Crest Mayor Cabrera polls Facebook on beach smoking options

Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera has long embraced and been an active participant in discussions on social media.

This afternoon, he used his official Facebook page to seek opinions on an at-times testy subject - smoking on the beach.

Cabera offered two options (you can vote HERE over next two weeks):

1. Allow Smoking & 2. Go Smoke Free

There is also the option of commenting other ideas, including one Cabrera suggested:

Creating designated smoking areas on the beach with more signs posted.

Presently, smoking is allowed on Wildwood Crest's beach, as well as on the beaches of North Wildwood, Wildwood and the majority of those along the New Jersey coast. (However, a smoking ban on the Wildwoods Boardwalk went into effect on January 1.)

The topic came up at a meeting on February 21, where Commissioner David Thompson stated that he would not support a smoking ban, explaining his belief that government can sometimes overreach into citizens' behavior. Cabrera and Commissioner Joyce Gould agreed.

However, debate has persisted, and Cabrera noted that this morning's public meeting offered lively discussion on the matter.

Regardless of where you stand on this, we encourage our readers to vote in the poll and take part in the conversation.