Posted on 12/30/2002 4:06:27 PM PST by Hell to pay
Pueblo bar owners smolder over upcoming smoking ban
Pueblo City Council President Mike Occhiato says it's the most volatile local issue he's ever seen. Pueblo's strict new smoking ban is set to go into effect on January 1st. It will ban smoking in all public places.
A group of bar owners is circulating petitions needed to stop the ordinance from even going into effect. They're confident they'll get the 3200 signatures needed to stop the ordinance and then put it to a vote of the people.
Occhiato says the opposition aimed at him and fellow council members has been loud and angry. "I think Mr. Schilling was physically removed (from one establishment). Dr. Sova had a guest that went to Rosario's and he was told not to come back." But he says he thinks the emotions will ease after awhile. He says most of the calls to City Hall are in favor of the ban. "I'd say we receive 25 to 30 to one to have the total enforcement on the smoking ban." Occhiato says if the opposition gathers enough signatures to force a vote and then the public overturns it at an election, the council members would consider some exemptions to it. That might include allowing smoking in restaurants provided the smokers were in a separate room with special ventilation, and allowing family owned businesses where only family members work to decide if they want to allow smoking. One of the goals of the ordinance was to protect workers from second-hand smoke.
The four City Council members who approved Pueblo's new public smoking ban now want to discuss relaxing it to allow special smoking rooms in bars and other businesses.
Council President Mike Occhiato announced the news at council's Monday night meeting. He said the ban approved two weeks ago is stricter than those of most other cities in Colorado and new ones in New York and Boston.
The bans in those cities allow smoking in separately ventilated smoking rooms which employees do not have to enter. Pueblo's ban, which goes into effect Jan. 1, does not allow for the smoking rooms.
The ban forbids smoking in all enclosed public places, including bars and restaurants, and gives employees the right to smoke-free workplaces. The ban does not apply to tobacco shops or private clubs.
A group of bar and restaurant owners and other Pueblo residents, called Puebloans for Common Sense In Government, has formed to fight the ban. The group is gathering petition signatures for a ballot question repealing the ban and other petitions to recall the four council members who voted for it: Occhiato, Ted Lopez Jr., Bill Sova and Bob Schilling.
Occhiato said Steve Martinez, a former council member and the owner of the Klamm's Shell restaurant/bar, agreed to organize a group of business owners, smoking ban backers and opponents to work out a compromise.
"It would be the purpose of this group to draft a proposal that meets the needs of all citizens and restaurant owners who serve hard liquor," he said.
Occhiato said that if a compromise isn't reached, he fears that a citizen's initiative may emerge with an even stricter smoking ban, one which would be even more harmful to hospitality businesses.
Occhiato also said the recall effort against him and the other three council members had nothing to do with wanting to relax the ban for smoking rooms.
"If they want to recall me, that's just fine," he said.
Sova said allowing smoking rooms with separate ventilation systems answers the fears of bar owners who worry about losing all their customers.
"This gives them a way out," he said.
Sova said the smoking-room provision, if it becomes part of the smoking ordinance, is needed wether the Puebloans for Common Sense in Government referendum on the ban is successful or not.
But Occhiato said a compromise must not gut the basic thrust of the ban, protecting employees and the public from second-hand smoke.
"My main interest is the impact of smoking on the community," he said.
Council members Pat Avalos and Al Gurule chided the four on their change in position.
Avalos said he was "concerned" that the four voted for the ban and later wanted to talk about compromise after the city has been polarized by the issue.
"How do you unring the bell?" Gurule said.
Would this hypocrite tell a lie???
Occhiato says if the opposition gathers enough signatures to force a vote and then the public overturns it at an election, the council members would consider some exemptions to it.
Don't you understand the phrase "OVERTURNED BY THE VOTERS???
I would love to shove a lit cigarette up this guys.....whatever.
Stay safe; stay armed.
An offer to soften the city's new ban on public smoking may not cushion the ire of people unhappy about the new ordinance.
City Council President Mike Occhiato and council members Bill Sova, Ted Lopez Jr. and Bob Schilling said in a joint statement Monday night that they would consider changing the ban to allow smoking in special rooms.
They want people for and against the ban, which takes effect Jan. 1, to meet and craft a compromise that still protects employees and non-smokers.
The ordinance forbids smoking in any enclosed place open to the public or to which the public is invited. The measure also guarantees employees a smoke-free workplace.
