On 7/29/04 2:35 PM, "Michael Atherton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Mark Snyder wrote: > >> But with virtually nobody showing interest in it and with the >> smoking ban ordinance already passed by city council and signed >> by the mayor, it's also pretty much moot, at least for the >> immediate future. I really doubt council is going to be inclined >> to revisit this without at least giving the ordinance a shot in >> its existing form. > > Minneapolis' ordinance could change tomorrow. I doubt it, since Minneapolis City Council does not meet again until August 6th and any changes would likely go through committee first anyway. > What St. Paul does will have a dynamic effect on smoking ordinances throughout > the Metro. That's certainly possible, but the momentum in St. Paul right now runs against smoking rooms. That detail was given as one of the reasons Randy Kelly vetoed their ordinance as well as a reason for at least one council member to oppose it, preventing them from being able to overrule the veto. Since the Minneapolis ordinance passed, all word from St. Paul has been on removing the smoking rooms language. In addition, Ramsey County is poised to start discussing the issue soon and their starting point is the Minneapolis ordinance language. I would expect a similar focus in Hennepin County when they get around to it since county commissioner Gail Dorfman was part of the Minneapolis ordinance task force. > What is really amazing to me is the lack of coverage > about Smoking Rooms in all of the Metro newspapers. It was a > major feature of the proposed St. Paul ordinance and there > is a city where Smoking Rooms have been successfully implemented, > yet there is no article. This has to be an example of journalism > in the great tradition of William Randolph Hearst. Or could it just be a further indication of the lack of interest there is in the smoking room idea? I don't religiously read the PiPress, but in addition to no articles in the Strib, I haven't seen any opinion essays or letters to the editor favoring this idea, either. Mark Snyder Windom 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
