Public housing for the elderly in Bradford County to become smoke-free
Published: March 11, 2010
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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN James McRath, executive director of the Bradford County Housing Authority, says making its public housing smoke-free will help avoid fires, like the one at McCallum Manor last month.
Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN Keystone Manor resident Mike McMahon says smokers who move out of senior housing due to a planned smoking ban will face high rents.
SAYRE - In a controversial move, the Bradford County Housing Authority plans to make its apartment buildings for the elderly and disabled in Bradford County smoke-free, effective July 1, 2010.
The new policy, which would affect the occupants of 400 apartments in those buildings, was discussed at a public hearing Wednesday on new policies and capital improvement projects that are planned at the housing authority during the coming year.
James McRath, executive director of the Bradford County Housing Authority, told the 24 people who attended the hearing that the new policy is needed because second-hand smoke is a carcinogen and because people smoking in their apartments is a safety problem.
Last month, a fire broke out at one of the housing authority's buildings, McCallum Manor in Canton, when a tenant fell asleep in a recliner chair with a lit cigarette, McRath said. "I was horrified by the damage" that the fire caused, McRath said.
But he said the smoke-free policy was planned before the fire took place, and has been reviewed by the housing authority's Tenant Advisory Committee, and has been presented at tenant meetings in all the buildings owned by the authority.
Currently residents of the housing authority's buildings can smoke in their apartments but cannot smoke in common areas of the buildings.
Under the planned smoke-free policy, tenants will not be allowed to smoke at all inside the buildings and will have to smoke outside the buildings, McRath said.
McRath said that the smoke-free policy will go into effect on July 1, subject to the approval of the board of directors of the Bradford County Housing Authority. He said after the meeting that he expects the board of directors to approve the smoke-free policy.
McRath said at the public hearing that he believes most of the tenants in the Keystone Manor, where Wednesday's public hearing took place, want the current policy changed.
"In the three years that I've been director, a lot of people have come up to me and in very demanding tones said, 'What am I going to do about this policy?'" that allows smoking in apartments, McRath said.
McRath also said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is the main source of outside funding to operate the authority's buildings, wants to see the smoke-free policy in effect.
"HUD is really pushing housing authorities to incorporate this (smoke-free) policy," he said.
Several people at the public hearing expressed opposition to the smoke-free policy, although others said they did not have a problem with it.
"It seems like a dictatorship," said Larry LaDue, a resident of Keystone Manor. "We've got to cut it (quit smoking) or we have to leave."
And Keystone Manor resident Mike McMahon said that residents who want to move out due to the smoke-free policy are going to face high rents, due to the gas workers in the area, who have driven up rents.
McRath said the authority will provide information on local smoking cessation programs to tenants.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
12 posted comments
As a health care worker that goes into these places,
I am constantly exposed to second hand smoke.
Thsnk goodness for clean air!
It isn't their own home. Its a subsidized rental unit and there are rules, just as my landlord can tell me I can't smoke, have a dog, or throw loud parties in my apartment. Smoking is a habit, not a right. It's annoying at the least and as several local incidents have proven, it also puts the other tenants at unnecessary risk. Not to mention its a drain on the system that is already paying for their housing and healthcare. They still have the FREEDOM to walk outside if they wish to smoke, while still allowing the other tenants the RIGHT to live without the fear of a careless smoker burning down their building or blowing toxins into their air. This is common sense.