Posted on 01/06/2003 6:58:16 AM PST by SheLion
It's been in place for five years now, but many Yuba-Sutter bar owners and patrons said they have yet to become accustomed to California's ban on smoking in bars.
At establishments such as Stassi's Fourth Ward Tavern in Marysville this weekend, business owners were still fuming over the ban, which took effect in January 1998.
The ban - a first for the nation - was intended to protect bartenders from health risks posed by second-hand smoke.
Yet Roy Newlove, the owner of Stassi's for roughly 10 years, said it does nothing more than slow business and cause headaches for his employees. Like many, Newlove called the ban a misguided attempt to protect public health.
"I think if the government helps me one more time I'll be out of business," Newlove said as most of his customers nodded in agreement.
Many bar owners throughout the area agreed the ban is a nuisance that has diminished the charm of going out for a drink.
Debbie and Doug Erhardt, the owners of Field and Stream Tavern in Marysville, said business has fallen off by as much as $2,000 on weekends since the ban took effect.
Fewer people want to go to Field and Stream now because the smoking ban forces them to go outside whenever they want to have a cigarette, Debbie Erhardt said.
"Nobody wants to go outside in 100 degree weather or in the cold," Erhardt said.
Ernie Leach, owner of the Corner Bar in Yuba City, said the ban has not been a major obstacle to building a clientele. Since he opened the bar a year ago, Leach said he never had to face the difficulty of telling loyal customers to put out their cigarettes.
However, the ban often causes him to force customers outside when they want to light up, Leach said.
"I have people complain about it all the time, but they just have to go outside," Leach said. "I think a person ought to have a choice and especially at a place called a bar."
The ban also has caused frustration among bartenders, who say it has added stress to their jobs.
Nancy Simpson, 40, a bartender at Jack's Tavern in Marysville, said the ban hurts bartenders who smoke by forcing them to leave their customers behind whenever they want to light up.
The ban also encourages smokers to sneak drinks outside the bars so they can drink while smoking, she said.
"They walk out with their drinks and then I have to ask them to leave," Simpson said.
Newlove said the ban also adds noise to streets and creates unsightly - and sometimes unruly - crowds outside bars.
"As soon as you've got everybody outside you lose control," Newlove said.
Some bar owners have managed to circumvent the ban by taking advantage of areas not covered in its language. Since the ban is intended to protect bar employees - and not bar owners - some entrepreneurs have exempted themselves from the ban by making all of their employees part owners.
Since they technically have no employees, owner-operated establishments can apply for exemptions through county agencies.
In Sutter County, there are at least three bars which have obtained such exemptions. They include Yuba City bars such as the Spur, Dowers Tavern and the 21 Club.
No information was available Saturday on whether there were any owner-operated bars in Yuba County.
Mary Benedict, a part owner of the Spur, criticized the ban and said the exemption has helped her clientele stay steady.
"You're supposed to be able to smoke and drink in a bar," Benedict said. "Governments hurt small businesses too much anyway."
Some bar owners in Marysville said exemptions in Yuba City bars have affected their businesses.
George Matsuda, the owner of Daikoku restaurant in Marysville, said fewer customers want to come to the bar in his business.
"The people that like to smoke, they've got to leave and go to a place where they can smoke," Matsuda said.
Bar patrons also criticized the ban. Some called it an infringement on their civil liberties.
Smoking outside Stassi's Fourth Ward on Saturday, Strawberry Valley resident Dennis Travis, 61, said the ban sometimes makes him think of moving to a state where smoking bans aren't in effect.
Travis said public officials are going too far in their attempts to eliminate health risks.
"We're trying too hard to protect people," Travis said.
Marysville resident Carl Supler, 59, said the ban is an affront to veterans who fought in foreign wars in an effort to preserve civil liberties.
"It's just one more of our freedoms taken away," Supler said. "We fought for this country and most of us didn't come back. Now we've got these bleeding hearts telling us what we can and can't do."
