City Holds Hearing On Smoking Ban
(A Telegraph Report)
City officials held the first of several public hearings Tuesday morning on a proposed smoking ban in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
About 35 people in attendance seemed fairly evenly split between those who favored the ordinance and those opposed. Several sported “Clean Air St. Joseph” shirts as well as “United Freedom Coalition” shirts.
City Manager Bruce Woody (picture at right) opens discussion on the proposed ordinance.
Health Director Debra Bradley (on Mr. Woody’s right) explained the ordinance would ban smoking in all restaurants; but allow it in the casino, small bars and allow it in larger bars that provide seperate ventilanted smoking and non-smoking sections.
Bob Meeks, co-founder of the United Freedom Coalition, said the issue is about freedom.
Steve Holdenreid expressed concerns for workers breathing second hand smoke at their workplace.
Former City Council Member Mike Bozarth said a ban would erode property rights. “The Health Director said about 84% of local restaurants are already smoke free. The business owner should be allowed to decide.”
Bozarth also called for a “Truth In Smoking” ordinance that would require businesses to post whether or not smoking is allowed inside on entrance doors as a compromise.
An estimated 31% of city residents are smokers.
Adam Brown also defended property owners and their rights.
Several people spoke to the rights of property owners to decide, including Peggy Crabtree; Tom Cobb of Acme Music, Dave Richardson of Southside Family Fun Center, Jeff Cook of The Rear View, among others.
Sara Summers of Clean Air St. Joe claimed health benefits in seeking to ban smoking in restaurants and bars.
Darrell Meeker defended smokers being able to do so in their homes, but likened smoking in public to a dog urinating on someone’s shoes.
Downtown resident Jim Sonkin says he only patronizes establishments that ban inside smoking.
Council Member Pat Jones, a non-smoker, said she favored putting a smoking ban to a public vote.
Besides Council Member Jones, Mayor Bill Falkner and Deputy Mayor Byron Meyers were also in attendance.
Six more public hearings will be held in the Council Chambers: tonight at 7 p.m.; 3 p.m. Feb. 7th; 7 p.m. Feb. 11th; 9 a.m. Feb. 15th; 3 p.m. Feb. 20th; and 7 p.m. Feb. 25th.
A property owner should be able to make the decision as to whether they allow smoking on their property or not. Why do some people want to play God?
If 86% of the restaurants in St. Joe already do not allow smoking, what the hell is the big deal? Why not allow the remaining 14% to cater to the 31% of St. Joe’s population that smoke?
Why are there always some people who want to impose their will over others?
One would think if they were going to have public hearings on this the City Council might show up and listen to what we have to say. Maybe they just want it to appear like they care what we think. They are probably more concerned about getting reelected that representing the people. Mayor Falkner is about the only one who looks like he really cares.
The City Council should put this up for a public vote.
If smoking is a legal activity, why can’t property owners decided what to allow on their own property?
Why is “Clean Air St. Joe” stirring all this up? How would they like it if smokers wanted to pass a law FORCING them to ALLOW smoking on their own property?
This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled writer. I have joined your rss feed. Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
If St. Joe is holding Public Hearings to see what we want, why aren’t the Council Members attending to find out???
I don’t smoke and I never have. But businesses should be able to decide what to allow on their own property!
More laws and more laws.
Meanwhile our freedom goes down the drain.
I think they should let the public vote on this.
Every time we have the government pass more laws we lose more freedom. Property rights suffer with smoking bans. This will only allow more erosion of our rights and freedom.
What will get banned next? Chocolate? Soft drinks? Heck, there are so many unhealthy things out there, what are they going to do–ban them all?
I think they should ban people wanting to control what other people do!!!
I think too many people here aren’t understanding what is going on. At least the city cares enough to hold public hearings.
Candace, I understand what is going on perfectly. One group of people what to take another group of people’s rights away.
Money has been pouring into St Joe from federal grants to push the smoking ban. This money comes in through a grant to the City, and grants into the Heartland Foundation, to be used to lobby for a ban. This money is distributed into numerous groups so it will appear to be “grassroots”. There is NOTHING grassroots about this!
The use of federal funds, even when it is mixed with local funds, to hide it’s origin, for lobbying purposes is illegal. Groups involved are the Chamber of Commerce, the Social Welfare Board, Healthy Communities, Healthy Partnerships, Clean Air St Joe,
some media, the Community Foundation, and charities that we USED to think were using our donations to “find a cure”. We now know that they are simply lobby groups.
Myself, and everyone I know are boycotting these “charities” now, and we are boycotting the buying of all Johnson and Johnson products, as it is THEIR “philanthropic arm” the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who started all this when they cornered the nicotine repalcement product market some years ago.
J&J stock valued has soared since they started the marketing campaign of demonizing and ostracizing smokers. Since they cannot legally lobby for legislation, their “Foundation” does it for them. Now the useless patches and gums of J&J are bought by our government and are handed out for free to people for several weeks to get them hooked on the nicotine of J&J. The CDC, has on their foundation board a current member of the board of J&J, Dr Robert Satcher, announces on their site that these patches and gums work, and they announce that people should go and buy these products! The CDC is now the marketing arm of J&J, and our local governments are the strong arm for them!
