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Well, we lost the repeal by ONE vote. The Progressive Dane pukes win again.

I can't wait to hear Vicki McKenna lose it on the radio today. Next step? Civil Disobedience by bar owners and patrons and moving as many businesses OUT of Madison as possible.

Madison keeps smoking ban

By Lee Sensenbrenner
September 21, 2005

The Madison City Council decided early today to keep the ban on smoking in taverns intact and not go to a referendum on the issue.

The attempt to repeal the ban failed by a narrow margin - 9 for repeal to 10 against it. The Council rejected the plan to take the issue to the voters in a spring referendum, with only 5 votes for a referendum and 14 against.

A proposal to allow bars temporary hardship exemptions if they can prove that the ban has significantly hurt their business also was not approved, or acted upon, during the overnight meeting.

Speaker after speaker took the podium, four minutes at a time, alternately telling those dozing around them in the Council chambers that it was about paying bills, or it was about health, or it was about being an American and making your own choices.

For Madison decision makers, the issue appears finally to be over. For those fighting the ban, the next step they pledged was to push for less restrictive statewide smoking rules, although Gov. Jim Doyle has said he is resistant to the idea.

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories//index.php?ntid=54901&ntpid=2