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Posted on 01/22/2003 10:11:10 PM PST by hoosierskypilot
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:55:38 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
DALLAS (AP) - The City Council banned smoking in restaurants and many other public places Wednesday, saying it is the only way to protect people from secondhand smoke.
The ordinance, approved on a 10-3 vote, still permits smoking in bars, tobacco shops and pool halls, but they must provide designated smoking and nonsmoking areas.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
But don't worry - Laura Miller, the nico-nazi mayor over there who spearheaded this latest anti-freedom ban, is going to be in the fight of her life very soon to keep her job. Her opponent, an old political pro, is in good position to skin her at the ballot box in the next mayoral race.
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Hoosierskypilot beat me to it...
Measure passes 10-3; new city ordinance excludes bars, pool halls
01/23/2003
Dallas restaurants will go smoke-free March 1, the City Council decreed Wednesday.
The 10-3 vote was a victory for Mayor Laura Miller, who pushed for the ban rather than a less-stringent measure recommended by the city's Environmental Health Commission. That proposal would have allowed restaurants to retain smoking sections, as long they were separately ventilated.
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New York City recently enacted a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, called one of the toughest in the nation, and Boston enacted a ban last month. California and Delaware enforce total bans in bars and restaurants. Maine, Utah and Vermont ban smoking in restaurants but not bars.
Still, Dallas is the only large city in North Texas to go smoke-free so far.
 Diana Flowers and other residents opposed to the ban were on hand for the council vote Wednesday. Cards brought to the meeting were signed by fellow opponents of the measure. (RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT / DMN) |
Under the ordinance, smoking will still be permitted in designated areas of freestanding bars and pool halls. Smokers also will be allowed to light up on restaurant patios, as long as they are not enclosed.
On the question of what is a bar and what is a restaurant, the law defines the former as an establishment that derives at least 75 percent of its gross revenue on a quarterly basis from alcohol sales. Bars are covered by the ban if they are inside restaurants or hotel lobbies.
Like the city's previous smoking ordinance, the new one outlaws smoking in many retail and service establishments. Among the places enumerated are grocery stores, department stores, malls, hair salons, laundries, bowling alleys and bingo halls.
Supporters and opponents of the law turned out in force Wednesday, though Ms. Miller had publicly marshaled enough votes to adopt the ban some weeks ago.
Business concerns
Operators of a bowling alley and a chain of bingo halls joined several restaurant owners in warning the council that the ban would send many of their patrons stampeding to the suburbs.
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"My customers have already said they're going to Richardson," said William Moede, owner of High Point Deli at Greenville Avenue at LBJ Freeway. "This is real money to us, it's not Monopoly money."
That theme was echoed by University of North Texas economist Bernard Weinstein. "There will be economic impacts," he told council members. "There will be a loss of tax revenue."
Several council members said, however, that, despite asking, they received no credible economic studies documenting a decline in restaurant revenues or sales taxes in other cities and states that have instituted smoking bans.
"To this day, I haven't seen an independent study that shows an adverse economic impact," Dr. Elba Garcia said.
Council members who opposed the ban said they didn't need studies to tell them something dictated by common sense.
"Don't kid yourself that you're not going to have an effect on businesses," Alan Walne said. "Don't tell ... [restaurant owners] what's going to happen to their businesses. You don't have a clue."
And council member Sandy Greyson said it's foolish to think that surrounding cities will follow Dallas' lead, as Ms. Miller and others have hoped aloud.
"They are very happy about this because we're going to drive business their way," she said.
On the other side of the issue, council member Veletta Forsythe Lill implored her colleagues to remember the human and financial price exacted by smoke-related illnesses.
 "To this day, I haven't seen an independent study that shows an adverse economic impact," Dr. Elba Garcia said. (RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT / DMN) |
"Go to Parkland [hospital]," she said. "Spend your day at Parkland and find out what the costs of smoking are - in your tax dollars."
Dallas musician Steven Holt invoked his own health worries in asking council members to broaden the ban to include bars and nightclubs.
"I don't feel I should be forced to choose between my health and a paycheck, or between my health and my life's calling," said Mr. Holt, who said he has become more mindful of his health since the birth of his son 16 months ago.
But the council declined to broaden the ban, on the theory that most restaurants are family venues, whereas bars and clubs cater to adults.
