A vote to draft a resolution banning smoking in Veterans Park in downtown was slashed down at .



The board discussed before putting it to a vote, but couldn't nail down enough details to get the three tallies needed for it to pass. Mayor Richard Kavesh and Doug Foster voted for drafting the resolution, while Jen Laird-White and Louise Parker voted against it. Trustee Steven Knowlton was not at the meeting due to recent surgery.



"We have to be careful what we tell people they can and can't do," Parker said, adding she was against the bill altogether.



said she'd consider signing a bill to rid the park of smoking, but she isn't sure how a smoking ban can be enforced.



The discussion started during the public comments portion of the meeting, when Denise Hogan, of , got up to talk about the issue. Pow'r Against Tobacco is a state-funded coalition that aims to "decrease the social acceptability of tobacco use."



Hogan said most, if not all, other parks in Rockland have smoking bans, as well as parks in New York City.



"Smoking is not a a popular thing right now, and you can see that because of how many other parks have banned smoking," Hogan said. "I think voting this down sends a bad message. I think there's a place to smoke and a public park is not one of them."



She added that when it was first brought up, a smoking ban indoors had a lot of detractors, but now that's the "social norm. Right now, no smoking in parks is becoming the social norm."



A big issue during the discussion was whether or not to try and actually pass a law making it illegal to smoke in the park, and if so, what the punishment would be. Laird-White brought up the possibility of just putting up a sign that asks people not to smoke in the park.



Kavesh said he's in favor of the smoking ban in the park, and it's something he'll push for even though Thursday night was his last board of trustees meeting as mayor. Laird-White and will take over as mayor in 2012.



"I'm going into retirement in about eight days, but this is something I'll fight for," Kavesh said. "Denise and I will be back."



Kavesh added that he and Hogan plan on coming back in February to try and get the board to move forward with the ban.



"It's very disappointing," Hogan said. "But we'll be back and hopefully get some of the trustees to change their minds."



Kavesh said he thinks even with the ban there is plenty of room elsewhere for people to smoke.



"Can we please just have one small haven, one small area in the village where smoking is not allowed," Kavesh said. "If they want to smoke, they can just go across the street. Everybody can be accommodated."