Mark Snyder wrote: > I am ignoring the "smoking rooms" idea. > > The reason for that is because, apart from Mr. Atherton, nobody in > Minneapolis seems to be advocating for that position. I could > be wrong, considering that Rocco Forte chose to close his task force > to the public, but I can't remember seeing any news articles where > Minneapolis council members or bar owners saying they favored that idea.
This is a really interesting position: Because government does not consider an alternative then that alternative is null and void? I think that the Bush Administration should consider this as a rationale for the Iraq war: "We just won't consider the option of withdraw, therefore withdraw is not an option." I never said that respecting the rights or choices of others is an easy task. You might have to consider alternatives that do not match your personal goals. You might need to reign in your evangelical fervor. You might actually have to take the views of others into account. I have realized that this is an important aspect of society and government, thus my Second Axiom is the Axiom of Responsibility: Every individual has the responsibility of following and being aware of when they are violating Axiom 1 (See Axiom 1: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~athe0007/mypoliticalphilosophy.html). > Bar owners don't like that idea because they don't want > the expense of building a "smoking room" and if the > St. Paul model were followed, I doubt they want to be > forced to hang around all the time since they're the only > ones who would be allowed to enter such a room. I think that Bar owners might favor a regional ban because it reduce costs and competition, much like price fixing. Who gets left out of this equation is bar owners who might want to cater to smokers and smokers themselves. > Owners of small neighborhood bars particularly don't > like the "smoking room" idea because they're already pressed > for space without having worry about setting some aside for > a "smoking room" that may or may not even get used. > This potentially creates an unlevel playing field that's even > worse than there would be if one city bans smoking in bars and > restaurants and the neighboring city doesn't. Hate to tell you, but the playing field for large nightclubs and neighborhood bars has never been level; they cater to different clienteles. > There are likely a variety of reasons why anti-smoking advocates > don't like that idea. Personally, I don't like it because I don't > trust it to be an adequate solution. Given our understaffed inspections > department, I don't trust such rooms to get adequate oversight for truly > being contained. Given the points that Liz Greenbaum makes so eloquently > about just how hard it can be for some to survive financially, I don't > trust that some workers wouldn't be forced to enter those rooms anyway > to serve smokers or at least to clean up after them. I don't seem to remember any regulations that prohibit employees from being forced to go outside to serve or clean up while people are smoking. I also don't understand how the regulation of smoking rooms is any different from the regulation of smoking in general. I also don't recall any regulations about smoke drifting back into buildings. > Finally, if we're going to just put smokers in a "smoking room" with no > service, how is that really different from just sending the smokers outside? > Smokers have to go outside practically everywhere else out in public when > the cravings hit them - they should be used to it by now. I don't really think that you've considered this from other people's perspectives. If I still smoked I'd much prefer to sit in a comfortable chair in an air conditioned/heated smoking room than stand outside a doorway in 0 or 90 degree weather. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
