By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
March 4, 2021
The issue of smoking in city parks once again dominated Whitewater Common Council discussions March 2 — this time with a potentially embarrassing revelation and an uncommon split vote.
The “first reading” of an ordinance prohibiting smoking and vaping within 20 feet of a city playground or of city skate park equipment will be moved forward for further discussion and a required second vote after a 4 to 3 affirmative tally Tuesday night. Passage of ordinances requires a second reading.
Long-time Common Council member Patrick Singer described the discussion leading up to the vote as “… one of the weirdest situations in my 14 years on the Common Council.”
The general issue of smoking in city parks has been a somewhat controversial one for several years. An earlier more comprehensive ordinance prohibiting smoking in city parks was passed in 2018 but most of the Common Council members who were there at the time indicated that they were under the impression that the ordinance had been voted down or repealed.
In the next meeting after this earlier more comprehensive ordinance was passed, a motion passed for the City Attorney to draft an amendment that would apply the smoking ban only to playgrounds, with input being requested from the Parks and Recreation Board. It was not until several months later that a different amended ordinance was brought back for discussion. That amended ordinance was voted down, but the original ordinance was still legally in effect, which created the confusion.
The comprehensive ordinance which is currently a part of the city’s code of ordinances (Sec. 8.36.015) states “To protect the health and comfort of the public, smoking and vaping is prohibited in all public parks under the jurisdiction of the city, except within designated smoking/vaping areas.” It stipulates a penalty of “…not less than $25 nor more than $250 for the first offense, and for the second and subsequent offenses, not less than $50 nor more than $250, and the costs of prosecution.”
How the proposed ordinance and/or existing ordinance will ultimately read will be dependent on future Common Council action. City Attorney McDonell advised that the possible options could range from repealing the existing ordinance, adding the new language to the existing ordinance, replacing the existing the ordinance with the proposed new language or taking no new action. Common Council President Lynn Binnie recommended that the second reading of the proposed ordinance should only take place after gathering wider public input. “This definitely needs to be kicked around a little more,” he added.
In other action the Common Council passed a Resolution extending the Declaration of Emergency regarding the COVID-19 pandemic till June 30 to stay eligible for reimbursement grants and passed a first reading of an ordinance extending the requiring of face coverings in public places. The Council also agreed to a continuation of holding “virtual” (online only) city meetings. That decision will be revisited in April.
The Common Council also amended the contract of City Manager Cameron Clapper and authorized a 4.76% wage increase for 2021. Clapper, who has served as City Manager since 2012, had been a candidate for a similar position in Fort Atkinson until he withdrew his name from consideration. The Fort Atkinson position has now been filled at a starting wage $2000 lower than Clapper’s 2020 salary according to a City of Fort Atkinson news release.
