An ordinance passed in 2003 banned smoking in public spaces and workplaces. Dr. Anthony Pizzo, a pathologist who was a member of the council at the time, proposed the ordinance.
“Before he left his position, he wanted to make sure that there was a smoking ordinance to protect people from secondhand smoke,” said Nancy Woolery, health projects coordinator for the City of Bloomington. “He was a pathologist, and he saw a lot of cancer. If you smoke, you’re going to have some sort of health-related problem.”
When people file complaints about smoking violations, they go through Woolery. She said lately, complaints have been more frequent than usual, which is why the city released a reminder to local businesses about the ordinance.
“I started receiving many complaints about the time the students came back,” Woolery said. “Most of them were outdoor seating areas. We felt like now would be a good time to educate the public, especially with the new students coming in.”
After Woolery receives the complaints, she sends them to Patricia Ulvihill, a city attorney in the legal department. Woolery said Ulvihill will send out letters to the establishment stating that they have received a complaint, what the complaint was and to contact Woolery if they have any further questions. Ulvihill said she was the primary attorney in charge of reminding locals of the rules.
“We’re trying to get business owners and patrons to remember the ordinance,” Ulvihill said. “We want to educate people who may not have been here the last couple of years.”
When the individual letters to businesses and the wider press release didn’t have the desired effect, the city decided to put together fliers for local businesses, their employees and their patrons.
Alexa Lopez, communications director for the office of the mayor, created the fliers and said they are a compilation of frequently asked questions from the release and that the fliers should be coming out soon once they get approved.
“The flier talks about when the smoking ordinance was passed and that it prohibits smoking in all public places and places of employment,” Woolery said. “It also states what the penalties are for non-compliance.”
Woolery said the questions answered on the flier include “Can employees or business patrons smoke in outdoor seating areas provided by restaurants or bars?”; “How far away must a person smoke from a business entrance?” and “Are bars and private clubs exempt from the ordinance?”
Bloomington’s comprehensive nonsmoking policy was not common when it was passed. Woolery said many places have ordinances against smoking indoors but few cities had ordinances against outdoor smoking at the time. Now Bloomington has inspired other communities to create similar policies.
“Now it’s pretty much socially accepted that you don’t smoke in public places,” Woolery said. “A lot of people looked to us to see how our ordinance was working out, and other communities started writing their own smoke-free ordinances.”
