were uncomfortable about sticking the nose of government further under the tent to tell people what they could or could not do.
The result was the sort of imperfect product democracy is known for.
Was it a perfect decision? Of course not. If you're looking for perfection, democracy's not your game.
But did it reflect the center of public opinion in January of 2008? Yes, it seemed to. That's not to say that efforts by the Jay County Board of Health to promote the ban were a waste of time.
The health board succeeded in getting the question of a smoking ban on the public agenda, and because of the board's efforts every candidate for county commissioner from here on out will be asked for an opinion on the matter.
Now that it's been raised, the issue isn't going to go away. - J.R.
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He probably expected a crowded roomful of people, someplace he could slide into anonymously.
He hadn't counted on the openness of a typical meeting of the Jay County Commissioners.
"Anything we can do for you?" the commissioners asked.
The sole member of the audience, aside from the press, squirmed a bit and said no.
"Who are you with? Are you with anybody?" asked the commissioners in a friendly tone as if trying to set him at ease.
The guy hesitated, then said, "Lung association."
The commissioners didn't seem to hear him, but they smiled to let him know if he had anything to say they'd be glad to hear it.
The meeting was one week after the commissioners took action - of a sort - on the Jay County Health Department's request for a countywide ban on smoking in public places.
A week earlier, the commissioners had approved a compromise - one that critics would describe as a fig leaf - which didn't ban public smoking as requested but called for public labeling of what places were smoke-free and what ones permitted smoking.
The guy from the lung association probably assumed he'd encounter some backwoods politicians ignorant of the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Instead, he ran into three guys - non-smokers all of them - who were struggling to find the always shifting middle ground on a controversial issue.
All three of them were aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke.
All three of them were uncomfortable about sticking the nose of government further under the tent to tell people what they could or could not do.
The result was the sort of imperfect product democracy is known for.
Was it a perfect decision? Of course not. If you're looking for perfection, democracy's not your game.
But did it reflect the center of public opinion in January of 2008? Yes, it seemed to. That's not to say that efforts by the Jay County Board of Health to promote the ban were a waste of time.
The health board succeeded in getting the question of a smoking ban on the public agenda, and because of the board's efforts every candidate for county commissioner from here on out will be asked for an opinion on the matter.
Now that it's been raised, the issue isn't going to go away. - J.R.
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