Considering we’re on the eve of celebrating our nation’s birth, perhaps it’s apt that Monday night’s Iola City Council meeting was an exercise in democracy.
The cause of debate was whether the city should retain a newly passed ordinance that limits the purchase of tobacco products to those 21 and older.
The hourlong debate brought out the fervor of people’s political leanings.
Jim Talkington, for instance, was barefaced in his opposition to the ordinance, saying it went against commerce, and for him that was paramount.
Same went for Larry Macha, who, as an owner of a convenience store, said he suffers personally from lost revenue.
Others bristled at what they termed government interference with what they consider should be a personal decision. Councilmen Aaron Franklin and Austin Sigg contended the ordinance also goes against popular opinion.
Franklin cited the results from an informal survey he posted on Facebook that showed the majority of his “friends” were opposed to the decision.
The two then said they preferred a public referendum decide the issue.
One can’t help but wonder that if all our laws and mandates were put to a public vote how many would gain favor. If we had a choice, would we choose to pay for all the different types of insurance — home, health, auto, business — we, by law, must carry? Most likely not.
WHILE the naysayers didn’t dispute the benefits of the ordinance and its goal to help curb teenage smoking and chewing, they couldn’t let that carry the day. That was left, primarily, to the female council members, who to a one supported the measure.
Perhaps it was their motherly instinct that prevailed. Mommas-don’t-let-your-babies-grow-up-to-be- smokers type of thinking.
It’s a thankless job being a leader. If you’ve made one side happy, you’ve surely made the other mad.
Which is why the public good, and not public opinion, must be a leader’s guiding light.
Monday’s vote was split, 4-4, with Mayor Joel Wicoff casting the deciding opinion in favor of retaining the ordinance.
