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Mounds View City Council Page 7 <br />Regular Meeting February 27, 1995 <br />Mayor Linke opened the public hearing at 7:44 p.m. <br />Councilmember Trude explained that she had worked with Tim <br />Ramacher, Police Chief, to establish this Ordinance which is <br />intended to decrease the number of young people who smoke. People <br />who begin smoking at a young age will usually develop public health <br />problems, which in turn, will cost taxpayers many dollars. Another <br />purpose of this Ordinance is to make City policy consistent with <br />the D.A.R.E. program in attempting to keep children off alcohol, <br />tobacco and drugs. <br />Linke explained that he would be making a motion to table this <br />issue at the end of this Public Hearing to afford an opportunity <br />for businesses and concerned citizens to discuss this Ordinance <br />before introduction by the City Council. <br />Linke said that he had received a suggestion that the fees to be <br />imposed should go directly to the D.A.R.E. program, which he felt <br />was an excellent idea. <br />Trude remarked that she was distressed to learn that a person 16 <br />years old could legally sell cigarettes. <br />Christina Thill, 5255 Sunnyside Road, related her background as a <br />teen in Mounds View and her present occupation as a public health <br />educator, working with teens on this very issue. Through <br />compliance checks, it was found that a third of the stores which <br />were checked did, in fact, sell tobacco products to minors who <br />offered no license. There is a very high peer pressure among teens <br />to sell to their friends. <br />Ms. Thill remarked that she formerly worked at SuperAmerica, where <br />there was a very good store policy to encourage their employees to <br />check the identification of anyone purchasing tobacco products who <br />looked under the age of 25. She felt the stores which sell these <br />substances should be held responsible and penalized if they sell to <br />minors. <br />Linke said that he had discussed the matter of educating businesses <br />and their personnel on the sale of tobacco products with Samantha <br />Orduno, City Administrator. Together, they felt that having the <br />City conduct the training was a possibility that should be <br />considered. <br />Ms. Thill said that, perhaps, training should be conducted several <br />times throughout the year--not just at the time of renewing <br />licenses to sell tobacco products. <br />Bob Hardman, Regional Manager of SuperAmerica, reported that the <br />key to preventing the sale of cigarettes to minors is education and <br />