Now that Kansas City voters have made their decision on a comprehensive smoking ban, leaders in neighboring North Kansas City are prepared to revisit the issue.</p><p>Mayor Gene Bruns said Monday that he planned to bring the smoking ban issue up for discussion at Tuesday night&#8217;s City Council meeting. (The Neighborhood News was printed before the meeting)</p><p>In late 2006, the council considered a smoking ban in all public places but backed off after several North Kansas City restaurant and bar owners voiced opposition. They contended that a smoking ban would drive away customers.</p><p>In December, council members said they didn&#8217;t want to take any action until Kansas City did.</p><p>Last week, Kansas City voters approved a smoking ban 52 to 48 percent. The new law, which is to take effect in June, will ban smoking in all Kansas City restaurants and bars. It also requires Kansas City&#8217;s casino gaming floors to go smoke-free when casinos in neighboring cities approve similar bans.</p><p>So the effectiveness of Kansas City&#8217;s new smoking ban will depend on what the North Kansas City Council does.</p><p>Although opponents of the Kansas City smoking ban hinted last week at possible legal action to keep the ban from going into effect, Bruns said he is comfortable with trying to move forward on a ban for his city.</p><p>&#8220;Several people have been bringing the issue up and I have told them to wait and see what Kansas City does,&#8221; the mayor said.</p><p>Councilman Jim Martino said he also favors a comprehensive measure.</p><p>&#8220;I hope we move forward on this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a health issue. There is black and white evidence that smoking and breathing in second-hand smoke is bad for your health.&#8221;</p><p>Lisa Ronning, a recent breast cancer survivor, said she would likely favor a smoking ban.</p><p>&#8220;I sit on the middle of the fence right now,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not a smoker and I don&#8217;t go to places that have lots of smoking. But I do feel for the business owners.&#8221;</p><p>If the North Kansas City Council considers a smoking ban, it would have to decide whether the Harrah&#8217;s riverboat casino and hotel would be smoke-free. If a smoking ban were to include Harrah&#8217;s, it still could be a while before smoking is prohibited in the two Kansas City casinos, Ameristar and Isle of Capri.</p><p>That&#8217;s because Riverside, where the Penn Argosy Casino Hotel &amp; Spa is located, has no smoking ban and none has been proposed.</p><p>&#8220;Harrah&#8217;s wants to be on a level playing field,&#8221; Bruns said.</p><p>But as Bruns and other council members heard from testimony at a December 2006 public hearing, an exemption for Harrah&#8217;s and its bars and restaurants is likely to upset restaurant and bar owners elsewhere in the city.</p><p>Claims that no-smoking bans hurt casino business don&#8217;t sway Bruns.</p><p>&#8220;I think these establishments will find that they will still get their folks in there,&#8221; he said.