After six years of failed tries and much debate, Philadelphia has a smoking ban.
Mayor John Street signed a bill yesterday that will prohibit smoking in almost all public places in the city.
The ban goes into effect immediately and provides exemptions to a few sets of establishments.
Exemptions will extend to sidewalk cafes, bars that earn less than 10 percent of revenue from food sales, certain private clubs, speciality tobacco establishments and up to 25 percent of rooms in hotels.
"In the end, the health concerns were the overriding issue that really compelled me to sign the bill and to make sure we send an important message to the people of this city," Street said in a press conference.
The mayor's signing of the ban came mere minutes before the 10 a.m. deadline, when Council reconvened after its summer recess.
The late hour of his decision reflected the political contentiousness of the issue, as Street had previously threatened to veto the bill.
The mayor had said that he was considering using a veto due to the exemption for sidewalk cafes included in the ban.
But some have called the mayor's threatened veto politically motivated, as Street has harshly criticized mayoral candidate Michael Nutter - the sponsor of the bill - after the former councilman pushed the bill through Council in June by way of a series of compromises. He has since resigned his seat to run for mayor.
"I think it's inappropriate to go on the floor of Council and tell people, 'Vote for this, I will fix it in September,' and then two weeks later resign," Street said of Nutter's resignation.
Reached by phone yesterday, Nutter said he was extremely pleased with Street's decision to sign the bill and fired back at the mayor, calling his comments a "diversionary tactic."
"Ultimately, I think the people's will has been listened to," Nutter said. "The people wanted a smoke-free environment. Ultimately, [Council] attained the right result."
Health officials reacted positively to the bill's signing, calling it a step in the right direction.
"Happy is an understatement," said Patrick Delaney, the American Cancer Society's regional vice president. "We're ecstatic. . We would have preferred a purer bill, but what's important here is that it's a strong bill - it's going to protect countless numbers of workers in Philadelphia."
Street said that he signed the bill only after receiving commitments from Councilman Juan Ramos and other members to try to eliminate the sidewalk-cafe exemption to the law in the immediate future.
"I shudder to think of a person who comes to this city and goes up on Rittenhouse Square and orders a meal, and someone who sits at the sidewalk cafe lights up a cigar and the smoke permeates the entire building," Street said. "That's exactly the potential that we have here. We have to fix that."
Councilman Frank DiCicco - who has sponsored additional legislation to help get the ban passed - will work with Mayor Street and other Council members in the upcoming weeks to try to shore up some of the perceived flaws of the bill, DiCicco legislative aid Brian Abernathy said.
DiCicco is most concerned about the neighborhood restaurant and bars that rely on smokers for their business, Abernathy said, and will try to make permanent the current exemption for establishments that make less than 10 percent of their revenue from food sales.
Though the ban will come into effect immediately, Street said that it will be a few weeks before the city begins enforcement.
