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City Council approves SRJC smoking policy

Michelle Peirano, Staff Writer
Published: November 17, 2009

Santa Rosa City Council approved SRJC’s use of Santa Rosa City’s smoking ordinance to enforce the campus’ no smoking policy Nov. 10. Despite doubts, council members approved the agreement with a 6-1 majority.

Before voting, council members questioned the obstacles that could stand in the way of successfully enforcing SRJC’s smoking policy. Are public streets considered gaps in campus property? What will happen to the smokers? How will the neighborhood be affected?

“We are in a no win situation,” said Marsha Vas Dupre, vice mayor of Santa Rosa, “It’s almost a losing battle when you are going against the addiction, the issue of tobacco.”

Gary Wysocky, Santa Rosa City Council member, was the only one who didn’t vote for the agreement between SRJC and the city of Santa Rosa.

“I don’t think the college has talked to its neighbors [about the policy],” Wysocky said.

Although displacing smokers creates difficulties, the City Council is more concerned with creating a healthy environment on SRJC’s Santa Rosa campus. Mayor Gorin said students should be mature enough to respect properties around SRJC. “I would ask all of the students of the Junior College to be respectful of the surrounding neighborhood,” he said.

The new SRJC policy states: “…the Sonoma County Junior College District Police shall enforce all state, county and city ordinances that prohibit smoking on or near District Property.”

Santa Rosa’s smoking ordinance prohibits smoking within 20 feet of an entrance to any building or within 20 feet of any designated That means students cannot smoke anywhere on campus or within 20 feet of the campus border.
non-smoking area.

With the agreement between the city of Santa Rosa and SRJC approved, SRJC Police can now enforce the no smoking policy with fines of $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and $500 for the third offense or any after that.

SRJC’s proposed agreement created controversy at the Santa Rosa campus over the past few months. Some student smokers feel displaced and discriminated against but non-smoking students feel their health should be valued and that they should not have to walk through clouds of smoke to get to their classes.

Before Nov. 10, SRJC police did not have proper authority to enforce the smoking policy with the City of Santa Rosa’s smoking ordinance and was handing out warning cards instead.

Now SRJC police have the power to enforce the policy with “real” consequences. The green signs lining the Santa Rosa campus’s walls once merely threatened citations but are now to be taken seriously.

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