‘This kind of sloppy defiance reeks of a Podunk attitude,’ Hopkinsville paper says after fair doesn’t enforce smoking ban

The Hopkinsville ordinance that bans smoking at most indoor public
places is not enforced at the Western Kentucky State Fairgrounds
convention center. That became clear last week during the fair. Despite
assurances from the fair board’s leadership that smoking ban violations
would be addressed, at least a few people continued to smoke cigarettes
throughout fair week inside the convention center.

This is a shame on so many counts.

First, it makes a joke of the smoking ban that is intended to ensure the
city’s indoor public places are healthier for everyone, especially for
children and for adults who don’t smoke and don’t want to be exposed to
secondhand smoke. If the fair board cannot get in line with a smoking
ordinance 18 months after it went into effect, why should any store,
office or restaurant in the city that’s opposed to the ban go along with
it?

Second, by refusing to enforce the ban, the fair board is ignoring the
fact that hundreds of people who do not smoke and do not want to be
exposed to secondhand smoke will now see the convention center as one of
the most undesirable places in the city. It seems to say something
about the fair board’s opinion of the building. Is it that negative?

Third, the smoking violations put the fair board in conflict with the
no-smoking signs the board itself must have authorized for the
building’s front and rear doors. What was the purpose of the signs? It
looks like window dressing to anyone who passes the threshold and then
finds someone smoking in the middle of the building in the middle of the
day.

Fourth, the smoking violations put the fair board in conflict with city
government. The convention center and the fairgrounds are inside city
limits. The smoking ban applies to the convention center. The building
is not an island or a special place set off to itself.

During fair week, the convention center is one of the most public places
in the city. Thousands of people, including children, pass through the
building for pageants, talent shows and gardening and home goods
competitions.

The fair board ought to play by the rules and respect the process that
resulted in Hopkinsville City Council’s approval of the smoking ban.

If the fair board won’t obey the ordinance, city officials need to
enforce the ban. If they don’t, they will risk having more people behave
as if the law does not apply to them.

This kind of sloppy defiance reeks of a Podunk attitude.

That’s not the reputation Hopkinsville wants or deserves.