fwd: Default Savannah and possibly all of Chatham county need your advocacy

[fizil]

Hey guys, got this pm from:
E-Cigarette Forum - View Profile: yvilla
I figured it probably should be up here.

Hello,

I'm writing all the ECF members I can find who are from Georgia. CASAA does not yet have any regional reps from Georgia, so I had to just look for forum members.

Healthy Savannah has convinced the City of Savannah to try to pass a new smoking ban ordinance that includes e-cigs within the ban. Here is the proposed ordinance:
http://www.savannahga.gov/cityweb/Sa...20July%209.pdf

According to this news article, they also intend to try to get this passed as a Chatham County-wide measure. See:

"Healthy Savannah does plan to introduce a similar ordinance for all of Chatham County" http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-07-...ks-out-smoking

Unfortunately, we did not find out about this until the first two public hearings on the City of Savannah only ordinance were already held.

However, there is a third public hearing on the Savannah ordinance sceduled for August 12, according to this news report:
Third hearing on Smoke-Free Savannah ordinance set - WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports |

CASAA is planning to send a letter and packet of information to the Savannah Mayor and City Council members, similar to what we did for Albany County in NY and other locales. But the most critical need is for people on the ground there in Georgia, and ideally right in Savannah of course, to not only attend the public hearing, but also to contact people by phone, request meetings, bring them information such as the AAPHP position paper and other writings and studies from experts, and bring them e-cigs to demonstrate what they are and how they work, etc, etc.

It might be a good idea to contact Healthy Savannah directly as well.

So I'm hopeful that Georgia members of ECF will talk among themselves and consider taking on this battle, not only for any actual Savannah or Chatham County residents among you, but also for vapers everywhere in the US; with each success in any given locality, the antis gain momentum and an possibly an easier win in the next locality they move on to.

Best,

Yolanda

 

[Uncle Pennybags]

I got this in PM too. Thanks for posting it fizil. Im not anywhere near savannah. Im in N. GA, but if I could call, or write anyone I will. I know there are a few members on here in or near Chatham/Savannah. We all should do whatever we can to stop this, because they if it passes they will start tring to pass the same bill all over the state of Georgia.

 

[fizil]

Does Paula Dean smoke? If she does, then get her on an e-cig I hope P.D. didn't start this movement because of Rachel Ray.

 

[fizil]

penny bags, did you find anybody to write to? I'd need some help piecing together something to send in so i don't sound like a complete idiot.

I'm really upset they don't have the gall to come straight for atlanta. It's like they specifically picked a major city that's far away. sneaky sneaky....

 

[beingbekah]

Contact information.

"CASAA does not yet have any regional reps from Georgia, so this is an open letter to any and all Georgia vapers.

Healthy Savannah has convinced the City of Savannah to try to pass a new smoking ban ordinance that includes e-cigs within the ban. Here is the proposed ordinance:
http://www.savannahga.gov/cityweb/Sa...20July 9.pdf

According to this news article, they also intend to try to get this passed as a Chatham County-wide measure. See:

"Healthy Savannah does plan to introduce a similar ordinance for all of Chatham County" For and against, public speaks out on smoking | savannahnow.com

Unfortunately, we did not find out about this until the first two public hearings on the City of Savannah only ordinance were already held.

However, there is a third public hearing on the Savannah ordinance sceduled for August 12, according to this news report:
Third hearing on Smoke-Free Savannah ordinance set - WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports |

CASAA is planning to send a letter and packet of information to the Savannah Mayor and City Council members, similar to what we did for Albany County in NY and other locales. But the most critical need is for people on the ground there in Georgia, and ideally right in Savannah of course, to not only attend the public hearing, but also to contact people by phone, request meetings, bring them information such as the AAPHP position paper and other writings and studies from experts, and bring them e-cigs to demonstrate what they are and how they work, etc, etc.

It might be a good idea to contact Healthy Savannah directly as well.

