Faced with the question of whose rights get priority, the DeKalb County Commission appears ready to side with nightclub customers over workers.
The commission is slated to vote Tuesday on a county Board of Health proposal to ban smoking in all public places in DeKalb, including parks, bars and strip clubs.
Five of the seven commissioners are expected to vote it down, agreeing with owners of DeKalb’s eight adult clubs that the ban would hurt their bottom line.
“If someone wants to go into an adult establishment where there is smoking, they ought to be allowed to do that,” said Sharon Barnes Sutton, chairwoman of the county operations committee that is recommending rejection. “If we change the rules of the game at this point, that could very well hurt their businesses.”
Health officials proposed expanding the county’s ban on smoking more than four months ago. Second-hand smoke, they said, costs every DeKalb household $548 for direct healthcare charges.
Club owners fought back, repeatedly speaking out at county commission meetings and even hiring a lobbyist. They also gathered hundreds of signatures from customers against the ban in private businesses.
Owners insisted those customers and their cash would easily be able to visit Fulton County, sometimes just down the street from DeKalb clubs, to smoke.
“If this were statewide, it wouldn’t even be an issue,” said Terri Fischer, who owns Strokers Entertainment Club in Clarkston. “But [for] it to be DeKalb only, it would just kill business.”
The majority of commissioners had appeared ready to OK a part of the proposal that eliminates smoking in parks, ATM lines and other outdoor venues.
But the health board’s directors did not separate that piece from banning smoking in nightclubs. So while Alpharetta, Roswell and Marietta have all recently banned outdoor smoking, DeKalb likely will not.
“This recommendation is all about health and safety,” said health board director Dr. Elizabeth Ford. “You can’t really nitpick what population deserves health protection.”
If the commission denies the proposal, that may be exactly what happens.
Some commissioners have asked for a new proposal from the board of health, banning smoking in nightclubs but also granting exceptions to existing businesses. It is unclear if that sort of ban would be legal, although it could put an end to arguments about whether current businesses would lose money.
“I think DeKalb County is interested in protecting the overall health of its entire community,” said Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who is expected to dissent in a denial of the current proposal. “We should find some way to work at a compromise to do that.”
What's next: The county commission meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Manuel Maloof auditorium, 1300 Commerce Dr., Decatur.
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