Voter forum focuses on April ballot issues

A Cape Girardeau ballot issue forum Tuesday night focused on two topics -- how to pay for a new $72 million wastewater treatment plant and a controversial citywide smoking ban.

The 20 or so who attended the League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri event at the Cape Girardeau Public Library sat mostly quiet as city officials urged them to vote yes on the two proposals that would pay a new plant and make improvements to the city's sewer system.

But it was the smoking ban proposal that sparked the liveliest discussion, with proponents again squaring off against Doc Cain, the owner of restaurant-bar Port Cape Girardeau and the ban's most outspoken critic.

Shelly Wood, who represented Smoke-Free Cape, spoke for a half-hour about the dangers of secondhand smoke, building the group's case for implementing a ban on smoking in public workplaces, including restaurants and bars. She went through a slide show, explaining that "there is no safe level of exposure" and quoting statistics that claim secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Wood also said there is a growing momentum across the country for implementing "smoke-free" ordinances, never using the word "ban."

During a question-and-answer session, Cain made several statements to the group, including his belief that the ordinance is too strict and would be an impediment to Cape Girardeau's business owners.

"We know smoking is bad for you," Cain said. "But there is a choice now, to come in or not come in and to work there or not. I've been in this business 23 years, and I need my smoking customers."

Wood took issue with Cain's statement that workers have a real choice about where to work. She said she worked in the service industry for many years, including at Port Cape for a time, and that she felt like she really didn't have a choice.

"I couldn't have gone anywhere else," she said. "I couldn't have made a living. I guess I did have a choice. It was my choice to make a living."

Dave Hardesty, who is also with Smoke-Free Cape, said studies in other communities that have gone smoke-free have not seen negative economic effects.

"We can play statistics war all night," Hardesty said. "But those who preach doom and gloom in any of the other communities have never come to pass."

Voters will decide the matter April 5.

Another issue city voters will consider is how to pay for a new wastewater treatment plant in Cape Girardeau. City manager Scott Meyer and Public Works director Tim Gramling told those who attended that it wasn't a matter of if the city was going to build a new plant but how it was going to be paid for.

The current plant is operating over capacity and has been in violation of state and federal standards since 2009, Meyer said. The options on the ballot represent, Meyer said, the least expensive way to pay for the projects. They include a bond issue and the extension of a quarter-cent sales tax currently scheduled to sunset in 2017.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent Address:

711 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO