By Khalida Sarwari
A local coalition recently handed out grades for the tobacco-control policies in Santa Clara County cities, and Saratoga, Los Gatos and Campbell all came out on top.
The “2011-2012 Community’s Health on Tobacco Report Card” was released by the Tobacco Free Coalition of Santa Clara County and Community Advocate Teens of Today, in partnership with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, to monitor cities’ tobacco-control policies and encourage enforcement efforts.
Grading was based on tobacco advertising and displays and preventing youth access to tobacco. Points were awarded for a high compliance rate with window advertising regulations, enforcement of underage tobacco sales laws and creation of policies requiring a tobacco retailer license.
Campbell and Los Gatos both climbed up from a “D” grade to a “B.”
Campbell Mayor Mike Kotowski credited the improved grade in his city to increased efforts taken by to curb smoking in areas such as outside of restaurants.
The “B” grade, he said, “reflects the improvements that were made since the last grading came out. We have taken a lot of actions since that time refining the tobacco ordinance,” he said. He added that the city is now in the process of putting together a retail tobacco sales ordinance that will be modeled after the county’s.
Los Gatos Mayor Steve Rice said the town’s “B” grade reflected a significant improvement from last year.
“The town recognizes the importance of efforts such as minimizing minors’ access to tobacco products, and will continue to pursue these types of measures,” Rice said.
Saratoga received an “A” grade for the third year in a row.
“I’m pleased that our efforts are paying off,” said Chuck Page, mayor of Saratoga. “We’ve worked very hard to implement laws and policies that are not overly burdensome to our citizens and visitors, but that do limit both the availability of tobacco products and their use in public areas.”
Page said he would like to see Saratoga move to smoke-free business districts over the next few years, especially in areas where there is outdoor eating nearby.
“I suspect that we may get some push-back from some businesses so I could see it being implemented either on a trial basis or with a time limitation,” he said.
The issue is on the council’s discussion board at an upcoming city council retreat where members set their annual agenda, said Page.
The county joined the “A” list for the second year in a row after new laws went into effect last year restricting tobacco sales in unincorporated areas of the county.
The tobacco report card, now in its sixth year, is funded through California Proposition 99.
When grading smoking policies, Saratoga is still on the ‘A’ team
