Key West looking into smoking ban for city workers

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Following on the heels of a Monroe County smoking ban for new government hires, Key West City Hall is exploring a similar prohibition for its newly-hired employees.

Commissioner Teri Johnston took a straw poll of her colleagues at their Oct. 7 meeting to see if there was enough interest to direct the city manager’s office to research the issue. A majority of her fellow commissioners – five out of six who attended the meeting – said they would like to move forward with a possible smoke-free hiring policy.

“What I’d like to do is find out (is) if the city went smoke free for new hires, if it would have positive health and financial benefits for our programs,” Johnston said, adding, “There are a number of private concerns around town that have implemented that policy.”

“It could be a tremendous savings on our health insurance for all employees. It’s something worth looking into,” said Commissioner Jimmy Weekley.

The Monroe County Commission recently approved contracts with two area medical facilities, including Key West Urgent Care, to do random nicotine testing on county employees. The county smoke-free policy was adopted in May as a way to persuade workers from smoking or otherwise ingesting tobacco products. The county is still falizing the new policy but after Jan. 1 it will not hire anyone for a county job who uses tobacco.

And the county policy also addresses existing employees, giving them until Jan. 1, 2016, to quit smoking or pay a $50 a month health insurance surcharge. There will also be a $50 monthly penalty if an employee is caught lying about using tobacco products. However, the policy does allow for “recreational” use of tobacco, which is defined as using tobacco products five times in a three-month period.

Key West Assistant City Manager Sarah Hannah-Spurlock said she has contacted the city health insurance carrier to see if benefit rates would go down with a smoke-free policy.

“I think that’s why cities do this. There are savings there,” she said. “We’re starting to look into that.”

It is too soon to determine how a Key West smoke-free policy would shake out and whether it would follow the county’s lead on restrictions. Some city commissioners were worried about the legalities that would be involved. Mayor Craig Cates was the lone dissenting voice, saying he would not vote for a smoke-free policy. He added that he was “surprised” Monroe County Commissioners approved their smoking ban.

“It [policy] infringes on people’s rights. I don’t think we should be doing that. It’s a legal product,” Cates said about tobacco products.

Johnston argues that in addition to lower insurance costs, a smoke-free policy would result in “undocumented cost savings” such as a reduction in employee sick days. As for outlawing what is still a legal product in the United States, she said that is one of the issues she wants to research.

“We haven’t told you that you can’t work. You just can’t work here. We may have to tone it down if we get some legal challenges,” she said.

Commissioner Clayton Lopez said he was worried about potential hiring barriers that a smoking ban might create. However, he said he is not objecting to a possible prohibition, just raising a concern.

Commissioner Billy Wardlow also balked at extending a smoking ban extending beyond new hires to currently employees.

“For new hires, I’m all right with it. But once you’ve been working 10, 15 years [for the city], a lot of them are already set in their ways and like to have a nice cigar in the evening or something,” he said.

And Commissioner Tony Yaniz brought up another consideration: Marijuana. He jokingly asked whether a smoke-free policy would apply to city employees traveling to Colorado, where recreational use of marijuana is legal.

“It [Colorado remark] is meant to be funny but that’s coming. That’s coming to Florida, as well,” he said, referring to a referendum on the Nov. 4 Florida state election ballot proposing the legalization of medical marijuana. “Things are moving really fast. At some point or another we’re going to have to say is that illegal as well, even though it’s legal or medically legal?”

 

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