GALVESTON — Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas wants to know what residents and businesses think of the idea of banning smoking in at least some public places.
During a workshop meeting of the city council Thursday, the mayor instructed City Attorney Susie Green to furnish the city council with copies of other cities’ smoking ordinances — including the one passed Wednesday in Houston.
That ordinance bans smoking in the dining areas of restaurants, but it allows it at their bars. Smoking will continue to be allowed in Houston’s free-standing bars.
Galveston has not begun to consider whether it wants the same ban or a stricter one.
“I’ve been waiting to put it on the agenda until Houston finished its ordinance,” Thomas said Thursday. “Now it’s time for us to take a look at it.”
As with Kemah, Galveston has been waiting for Houston to act before moving ahead with a smoking ban. But whether the one Galveston ultimately considers goes beyond the Houston ordinance is far from decided.
Thomas and the rest of the city council on Thursday did not say what kind of a ban they would favor.
The mayor said that she has been contacted in recent months by some citizens who are in favor of some kind of smoking ordinance. Surprisingly, perhaps, some proponents of a ban are restaurateurs.
“It keeps coming up in different places,” she said. “I’m encouraging bar owners and restaurant owners and the public to let us know your thoughts regarding a smoking ban in the city of Galveston,” Thomas said.