Don Gray, owner of Gray's Coors Tavern and co-chairman of the group fighting the ban, said Tuesday that he still wants to repeal the ban and recall the four council members.
"They're trying to do what they think is right," Gray said of the four council members. "But in my opinion, they realize they've made a big mistake and they don't know how to get out of it. They're grasping at straws."
"I don't think that really changes the aspect of the thing much at all," said Ted Calantino, the group's other co-chairman and owner of the Irish Pub.
The group, Puebloans for Common Sense In Government, had petition language approved last week to have the ban voided and allow city residents to vote on keeping it or replacing it with the city's previous smoking ordinance. The group also had petition language approved Friday to recall Sova and had three more approved Monday to recall Occhiato, Lopez and Schilling.
Some bar and restaurant owners are afraid the ban will force smokers out of their establishments. Others, smokers and even some nonsmokers, think the ban is wrong because they see smoking as an individual right.
"There are a lot of irate citizens out there who are not smokers," Calantino said.
The council members said public smoking needs to be banned because secondhand smoke is toxic to employees and other customers.
Occhiato said Monday night that the four council members agreed to talk about allowing separately ventilated smoking rooms in businesses because Pueblo's ban is stricter than most smoking bans throughout the country. Several cities with similar bans allow smoking rooms that have their own ventilation systems and aren't worked by employees.
The move wasn't a reaction to the recall threat, Occhiato said.
Gray said the offer to allow smoking rooms doesn't change his feelings. Coors Tavern is a long, thin bar/restaurant and he said separating part of it for smokers wouldn't be easy.
He would consider a better ventilation system, Gray said, but he doesn't like having to do it because government says so.
"The whole bottom line is them dictating what we do and don't do in our businesses," he said.
Calantino said he wonders who will pay for what his bar loses while a smoking room is built and customers get used to the change. He also said that if council wants to really lead the community in some way, it should get the economy going.
It hasn't been hard getting people to sign the referendum and recall petitions, according to Gray and Calantino. They hope to have the petitions for the referendum on voiding the ban finished by Friday so the ban never goes into effect.
The group needs 3,321 signatures from registered voters living in the city of Pueblo in order to force the ban to be suspended and, separately, for a citizen's initiative to place a smoking-friendly measure on the ballot.
To force a recall of the four council members, the group will need the following numbers of signatures from the district represented by that particular council member, or the city as a whole for at-large council members:
- Occhiato, at large, 2,631
- Sova, at large, 2,409
- Lopez, District 4, 1,075
- Schilling, District 2, 948.
Gray said he has several sheets of 44 signatures each for the referendum just from people coming to his bar.
"People are coming and asking to sign the petition," he said.
Puebloans eagerly are signing petitions aimed at overturning the city's recently passed smoking-ban ordinance, according to a co-chairman of the group spearheading the petition drive
Don Gray, owner of Gray's Coors Tavern and co-chairman of Puebloans for Common Sense in Government, said Thursday that nearly 500 petitions have been circulated, calling for a citizens' vote (to overturn the smoking-ban) and "the petitions are coming in like crazy to (attorney Joe) Losavio's office today.”
Gray said each petition can hold 44 signatures, meaning 500 petitions could have up to 22,000 signatures.
All the group needs, though, is 3,322 valid signatures turned into the city clerk's office by Jan. 8. That number represents 15 percent of the ballots cast in the last municipal election.
If the clerk's office certifies the petitions as valid, the smoking ban will be placed on hold until a public vote can be held, City Clerk Gina Dutcher said Thursday.
Once the petitions are turned in, Dutcher said, the city will have up to 10 days to verify the signatures as those of local qualified voters.
Given the time and verification guidelines, the ordinance mandating the smoking ban in public places theoretically could take effect on Jan. 1 and last through Jan. 18, although Dutcher doubts it would take 10 days to verify signatures because of the city's computer and staff capabilities.
If the petitions are sufficient, Dutcher said, City Council would have to decide whether to put the smoking-ban question to the public in a special election, or at the next regular election in November.
She said she think's council would forgo a special election since that would cost about $50,000, and allow voters to decide the issue on Nov. 5.
Puebloans for Common Sense in Government, which is made up of restaurant and bar owners as well as other Pueblo residents, also is doing well in its effort to recall the four city councilmen - President Mike Occhiato, Ted Lopez Jr., Bob Schilling and Bill Sova - who voted for the ban on Dec. 9, according to Gray.
