HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-04 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee Minutes
Monday, January 4, 2021 Meeting
City Hall Council Chambers
Council Members in Attendance:
Committee Chair Nichols Committee Member Schaefer
Committee Member Okafor Councilor Davitt
Committee Member Hawes Councilor Sprague
Staff in Attendance:
City Manager Conlow
Assistant City Manager Cromwell
Jamie Comstock— Public Health
Agenda:
1) Presentation from the Public Health Department and the Flavors Hook Kids
Campaign, regarding youth tobacco use prevention.
Jamie Comstock from the Public Health Department opened the discussion by
providing an overview of the Public Health Department's participation in youth
tobacco use prevention programs. At the meeting were representatives from
the Flavors Hook Kids Campaign,Theresa Kelly Gillis and Carol Kelly. Theresa and
Carol provided information regarding the importance of reducing the use of
tobacco in youth and provided three items that the Hooked on Flavors campaign
is targeting in order to reduce youth tobacco use. The three policy changes
being targeted are: 1) Ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, 2) Increase
the cigarette price by$2.00 per pack, 3) Protect public health funding, including
ensuring Maine's tobacco prevention & control program is sustainably funded at
the US CDC recommended level. The representatives asked if the city would be
willing to support this campaign and allow the campaign to use the city logo and
name when creating materials about the campaign showing who the supporters
are. In general, Councilor's Schaefer, Sprague, and Davitt support the campaign.
There was concern having the city shown as a sponsor as some of the population
of Bangor may not support this campaign. The decision was made to take the
topic back to full Council to determine if the majority of the Council has interest
in supporting the campaign. This item will be brought back to the January 11,
2021 Council Workshop for further discussion.