Voice of OC40%
Orange Moves to Ban Smoking in Public Parks 2%
By Michelle King18%
7/30/2026, 1:00:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 5 faulty reasoning types, including Bandwagon, Framing Effect, and Appeal to Emotion, with Straw Man as the most egregious example at 8% saturation with 47 hits. Analysis detected 132 faulty-reasoning hits from 589 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 11.2% and a BS Rank of 2% (21,996 of 22,405 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 98.20% of the article peer group.
The City of Orange might be seeing a new ban on smoking in public parks, mirroring recent moves by city officials in Garden Grove.
When the idea originally surfaced earlier this year, Orange Mayor Dan Slater said it could be a way to curb homelessness in the city.
“I have an ulterior motive for this, quite frankly,” Slater said at a February council meeting.
“Would this give our police another tool in the toolbox to deal with vagrants and transients?”
On Tuesday, city council members voted 4-1-2, with two council members absent, to move forward on adopting an ordinance banning cigarettes and vapes in public parks.
If passed in August, the ordinance would prohibit the use of “any lighted or heated tobacco, nicotine, or cannabis product” and electric smoking devices, like e-cigarettes.
While the city already bans smoking within 25 feet of playgrounds, recreational facilities and youth activities, the ban will look to prohibit smoking in any city park.
The potential ban comes as several other OC cities have passed similar ordinances banning smoking in public parks, including Dana Point , Buena Park and Laguna Beach .
The staff report states that the ban will reduce smoking-related litter and provide a better experience for park-goers.
While the homelessness issue was not brought up at Tuesday’s meeting, Councilmember Arianna Barrios did have concerns about the ban unfairly targeting individuals who are not currently breaking any laws by smoking.
“Everything else you’ve described – and I’ve seen it in front of my house very often – whether you’re peeing out on the sidewalk or you’re using our parks as a bathroom or you’re doing drugs, all of those things are illegal,” Barrios said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“So we are adding something to this that is not illegal in any other circumstance.”
Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis agreed that the ban would target smokers and could spread the police force even thinner, enforcing smoking bans.
“We’ve had a decrease in our force – correct?
I just get nervous about all this other crime,” Tavoularis said at the meeting.
“[Smoking] is a freedom that people have, and so I’m a little bit nervous about taking those freedoms away.”
Chief of Police Adam Jevec said officers would not be seeking out smokers, much like those consuming alcohol in parks or camping in prohibited areas, but they would be able to use it in addition to other violations.
“Any enactment of any sort of violation of this, or enhancement of any park rules or regulations, makes it difficult to enforce,” Jevec said at the meeting.
“That being said, that doesn’t mean we won’t enforce it when called, and that doesn’t mean it doesn’t give us another tool in our toolbox to help keep the park safer, or remove an individual who’s difficult, a suspicious person, or whatever.”
Though the first reading of the ordinance ultimately passed, the first vote taken by council could have struck down the measure entirely.
With council members Jon Dumitru and Ana Gutierrez absent, the council voted 3-2 to approve the first reading.
However, in order for a first reading to pass it must receive a majority of the entire council, meaning that there would need to be four council members voting yes for the motion to pass.
Following the failed motion, Tavoularis called for reconsideration, despite her original vote against the motion.
Because of an additional yes vote from Tavoularis, the first reading passed and will move on to a second vote next month.
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