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• Governor comes to Salina for ceremonial signing of smoking bill 

Alan Jilka describes his 2002 vote in favor of a partial ban on smoking in restaurants as the single most controversial vote in his 12 years on the Salina City Commission.

Monday, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson thanked the commissioners who supported that measure, saying it demonstrated that businesses could survive a public smoking ban, making it easier for lawmakers to enact a similar ban statewide.

“So whatever heat you took was worth it,” Parkinson said.

Parkinson spoke briefly at a ceremonial bill signing in Salina for the new public smoking law. As he signed a copy of the measure, Jilka, Debbie Divine and Kristin Gunn — all former commissioners and mayors — together with a group that included current commissioner Norman Jennings, stood watching over his shoulder.

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