Anti-smoking groups are hoping to snuff out a San Diego City Council plan to underwrite shortfalls in funding a new main library with tobacco-settlement money. Testifying before the council’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee June 2, American Lung Association spokesperson Bob Doyle insisted that because the tobacco industry “will not stop targeting kids,” his group should get the money for anti-smoking advertising.
Katie Sullivan of Citizens in Action for Local Libraries countered that libraries “provide the city’s best opportunity for the education of our citizens on the dangers of tobacco.”
Before recommending how to divvy up the FY 1999-2000 share of the $312-million windfall estimated to roll in over the next 30 years, the committee is waiting for Deputy City Manager Bruce Herring to pin down exactly when and how much the city should expect to receive, according to the June 3 San Diego Union-Tribune.
Posted June 7, 1999.