Case Studies
Local Comprehensive Clean Indoor Air Ordinance in
Texas
Overview
| Healthy
People 2010 Objectives |
Establish smoke-free indoor air laws
that prohibit smoking or limit it to separately ventilated areas
in public places and worksites in every state and the District
of Columbia. Increase the proportion of worksites with formal
smoking policies that prohibit smoking or limit it to separately
ventilated areas. Reduce the proportion of nonsmokers exposed to
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). |
| OSH Indicator |
Proportion of jurisdictions with public
policies for smoke-free workplaces, including smoke-free
restaurants, bars, and other public places. |
| City/County/Other |
El
Paso |
| State |
Texas |
| Goals |
Eliminate Exposure to Secondhand Smoke |
| Components |
Community Policy and/or Program
Interventions
Program Policy |
| Areas of Policy and/or
Program Intervention |
Clean Indoor Air Policies
Local |
| Audience/Population |
General Public
Hispanics/Latinos
Urban |
Policy/Program
Objectives of the Intervention
Enact a comprehensive
smoke-free ordinance covering workplaces and public
places in the city of El Paso.
Description of the
Intervention
The El Paso ordinance is designed to protect nonsmoking
employees and patrons from the health effects of
secondhand smoke in workplaces and public places. The
ordinance covers all workplaces and public places,
including restaurants, bars, bingo facilities, and
bowling alleys.
Personnel/Key
Players/Resources Required for Conducting the
Intervention
The A
Smoke-Free Paso del Norte Coalition includes a wide
array of representatives from public agencies, voluntary
health agencies, community-based and youth-serving
organizations, and the faith community. Key members
include the American Cancer Society (which provided the
campaign coordinator) and the American Heart and
American Lung Associations, Community Voices Tobacco
Control Program (a project funded by the WK Kellogg
Foundation and the American Legacy Foundation), the
state and local health departments, local law
enforcement, local hospitals and community clinics,
Planned Parenthood, the Independent School Districts and
the Region 19 Education Center, a coalition of churches,
and faculty from the University Health Sciences Center.
The Coalition also recruited people harmed by their
exposure to secondhand smoke in public places and
workplaces.
Place Where the
Intervention was Conducted
El
Paso, Texas, is the largest border city in the United
States; on the other side of the Rio Grande River is El
Paso’s sister city, the booming metropolis of Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico (fifth largest city in Mexico). With a
population of 679,000, El Paso is the fifth largest city
in Texas. It is a relatively poor city (10th poorest in
the United States), with the highest percentage of
residents without health insurance in the nation (37%).
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of El Paso’s residents are
Hispanic/Latino.
The Fort Bliss Army base and the University of Texas at
El Paso are two important institutions that play a large
role in the life of the community.
In 1995, Las Cruces, New Mexico, passed a smoke-free
workplace restaurant ordinance. Located 35 miles from El
Paso, the Las Cruces ordinance created a supportive
environment for smoke-free policies, further solidified
when Las Cruces strengthened its ordinance again in
1997. The Tobacco-Free Las Cruces Coalition provided
invaluable assistance to the El Paso Coalition as it
began its own campaign.
Approximate Time
Frame for Conducting the Intervention
The El
Paso smoke-free ordinance effort began in November 1994,
when the El Paso Tabaco/Smoke Free Coalition presented a
proposal to strengthen the city smoking ordinance to the
El Paso City-County Health and Environmental District.
Although the Health and Environmental District approved
the proposal, this initial ordinance campaign faltered
in the City Council (Health and Environmental District
policies must be approved by the City Council). In March
of 1996 the City tabled the proposed ordinance
indefinitely.
The coalition did not abandon its goal of passing a
comprehensive smoke-free ordinance. With funding for a
four year comprehensive tobacco control project from the
Paso del Norte Health Foundation, the coalition formed
as the A Smoke-Free Paso del Norte Coalition in April
2000. The coalition planned to organize a 2-year public
education and grassroots campaign with the goal of
passing an ordinance in 2003. However, the coalition’s
hand was forced when the El Paso City-County Health and
Environmental District announced in September 2000 its
intention to introduce an ordinance in October. The
coalition prevailed upon the Health and Environmental
District to slow the process down, to allow the
coalition more time to educate and organize. The Health
and Environmental District eventually held its public
hearing in April of 2001, sending the ordinance to the
city council for approval. After a preliminary
discussion of the ordinance in April, the city council
delayed formal action on the ordinance, because the city
council election season began to heat up. The ordinance
was passed after city elections, including a run-off for
Mayor, on June 26, 2001. In all, the ordinance campaign
took about 10 months.