So I'm hopeful that Georgia members of ECF will talk among themselves and consider taking on this battle, not only for any actual Savannah or Chatham County residents among you, but also for vapers everywhere in the US; with each success in any given locality, the antis gain momentum and possibly an easier win in the next locality they move on to."

And here is the list of Savannah City Council members to contact:

Mayor Otis Johnson, Ph.D
P.O. Box 1027
Savannah, GA 31402
912-651-6444
otis_johnson@savannahga.gov

Edna B. Jackson
Savannah City Council Member
2227 N. Fernwood Ct.
Savannah, GA 31404
912-355-6323
EdnaJackson3@comcast.net

Jeff Felser
Savannah City Council Member
101 East 57th Street
Savannah, GA 31405
PO Box 10286
Savannah, GA 31412
912-232-5353
jfelser@sabrelink.com
www.JeffFelser.com

Van R. Johnson, II
Savannah City Council Member
Post Office Box 9141
Savannah, GA 31412
912-236-9494
aldermanjohnson1@aol.com
Alderman Van R. Johnson, II: Welcome

Mary Osborne
Savannah City Council Member
642 E. 41st St.
Savannah, GA 31401
Cell: 912-507-7186
alderwoman.osborne@gmail.com

Larry Stuber
Savannah City Council Member
1406 Bacon Park Drive
Savannah, GA 31406
Phone: 354-0357
larrystuber@bellsouth.net

Mary Ellen Sprague
Savannah City Council Member
40 East 45th Street
Savannah, GA 31405
912-232-2484
memesprague@juno.com

Clifton Jones, Jr.
Savannah City Council Member
1724 Stuyvesant St.
Savannah, GA 31405
912-232-3270
cliftonjjr@aol.com

Tony Thomas
Savannah City Council Member
18 Vernonburg Ave.
Savannah, GA 31419
912-927-7170
aldermanthomas@aol.com

Here is the CASAA legislative packet:

http://www.casaa.org/files/CASAA_Legislative_Packet_Regarding_Indoor_Bans_Web.pdf

 

[fizil]

Is anybody from the norcross/atl area going down to savanah for this? My car won't make it. It won't hold antifreeze So if you've got an extra spot, lemme know.

 

[fizil]

ok this is going down tomorrow....is anybody going?

 

[beingbekah]

VocalEK of CASAA made an appearance.

I'll send an email to jj2 (too). I am in the Savannah airport right now, having spoken at the City Council meeting this afternoon.



I was the first speaker, and the only one to ask that e-cigarettes be removed from the wording of the proposed Clean Air 2010 ordinance. I was followed by a few folks who run bars who wanted some concessions regarding providing a separate outdoor dining area for smokers. At least a dozen antis followed and all said they wanted it passed exactly as written now. A couple brought up some things about e-cigarettes that I had not covered in my talk (the FDA wants them banned, we don't know what's in them). I wanted to rebut, but was not permitted to do so. I will follow up with emails to the Council members and Mayor, thanking them for allowing me to speak.



The points I want to emphasize will be that

We now have numerous toxicology tests showing that the vapor does not contain any harmful substances
We also have two clinical trials showing that users who inhale the vapor directly are not harmed.
Over 90% of users report their health has improved: If inhaling the vapor directly improves health, it defies imagination that what the user exhales could harm bystanders.
The point of passing a Clean Air ordinance is to protect public health
Several surveys show that 75 - 80% of users are now former smokers.
If the Council believes that breathing second-hand smoke is harmful, why send former smokers to the smoking section to use their e-cigarettes? We don't send users of Nicorette, Nicoderm, and Nicotrol products to the smoking section to use their products.
A sizable percentage of e-cigarette users did not intend to quit smoking. It happened spontaneously.
Treating e-cigarette users as if they were smokers discourages continuing smokers from making the switch.

Public health is best served by excluding e-cigarettes from smoking bans--both for the sake of those who are already former smokers and for the sake of those continung smokers who might be encouraged to quit by being offered an acceptable substitute.

 

[fizil]

Thanks for the update.