A homeowner’s pleas to the city to protect his family and others from the health dangers of secondhand smoke—in his case, marijuana smoke—might be gaining traction nearly four months after he appealed to the mayor and City Council.
“I am very happy, at last they are going to listen,” said Dr. Douglas Gillard, 55, a medical professor, licensed chiropractor, father of five and grandfather of nine who lost his mother to cancer when he was 11 years old.
He was reacting to a Feb. 8 email from Councilwoman Cat Tucker, in which she wrote, “I will be glad to bring this issue [up] again at our upcoming goal setting session.”
Called the annual Strategic Planning Session, it takes place this year on April 8 and 9.
In the same email, however, Tucker added, “I am not sure what the outcome will be though.”
Gillard conceded the latter comment “didn’t sound very promising.”
And that might be an understatement, according to an advocate for nonsmokers who has tried for years to convince Gilroy politicians and business leaders to adopt smoke-free ordinances to protect outdoor diners and apartment dwellers.
“It’s a good way to shelve it,” said Hewitt Joyner III of Breathe California of the Bay Area, one of five offices statewide of the nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of nonsmokers, including those with lung and heart disease.
“The only thing that has been holding this up has been the city of Gilroy,” Joyner told the Dispatch on Feb 9.
Compared with other cities in Santa Clara County, including Morgan Hill and San Jose, Gilroy gets an F when it comes to looking out for the health of its residents on the issue of smoke-free buildings, Joyner said.
Even at Gilroy Manor on Sixth Street, a few blocks from City Hall and seemingly Gilroy’s most visible multi-unit seniors’ residence, the city has ignored residents’ wishes and refused to make it a smoke-free building, Joyner said.
“I recently had a meeting with the Gilroy Downtown Association, and [former] Mayor Don Gage [was] a part of that. I actually asked for help on outdoor dining and multi-unit apartments and they turned me down. What is Gilroy’s problem?” Joyner asked.
Gilroy Mayor Perry Woodward said he is not aware of public sentiment to enact the kind of city rules that Joyner seeks.
But he has an open mind on the topic, he said, and believes it’s an “important” discussion the city should have. He suggested a study session, soon, with input from the public, the Chamber of Commerce and organizations such as the American Lung Association.
As for Joyner’s F grade for Gilroy, Woodward said it’s “hard-pressed to justify.” He cited the city’s bans on smoking in public buildings and parks. Beyond that, he said, state law already prohibits smoking in restaurant outdoor dining areas, Woodward said.
City Clerk Shawna Freels confirmed Wednesday that city ordinances ban smoking in public buildings, businesses and park spaces, except in designated smoking areas in parks.
Woodward and Joyner agreed that prohibiting people from smoking in their homes is, as Woodward put it, “problematic.
“If someone has a legitimate need to choose medical marijuana, are we going to tell them they cannot [smoke it] in their own home? That’s pretty intrusive,” the mayor said.
In terms of apartment buildings, however, he said, if secondhand smoke drifts and “impacts the health of others, maybe there is a balance that can be struck” between the parties’ rights.
Gillard has pushed for a better balance after his home was routinely inundated with marijuana smoke that drifted from a nearby home with renters in a subdivision which includes about 30 single family homes.
When Gillard tried to resolve the matter through his homeowners association, he was told there were no rules about secondhand smoke.
If it’s illegal to play music so loud that it disturbs your neighbor, why isn’t it illegal to allow dangerous smoke to drift onto a neighbor’s property or into her home, Gillard asked.
“In this day and age, how can Gilroy be like this, it seems like [city officials] are not sensitive to it,” Gillard said.