Alternatives presented
Council members Mary Poss and Don Hill tried to derail the ban by offering less restrictive substitutes.
Mr. Hill sought to exempt various types of venues - including bars that are inside restaurants - from the proposed ban.
"I'm just trying to bring a balance to what we're doing," he said.
Ms. Poss asked the council to pass the Environmental Health Commission's original proposal.
"This issue should be market-driven," she said. "Fifty percent of the restaurants in Dallas already are smoke-free."
Both proposals failed on votes of 5-8, with Ms. Greyson, Mr. Walne and Dr. Maxine Thornton-Reese siding with Mr. Hill and Ms. Poss.
On the final vote, to adopt the ban, Dr. Thornton-Reese and Mr. Hill joined the majority, with only Ms. Poss, Mr. Walne and Ms. Greyson voting no. Two council members, Mitchell Rasansky and Ed Oakley, were barred from participating because they do business with establishments that will be affected by the ordinance.
The council's decision drew a variety of responses from the public Wednesday.
Larry Ebenholtz of Dallas, who was dining at Mi Cocina in the Galleria, said he had recently quit smoking.
The ban "really doesn't bother me one way or another," said Mr. Ebenholtz, 60. "I usually end up sitting in nonsmoking, so it doesn't really make a difference."
Stephanie Leverett of Tacoma, Wash., who was at the Westin Galleria hotel, said she supports banning smoking at restaurants.
"It's a more pleasant experience for me, being a nonsmoker, not to be around it," the 34-year-old said.
But she said she doesn't believe smoking should be prohibited from other public places.
"I think not allowing it in restaurants is one thing, but smokers need to have somewhere to go to have their rights," she said.
'We're not going'
Plano resident Pat Stoltzfus, 54, was smoking mad about the smoking ban.
Ms. Stoltzfus, who was enjoying a cigarette Wednesday at an Enchilada's restaurant, said the ban would make her think twice about dining in Dallas.
"We're not going to Dallas," she said. "We'll stay in Addison and Plano. I will not even buy cigarettes in Dallas. I will not contribute taxes."
Ms. Stoltzfus said she thought the City Council should have left it to restaurants to determine whether smoking is allowed.
"I feel like it's infringing on restaurant owners," she said. "They should have the choice of making their restaurants smoking or not."
Dallas resident M.L. Stratton, 63, said Ms. Miller should be more concerned with the budget than banning smoking.
"We go to restaurants that don't have smoking," she said. "They can go to restaurants that have smoking sections. There's enough restaurants in this town."
Staff writer Jaime Jordan contributed to this report.
E-mail vloe@dallasnews.com
Isn't this cute how much they care about us! ugh!
"This issue should be market-driven," she said. "Fifty percent of the restaurants in Dallas already are smoke-free."
Somebody gets it.
(snicker)
Friends in low places ... ;)
If Dallas is the first big city in North Texas to ban smokes, I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet Foat Wuth will be the last.
But, then again, I haven't lived in Texas for almost 20 years.
Clearing the Air: Council votes to ban smoking in restaurants
01/23/2003
Ten Dallas City Council members stood up for environmental health yesterday. Mayor Laura Miller and council members Don Hill, John Loza, Lois Finkelman, Elba Garcia, Veletta Forsythe Lill, Mark Housewright, Maxine Thornton-Reese, Leo Chaney and James Fantroy said secondhand smoke in restaurants is not acceptable. The vote was courageous. And it was right.
Elected city officials have been bombarded with warnings that creation of a smoke-free environment in Dallas restaurants could be devastating to the economy. Mayor Miller said the restaurants never proved their case.
But Parkland Hospital chief executive Ron Anderson certainly proved his. He pointed out how passive smoking can cause heart disease, lung cancer and a variety of ailments that can lead to death or fill his hospital beds.
Council members who voted for the prohibition of smoking in eating establishments are following a trend that has been under way for years in other cities. The evidence of the dangers of tobacco smoke in public places has become too compelling to ignore.
As the ordinance goes into effect March 1, Dallas officials should urge other cities in the region to join them in this movement. There are no city limit lines when it comes to personal health. Nor should there be.
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There are no city limit lines when it comes to personal health.
The Dallas Morning News loves big gov't.
Hold your horses. This will be repealed as soon as Mary Poss is elected.
Show me the death certificates, "Doctor."
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