by Alan McArthur
Landmark reporter

As quickly as it began, it disappeared again.

The City of Riverside's discussion of a possible smoking ban was postponed indefinitely on Tuesday by the aldermen.

The topic was started when Mike Fuller, alderman, brought up the idea of a smoking ban at the board's last meeting during closing comments by board members.

On Tuesday, David Blackburn, city administrator, asked aldermen how they would like to proceed with the discussion and whether they wanted to hold workshops or public hearings on the issue.

Fuller said he wasn't sure which would be best, but that he would like to get feedback from the residents of Riverside.

Aaron Thatcher, alderman, then made a motion to postpone the discussion indefinitely.

“We have so many things in the city that bring a positive discussion,” said Thatcher. “This is a highly divisive issue. We have got some great developments going on. It's my opinion this discussion will take energy away from that.”

The board then voted 4-2 in favor of postponing the discussion. Fuller and Bernie Bruns, alderman, voted against postponing.

Riverside is a fourth-class city in Missouri and the only way a smoking ban can be passed is by a vote of the aldermen.

Riverside has the only metro area casino not located within the city limits of Kansas City.

The Kansas City smoking ban would require all casinos in its city limits to ban smoking if Riverside imposed a smoking ban on Argosy Casino.

Parkville recently passed a smoking ban for all businesses and restaurants in the city.

The other cities in the area with smoking bans are Gladstone, North Kansas City, and Liberty.