I would like to add to this information. I talked to Ortega about this issue. He said he orginally proposed the idea of a smoking ban in restaurants and bars (just like Senator Dibble's bill in the Senate). He said 3 of the 7 Commissioners would have voted for the comprehensive ban. 4 of them would only accept the ban for restaurants. I have heard Commissioner Janice Rettman was one of the 4 who did not want to ban smoking in bars. It would be great to find out how all 7 would have voted. Rod Halvorson downtown resident
GLORIA E BOGEN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >From the Ramsey County website - this should easily answer the question on Commissioner Ortega's position (I recommend everyone go to the website - there is a direct link to info on the smoking ban and it begins in less than a month) Last September 2004, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to adopt a Smoke-Free Ordinance prohibiting smoking in restaurants (Smoke-Free Ordinance Overview). All licensed food service establishments in Ramsey County including the cities of Saint Paul, Maplewood and New Brighton must comply with the smoke-free ordinance. The smoke-free ordinance allows bars and private clubs to apply for an exemption if they qualify according to ordinance guidelines. To help the public identify whether or not smoking is permitted, proprietors of all food and beverage establishments must post appropriate signage in their facilities. Gloria Bogen [EMAIL PROTECTED] West Side = Best Side ----Original Message Follows---- From: M Charles Swope To: [email protected] Subject: [StPaul] Smoking Ban - Candidates' Positions Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 07:16:28 -0800 (PST) Have either Coleman or Ortega (we already know about Kelly)stated a position on the smoking ban issue? Does anyone know what their positions might be? Speaking of which, yet another city, Philadelphia, is getting ready to enact a comprehensive ban, i.e., one that includes bars as well as restaurants. The same arguments are being raised there as we heard here. A survey in Philadelphia had 31% of respondents stating that they'd be more likely to go out to a bar or restaurant if smoking was banned while only 6% stated they'd be less likely to do so. But the bar owners still oppose the ban despite all the evidence accumulating from cities with bans that patronage actually increases after a ban. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/11076631.htm Let's hope that with a new mayor, we can finally get a ban in place here in St. Paul. It's obvious that it's not going to happen at the state level this session. Charlie Swope Ward 1 --------------------------------- Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday! Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
