The vote is expected to be unusually close, with four councilors in favor of the prohibition, two against, and two who could be swayed to vote no. Many councilors are saying they still want constituents to tell them whether they think Carlsbad should join Santa Fe and Las Cruces in having an ordinance that increases local smoking bans. Carlsbad is not the only small city considering the issue. Clean indoor air groups are making similar proposals in practically every southeastern New Mexico town. The police department is the agency responsible for enforcing the ordinance.
Citizens can also bring legal actions to enforce the ordinance.
A restaurant owner can plead his case to a hearing officer and be granted an exemption if he can show that a significant amount of business was lost over a six-month period because of the ordinance and that an exemption would not be harmful to employees. Even if the ordinance has just two councilors in favor Tuesday, backers would fare better than about five years ago when then-councilor Dr. Ted Hauser couldn't get a councilor to second his motion to pass such an ordinance. Carlsbad already prohibits smoking in city-owned buildings, and numerous restaurants and other businesses have banned smoking over the years, noted Councilor Bob Murray, chairman of the city's clean air ordinance committee. It's kind of been an evolution. The lead backer of the ordinance is Carlsbad's Task Force for Clean Indoor Air, whose 10-15 active members have been working since 1996 to educate businesses and the public and to draft an ordinance.