Posted on 11/19/2002 5:03:53 PM PST by SheLion
AUSTIN - After watching nearby Round Rock crack down on smoking in public, Austin Mayor Gus Garcia wants Texas' capital city to do the same.
Garcia today told his staff to work on a smoking ordinance similar to one in Round Rock that bans smoking in nearly all public places, including restaurants.
The measure has been given preliminary approval by the Round Rock City Council and is up for a final vote Nov. 26.
"My position is, I don't want to put an ad in the paper saying, `Hey, Round Rock smokers, you can come to Austin and smoke,' " Garcia said in Tuesday's editions of the Austin American-Statesman.
Garcia -- who has supported a public smoking ban since he was first elected to the Austin City Council in 1991 -- said Austin's council members might have a proposed ordinance to review by early 2003.
Six years ago, the Austin council voted that restaurants must install ventilation systems -- including in bars -- if they wanted to designate smoking sections. Stand-alone bars must designate at least 25 percent of their seating as nonsmoking and have separate ventilation systems.
Previously, the council had voted to ban smoking in restaurants from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and in all city buildings.
Austin's smoking ordinance is rarely enforced. When it is, it is mostly on a complaint basis, said Bob Flocke, spokesman for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department.
Round Rock's ordinance would exempt bars that have beer and wine permits and don't serve food. But bars that serve mixed drinks and generate at least 50 percent of their revenue through alcohol sales would have to meet ventilation, filtration and physical barrier requirements if they wanted to allow smoking.
Many Round Rock restaurateurs argue that a smoking ban will cost them business. But Garcia said some Austin restaurants voluntarily have gone nonsmoking without hurting revenue.
"I've always favored a total ban on smoking in places where people go eat," Garcia said. "Eating is more of a necessity than smoking."
Other cities around the state have considered non-smoking ordinances, including Dallas, which is debating a ban in most public places.
Yes! Ok, so lets list Atlantic City, NJ; New Orleans, LA; Ohio; VA; WVA; GA; KY; TN; SC; NC. These are the states that hit me right off as not bowing down to the anti-smokers pressure.........yet.
One gal said if the anti's tried to ban smoking in New Orleans, they would be laughed right out of town. "My kind of place."
Yes, payback is a bitch.......... just wait to it comes your way.
Maybe we should all retire there......... lets grow their economy.
This should be fought in the courts.
I really appreciate that you can't stand the smell of cigarettes. A lot of people are the same way. We all have our likes and dislikes. But a monster was created with the Tobacco Settlement Money. With that money, to which the smokers who pay taxes on cigarettes are paying 100%, not Big Government and not Big Tobacco, funding went to the state Boards of Health. Out of the state Boards of Health were born Coalitions for a Tobacco Free Everything.
The money was supposed to be spent on tobacco education and to pay for any sick smoker on welfare, SHOULD there be any, but the Coalitions took it a lot higher. They take our money and use it to ban, control, restrict and tax us to high heaven.
They succeeded in banning smoking in restaurants all over Maine in 1999. It seems now that they want to have a complete smoking ban sweep all over the state.
This should not be left up to Boards of Health or City Councils. This should be the decision of the business owner and the desires of his patrons. If an owner makes his place smoke free, that is great. Smokers can choose to go someplace else. But not with government intervention.
The government now wants a complete ban to make a "level playing field." Sound fair to you? I say: if smoking is so bad, just ban the darn stuff and be done with it.
But,,,,,,,we all know they won't do that. There is Gold in dem dar tobacco leaves!
I totally agree.
If I don't smoke, then I will be careful to frequent those places that accommodate my lifestyle. If I like a particular steak at a restaurant that allows smoking, then I have a decision to make, not the government.
All that proves is that 75% of Florida is made up of freedom hating Nazis that want to dictate what goes on in private property.
They may be the majority, but they are damn wrong.
Yes, it is ironic when liberal Austin follows in the footsteps of conservative Round Rock to pass laws that infringe upon property rights.
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