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STONE: There’s two ordinances. One may be in Rules [the Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethics]. Mine is in Budget, because the committee’s name is Budget and Administration [actually, Budget and Government Operations]. And you’ve got to understand, the repeal of that ordinance has absolutely nothing to do with [the Committee on Health, which held last year’s debate on the foie gras ban]. The question involved in Budget is whether the City Council had the right, the authority, really, to pass it. Because the reason I questioned whether we had the right to pass it was that we have the authority to pass matters that affect the health and safety of people, but do we have the authority to pass ordinances with respect to nonhumans?
There are other animal cruelty laws. Dog-fighting laws.
STONE: First of all, we have no business in everybody’s kitchen. I’m opposed to all these crazy ordinances my colleagues have been introducing, like the trans-fat ordinance. Why are we in people’s kitchens? Next thing I’m going to tell you what soap you can use in your bathroom, or what toothpaste you can use. I mean, that really shouldn’t be our—unless it’s poisonous and affects your health, we have no business in that area.
