The battle to kill the city's smoking ban, bolstered by unanimous support in City Hall, is facing withering criticism from public health advocates.
David Newman, a consultant for the advocacy group Tobacco Free Mass, said antismoking groups plan to lobby Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone to end his efforts to reverse the Board of Health decision. A change in Somerville policy, he said, could lead other cities to drop their laws and hurt the prospects for a statewide ban to pass the Legislature. The reversal, he said, would also violate a verbal agreement with Cambridge, which instituted its ban on the same day as Somerville.
"We are concerned that this might have some implications," he said. "We just don't want to see a domino effect."
So far, the voices of supporters, who fought for the ban have been drowned out by the Somerville Bar and Restaurant Association, which has won the endorsement of the Board of Aldermen and the city's new mayor. Several-bars have ignored the regulation, bringing warnings of fines from the city's tobacco control officer.
The Board of Health recently voted, 2-1, not to reconsider its ban. But Curtatone plans to replace at least one member, which could shift the balance. His spokesman, Mark Horan, said the mayor has not heard from any antismoking advocates. "He has a firm view on this," Horan said.
But health advocates said the views of the mayor, who just finished his first week in office, are far from firm.
In the campaign, Curtatone expressed support for the ban in a questionnaire from the Cambridge Health Alliance.
"I support the Somerville ... ban on smoking at all worksites," he said last October. "I have been a strong advocate against tobacco for the city of Somerville and will continue to do so as mayor."
Benjamin Gedan can be reached at gedan@giobe.com.
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