LIVE BLOG: Shreveport City Council repeals smoking ban in casinos
The Shreveport City Council will meet today to discuss agenda items like voting to allow smoking back into the casinos, amending the budget for the streets special revenue fund and more.
5:29 p.m. - The motion passed with four votes. The Shreveport City Council has lifted the smoking ban in casinos.
5:24 p.m. - Councilman Jim Taliferro made a statement before voting commenced on amending the smoke-free Shreveport act. He stated that there haven't been any Casino representatives have made public comment or reached out about lifting this ban prior to today's council meeting.
5:13 p.m. - Public comment has closed. Voting begins and Councilman Alan Jackson is not present at today's council meeting.
5:08 p.m. - Liz Swaine with the Downtown Development Authority stated that the casinos pay some of the highest tax rates in Shreveport. Swaine stated that she believes the revision of having an area for non-smokers only is the best compromise to level the playing field.
5:04 p.m. - William Bradford is a representative of Bally's Casino and said that the local economy is just as important as the public's health. He stated that he isn't advocating for a habit that hurts people's health but trying to compete with Bossier City and their casinos not having a smoking ban. He claims their patrons are going over the river and all the declining numbers directly correlate with the smoking ban being put in place.
4:43 p.m. - Jaquelyn Jenkins was a previous casino worker in Sam's Town for 12 years. She said she worked a lot in the smoking areas and ended up with severe breathing problems due to the secondhand smoke from working. She began her career in good health and now relies on oxygen supply to survive.
4:41 p.m. - Construction worker Jesus said that he is 70 years old and he never drank and never smoked but enjoys going to the casinos and won't be able to go anymore if this smoking ban is lifted. He choked up talking about how its unfair for the workers and begged the council to "do what's right."
4:40 p.m. - Dr. Steven Bailey who has been in Shreveport five years after being in San Antonio, Texas and has actively studied the effects of smoking and secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke from bringing it home to their families.
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4:37 Dr. Smith at LSUS spoke about disparities in health and how it affects the health costs and the city's economy. The minority groups in Shreveport can be directly impacted by secondhand smoke and that having the smoke free laws in place can only help in the long-term.
4:31 p.m. - Jennifer Reed is a casino worker at Bally's is for the ban being lifted because if revenue continues to go down, she will have to move over to Bossier City to work so she would still be subjected to secondhand smoke and the Shreveport casinos will continue to decline.
4:29 p.m. - A representative from Think Chief said that healthcare is a human right, and that Shreveport manages its own healthcare budget and that the casino workers are suffering, and they don't have a strong union support here and Louisiana has a public health crisis on top of that.
4:17 p.m. - Dr. Martha Wyte said that there are agencies whose sole jobs is to keep employees safe and casino workers do not have that. The only thing keeping them safe is the Shreveport city council members. She stated that the casinos will not go bankrupt and that putting financial resources over human beings is a huge problem and that the council is the thin line between the two.
4:13 p.m. - Alice Kline with the American Cancer Society said that this exception to the smoking ban will benefit no one. She said that annually Shreveport residents pay more in taxes for smoking costs while the casinos are spending more money to clean up after the smokers and the smoke itself. She also stated that legislation in Bossier City is currently talking about adopting a similar smoke free ban for their casinos, but that it takes time.
3:59 p.m. - Adrian King the Regional Vice President of Boy Gaming and wanted to inform how the ban has had an impact. He stated that Shreveport-Bossier is a split market with one side having a smoking ban and the other hasn't and simply wants to level out the playing field. He also mentioned they have increased the marketing for Shreveport and that it's not working and that the ban in place is the main issue. Ashley Center with Director of Government Affairs of Boy Gaming and backed up King that the smoking ban has been the main issue and that statistics show that the Bossier City casinos are still doing well while Shreveport is failing.
3:54 p.m. - Angel Smith with said that if smoking inside the casinos is their biggest asset, they need to rethink their marketing. She also stated there is no data evidence supporting that revenue has been down due to the ordinance to not allow smoking, but more to do with the quality of their casinos.
3:51 p.m. - Jason Roberts, a casino worker from Bally's in Shreveport, stated the smoking ban has been the most negative financial impact to downtown Shreveport, even more so than the COVID pandemic. He also stated that he should also have a choice because if the casinos shut down, he won't be able to afford to take care of his family and he will also have to find another job. He called out Councilman Grayson Boucher for not listening to him and going on record two weeks ago about not voting in favor of getting rid of the smoking ban. Boucher claimed he has not gotten an email or phone call from Roberts.
3:47 p.m. - Pastor Linus Mayes spoke to the council about how he remembers when the smoking ban was put in place because the council at that time were concerned for the workers, especially Black workers, in the casinos and that he suffers himself from breathing problems from being exposed to secondhand smoke at his previous job. He begged the council to "do the right thing" and "it's sad that if money is more important than human life, you need to check yourself."
3:43 p.m. - Shreveport Regional Arts Council Executive Director Pam Atchinson apologized for a staff member emailing the council from their system to speak out on a personal issue and will be taking immediate action with the person at fault.
3:41 p.m. - a representative for Bally's Casino in Shreveport and stated that giving 25% of space to non-smokers would be sufficient and would allow for employees to choose which section they would like to work in.
3:38 p.m. - Chris Lyon presented the council with data about the Riverboat Casino revenue and that Bally's is the highest it's been since 2018 despite lower attendance while Margaritaville and Horseshoe are down. Meaning that the casinos investing in their buildings are seeing an uptick in revenue. Lyon specifically admonished the Democrats on the council that should be for the workers and not the businesses including Council Chair Green.
3:35 p.m. - Davita Darden, who did not disclose what position she held, but was wearing a Bally's Casino shirt, stated that she was for lifting the ban because she believes there should be an even playing field between Shreveport and Bossier City. She said she saw the impact on Shreveport once the ban was in place.
3:31 p.m. - Ashley Herbert with the Center for Black Health and Equity stated that one argument is that these casino workers know going in that the risk of secondhand smoke is just a "part of the job" much like police officers in the line of duty, except this risk is able to be removed entirely.
3:25 p.m. - Omari Ho-Sang, a representative of ASAP Shreveport, addressed the council and asked Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor and Councilman Gary Brooks who are sponsors of this bill why the casino workers are less important than trying to appease the multi-million-dollar businesses.
3:22 - Felicia Kay addressed the council about how giving casino workers a choice to either quit if they do not want smoking in casinos or put up with it. She goes on to talk about how these workers should not be having to make this difficult choice to begin with and that finding a new job is not as easy as it sounds.
3:20 p.m. - Council Chair Green opens the floor to public comments.
3:15 p.m. - Mayor Tom Arceneaux introduces the appointee for city attorney Marcus Edwards.
3:13 p.m. - Council Chair James Green recognizes Sholanda Brooks for her accomplishments in the sport of shotput as a Lady Knight of Shreveport.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: LIVE BLOG: Shreveport City Council repeals smoking ban in casinos