Summary of
Implementation of the Intervention
In
November 2000, the coalition formed a Clean Indoor Air
Ordinance Task Force to serve as the core team,
responsible for day-to-day campaign operations
(approximately 10 – 15 members). The Task Force spent a
couple of months educating itself on secondhand smoke
issues and city council politics. In the spring of 2001,
Task Force members attended two trainings on organizing
local ordinance campaigns. Based on their research and
training learnings, the coalition developed a strategic
plan to guide their campaign. Because of the short time
frame, community education and grassroots mobilization
activities were virtually simultaneous.
Task Force members made community presentations to
educate the public and recruit new supporters, and
identified a strong champion on the city council. The
Task Force developed a youth smoke-free coalition, whose
efforts were deemed vital to the success of the
ordinance. Youth were recruited via the independent
school districts.
Grassroots activities included a letter writing campaign
to the El Paso Times (more than 7,000 letters were
sent), a petition gathering effort, multiple meetings
with City Council members, and (once the election season
was in motion) attending candidate forums. The coalition
also conducted a proactive media advocacy campaign,
including a youth rally the day of the council’s vote.
The coalition produced an educational TV spot on
secondhand smoke, and ran one paid print lobbying
advertisement shortly before the vote. Although the
coalition had planned to conduct a poll, this was
rendered moot when the local media (the El Paso Times
and the ABC affiliate) ran their own poll.
On June 26, 2001, the El Paso City Council voted 7 to 1
in support of the proposed ordinance.
After the ordinance passed, the coalition worked with
the Health and Environmental District to develop an
educational packet to be sent to 18,000 El Paso
businesses.
Summary of
Evaluation/Outcome of Intervention
In
February 2002, one month after the ordinance went into
effect, the El Paso Times and the ABC affiliate (KVIA)
sponsored an opinion poll. The poll found solid support
for the new ordinance; 93 percent indicated that they
would go out to restaurants and bars the same (49%) or
more (44%) as a result of the ordinance.
In December 2002, 11 months after the ordinance went
into effect, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation
sponsored a household telephone survey which also found
strong support for the ordinance; after a full year of
implementation 78.5 percent indicated they supported the
ordinance, and only 10.9 percent opposed it (the rest
reported no opinion). Although general knowledge about
the existence of the ordinance was high, familiarity
with the specifics was spotty.
In March 2003, the mayor’s office conducted an analysis
of the economic impact of the ordinance on the city’s
hospitality industry, using sales tax receipts reported
to the Texas State Comptroller and Texas Workforce
Commission data. Data for the first two quarters of 2002
indicated that total sales subject to state sales tax in
eating and drinking establishments continued to grow at
a steady pace compared to that period in previous years
(despite a sluggish national economy). The number of
persons employed as waiters or waitresses also increased
by 300 people, from 2001 to 2002 (Texas Workforce
Commission).
Intervention's
Applicability/Replicability/Recommendations for Other
Sites
The
El Paso campaign is an excellent example of a grassroots
campaign. It relied on direct organizing to identify,
recruit and mobilize supporters, and involved relatively
little paid media or paid advocacy efforts. The broad
lessons from this campaign are transferable to other
communities. In addition, the El Paso Coalition serves
as a model for developing a diverse, representative
coalition in a predominantly Mexican American community.
The only caution to coalitions considering the El Paso
experience is that the time frame to educate the
community and organize grassroots support was
considerably compressed because of factors outside the
coalition’s control. Ideally, coalitions will have more
time to educate the public and decision makers, and
recruit and mobilize grassroots supporters.
Overview Notes
This
case study was written by Robin Hobart, an Office on
Smoking and Health Consultant, in November of 2003.
Page last modified 07/25/2007
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