4/4/2002 BOARD OF HEALTH Minutes

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was on the matter. He replied that he was for a total ban on smoking. Mr. Santos stated that he was for a total ban on smoking, too. Is the issue smoking or is the issue a safe environment? The issue is a safe environment. We are not here to attack the activity. We are hear to provide a safe environment. Is there a compromise? There is a compromise in everything that people do. They asked for public comment. Phone us, write, mail and e-mail what your opinion was on the matter. The BOH received 351 letters that were against a town-wide ban and 24 in favor of the ban. Out of those numbers 24 residents were for the ban and 90 were against the ban. The discussion continued for the better part of two hours until Mr. Doherty interrupted the discussion by stating that most if not all of the opinions had been voice. Consequently the conversation had begun to come full circle again with the same opinions being reiterated. He recommended that the public hearing be closed. He thanked everyone for coming to the meeting tonight. He appreciated their time and input. They will probably get together with the restaurant owners. Before the meeting tonight the BOH members had informally discussed coming up with a decision by May 4'", 2002. They are still going to shoot for that date. However, it may not a definitive decision. It will be something preliminary. In the meantime, we still very much would like the public to write them with their opinions and comments. Thanked them for coming tonight and will take everything under consideration. They wanted to update and review changes and regulations for a while. They certainly hope that it is something that although everyone may not be happy with. It will be something they can live with. Mr. Santos then responded to a woman in the audience. He had his whole closing speech but he wasn't going to go there tonight with it. He hoped everyone understood that the BOH had gotten beaten up in the paper. The article was put in by a special interest group - Cape Cod Tobacco. The BOH had an agreement with them that they were going to do a poll and get back to the BOH in a couple of weeks. Less than a week later they found out that a petition had already been filed in the town clerk's office to be on the warrant. This is his own personal statement. "My own personal opinion is the way the petition was presented to the citizens at the Mashpee May 2001 town meeting was not the way a conclusion should be reached on this matter. The responsibility for a total ban resides with the BOH as we are the enforcing authority. The article was placed on the warrant because it was a petition article and therefore by law it had to be presented to the public. As the member of the BOH I did not endorse this article. The wording of the article was vague and would not stand up to legal challenge. Since it was not put into the proper format according to the MGL. That was my reason why I voted neutral on it. I knew the other 7