"The recall petitions are being signed as we speak. Some are being taken door-to-door in certain neighborhoods. Others are being placed in restaurants and bars,” Gray said.
The group has no deadline to obtain signatures for a recall, according to Dutcher.
She said the number of qualified-voter signatures - 2,630 for Occhiato, 2,401 for Sova, 1,076 for Lopez and 948 for Schilling - represents 40 percent of the votes cast for each. Those are the numbers that would be needed to force a recall vote.
If enough valid signatures are gathered, Dutcher said, a special election to decide the recall questions and possibly elect new council members would be scheduled.
To run for the seats were they to become vacant, Dutcher said, a person running in a district would have to obtain 50 signatures of qualified voters, while at-large candidates would require 100.
People wanting to run could not be connected to the recall process in any way, said Dutcher.
There would be no limit on the number of people who could petition onto the ballot, she said.
A Pueblo restaurant denies a City Council member's claim that the restaurant will turn away supporters of the city's new smoking ban.
Tony Ianne of Rosario's Restaurant said Saturday that the claim by Councilman Mike Occhiato "never happened."
The allegation was aired on a local television news station's Web site.
"It never happened. I wouldn't compromise my business for a political issue," Ianne said.
Ianne said several customers called to respond to the article, which quotes Occhiato as saying another councilman, Bill Sova, told him that a guest was told not to come back to the restaurant.
Ianne called the claim the result of a miscommunication between Occhiato and Sova, who are among the council members who supported the smoking ban.
It's pretty obvious this socialist councilman is scared for his job of hurting local businessmen. Just like Crin-ton, lying is acceptable to accomplish your dastardly agenda.
More BS! People go to work in bars knowing full well there will be smoking. If they can't stand smoke, they can choose to work someplace else. It's a wonder I have lived as long as I have, hanging out in smokey bars and discos when I was growing up! This is all BS!
I like it too! Finally, the people are standing up to the nico-nazi's! Finally, the business owner SEES what is happening in other states and they are taking action to protect their lifes work. It's not up to the City Council or the lawmakers! It should be left in the hands of the business owner who has bought and paid for his own business to run it the way he sees fit.
It's about time the people are seeing through the "smoke screen" of the control freaks who sit on councils.
It's also past time for business owners to wake up. The anti's have lied that their business will get better. It only gets worse. How do they figure that by cutting out 25-30% of your customers is going to produce better revenue. If anyone believes this..I have a bridge I can sell them.
SheLion: Where the hell you been? We were worried.
You’re not going to believe this. I am sitting here in a wheel chair, after taking a fall Saturday night, out in the cold garage on a cement floor! Went to the ER in an ambulance. Broke three bones in my right foot, and my knee is as big as a football. I have to go to the Ortho tomorrow to see what can be done. Hubby took off work, because I am literally helpless. This is the first I have been online since Saturday. It wears me out to be up too long. Great way to celebrate the New Year, eh? hehe!
And I swear to God I wasn't drinking. It was a freak!
"It was said that Hancock had sworn not 'to sell or to drink wine polluted by the payments of unconstitutional duties.' But rather than become a teetotaler, John Hancock took the easier course and became a smuggler. In June 1768, the customhouse got wind of his activities, boarded his ship Liberty and demanded to see its cargo. Hancock and his men showed scant respect for these officials of His Royal Majesty. They locked them up in the cabin, landed the cargo, and when the work was done heaved the custom-house officers overboard. Meanwhile the mob had learned what was going on at Hancock's wharf; and to punish the customhouse officers for their presumption seized the Collector and the Controller, drove them through the streets, and dragged the Collector's son along by the hair of his head. The Commissioners of the Customs did not wait for their turns to come; they fled to Castle William and thus put three miles of blue water between themselves and the Boston Sons of Liberty."
This needs to be voted on by Business Owners not the general public, their the ones whos business is going to be affected by the outcome of the vote. I thank the owners need to have a say in something that will affect their pocket book............
Ah, to hell with it.
Go, Pueblo. Go!
I was busy bloviating further on in the thread and just saw your post!
Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out. In the meantime, hope these cheer you a little:
So do I, too bad there's not a swamp these councilpersons can be shuttled to to discuss the issue in depth.......
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