Not calling you a liar, but I seriously doubt you know the histories of all the restaurants in your area. I'm very active in the industry, and I don't know them all. However, I DO know the restaurants that were hurt most were the small neighborhood mom & pop places where locals hung out. Those upscale and "moderate" restaurants are, for the most part, chains which can weather the damage done by bans until the small places go under and a certain percentage of their previous customers find other places to go. Bigger and slicker is not always better, and all you have to do is ask those hardworking, taxpaying business people who have lost their life savings and their livelihoods trying to partake of the American Dream. Most folks who think like you do don't give a fig about them, tho, as long as you're happy.
That may be literally true, but it's not accurate. After the ban went into effect in 1998, at least three businesses I know of went "private," selling memberships and following all stated laws. They were sued out of business for reasons ranging from "unfair business practices" to noise complaints. I have their names and addresses if you doubt it. Other "private" clubs such as the VFW are not permitted to allow smoking and many have simply closed. In smokeshops it's legal for both employees and customers to smoke--guess those workers don't count. Even so, more than 135 tobacconists in the People's Republik of Kalifornia have closed their doors forever. Guess they don't count, either.
I believe this encroachment on liberty started with changing the definitions of words which, over time, changed values. A simplistic explanation, but true nonetheless.
"Smoking is a habit" was changed to "Smoking is an addiction," which led to "Smokers are junkies who don't deserve first class status like the rest of us."
"I don't like the smell of smoke" became "You stink and everyone hates you," followed by "You're killing me and everyone around you."
"Private property which caters to the public" became "public places" thereby allowing restrictions on a whim by any group with power.
Those who have been inundated with "newspeak" from their earliest memories will have very different values about many things than those of us who studied history as participants.
Big Daddy government will protect us from all annoyances, threats, etc.
My POV: Very bad idea for those things we should be able to do ourselves because once they have the power, right or wrong, they will never give it up.
New POV: Wonderful. Takes all necessity for autonomy and responsibility away--I can be a child again and let someone else take care of me while I play.
New and bigger is better.
My POV: A disposable society is never better than building on tradition.
New POV: If it's new and shiny and "fun," it's great! No matter that it is all plastic, teaches no values, requires no commitment.
The government knows best.
My POV: The government is the lowest common denominator of our society. I don't want to be ruled by them.
New POV: Majority rules. Neener, neener, neener.
Somehow the once Conservative values of tradition, live-and-let-live, smaller government, etc., have been commandeered by pseudo-conservatives who don't know the difference. And a lot of that corruption was brought about by the War on Smokers. Smokers are the canaries in the coal mine--what you see happening to us WILL be happening to you.
I doubt it.
What really bothers me with the "charitable fund raising" element is how it is being levied.
I can go to the Elks Lodge tonight to play bingo and enjoy my cigarette while playing.
I can go to my church for bingo tomorrow and not be permitted to have a cigarette while playing.
Why is one "charitable fundraiser" different from another???
And the church was denied an exemption from the smoking ban.
Personally I don't see how the state can enforce the smoking ban on church property, but I'm not a lawyer.
You may only be speaking of California but others have expanded the scope of the discussion. I have never understood the mentality that the entire world revolves around the left coast state of California - particularly amongst conservatives.
I have been in California and encountered the the smoking ban - but I live in Delaware and know for fact that the smoking ban here is far more onerous than that in California.
So if there are problems with loss of business in a state as large as California where the majority of people do not have the option of going out of state, the loss of business in a state this small is going to be hundredsfold.
Stop throwing your fast food garbage in my lawn. Because in my case, I have caught the low-life non-smoking slimeballs throwing the trash in my lawn. Non-smokers equal litterers in my book.
They are also low-life drug dealers peddling their crap on the street in front of my house.
Non-smokers are littering drug-dealers.
In my experience it is true - as a non-smoker you are a littering drug-dealer.
oh, so sorry, I'm stereotyping, you might not be a drug dealer - but 99% of non-smokers are littering drug dealers.
Prove it.
Thank goodness perfume doesn't travel many feet like smoke or it would be a worse problem.
It seems to travel pretty far to me. Besides, even if I accept your premise, why don't people in elevators count? Don't tell me you are insensitive to other people's plights.
I love your posts.
I think you should be the declared the official (with medals, parades and CNN specials just to cement the deal) standard bearer of the anti-smoking Jihad.
Perfect, just perfect.
Please, please keep posting.
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