The ONLY health this is about, is the health of the bottom line of one of the biggest pharma companies in the world, and every grant sponging “foundation”, “non profit”, local government grant moocher, bought off politician, or Ms Goody Two Shoes, who will lie for grants!
And they lie about second hand smoke, they lie about business losses, and they say it’s “for the children”. BALDERDASH!
The Council should ONLY consider a smoking ban, IF the groups pushing this present them with a legal petition, certified legally. If these people want a ban law then let them do the work to prove it. Why is the CIty giving them a free ride?????
This smacks of Jim Crow without the separate but equal. it is a clear violation of the fifth and the fourteenth amendments. . . ” nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” If you allow this what is next? Banning fat people from eating fast food? Be careful what you wish for, if you allow them to tell a private business on private property who they must cater to and who they can’t cater to there is no limit to what they can dictate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFHnXgvI0Q
What you have here is federal money that has been given to Missouri, then to these clean air folks to lobby for a ban. Whether or not they actually get a ban, all taxpayers will be paying for this. You have government paying to lobby itself. Not the wisest use of taxpayer money.
I hope the St Joe council gets their heads out of the clouds and recognize what this will do to the small businesses in their community. Here in O’Fallon, we have lost 9 businesses and others have refused to open here due to the ban voten in by less than 10% of the electorate. The sad thing is, this is opening the door to government and special interests controling every aspect of private enterprise. Hide and watch as our rights to a free and open society are gradually eroded away!
The “testimony” in the last hearing was interesting and I made some notes.
1. Janet schwoors (?) said she gives talks in schools on anti tobacco. Does she do that for free or dies she get paid from anti tobacco funds? She also stated that SHE is from outside St Joe. She spoke last.
2. Mr Iberra, of Springfield gave you an honest assesment of the impact of the ban there. He was immediately, PERSONALLY attacked by a Mr John Hickman, in an attempt to discredit his assesment. Do you NOW see why people are afraid to fight back? Who is Mr John Hickman or is that pro ban Mr Hitman? (I still feel nauseated this morning from watching that last night!)
3. Mr Steve Holder stated “that this is the way democracy works”. (That is getting the Council to vote with the perceived mob.) The way this works is that in this REPUBLIC government was created to protect the individual FROM MOB RULE. Mobs do not need government, individuals do.
4. Mr Steve Hamilton stated that the Board of the Chamber supports the ban. They had to since the Chamber members, of the stated 2,500, only 150 imformed the Chamber that they support the ban! The Chamber must be in a bit of a tight spot. One side the well funded non profit Heartland, on the other, the tax paying, job creating, community supporting Frontier Casino. Mr Hamilton’s Board must be an interesting mix of Heartland supporters?
5. Dr Stuber wants smoking banned. Not smoking bans. I agree with him! If you are going to do anything, ban the selling of all tobacco products in St Joe, and all the smoking everywhere, including in cars and in homes.
6. Ms Wilson, the sickly massage lady, wants a ban. She states she “had” to work at the Olive Garden.
7. Mr David Rich (Rick) doesn’t want to smell smoke. So he wants a ban in bars.
8. Casey Ayers got to talk for 7 minutes! She talked about “invisible molecules”. Is she a rocket scientist?
9. Jason Fraeze (?) says business is booming in Omaha. Please call Big John’s Billiards in Omaha if you want to know how business is doing in Omaha. It isn’t booming!
10. Sarah Summers said she “reviewed ALL research on smoking ban damage” and it showed “no negative impact”. I sent to the Council a long list of studies on smoking ban damage, which I hope you have read. Why would Ms Summners make this untrue statement? She gets paid to. Ms Summers said she “worked her way through college in a smokey bar”, and yet, there she stood before you, all pink and healthy.
I hope you all paid particular attention to their vigorous defense of their lobbying. You see, this is THEIR income. They will do or say anything to keep the grant funds rolling in! As well educated as these people profess they are, I wonder how they can keep from laughing at people who buy their “advocacy isn’t lobbying” baloney! “It isn’t lobbying until there is a Bill”! Amazing!
I feel sick to my stomach about Mr Hickman. Did he look up records on all people who were there testifying? Scary how low they will go.
The best thing to do is let the free market decide. We will always have one Council person who is operating with pro ban groups. We had one in Topeka, Ms Swank, who, after she lost her next election, got a cushy job with the non profits!
The state of Kentucky, yesterday, refused to put the ban on a floor vote and put it back in Committee. Reps announced that they thought this interferred with property rights.
I say that is an understatement. When you put this together, with all the federal and non profit funding, with the outright lies about “science” being fed the Council, by people who don’t think you can read, you must have started to wonder, how MUCH money is moving around in this pro ban industry? And you MUST be wondering why “public health” employees are producing economic studies, rather than economists.
Something stinks in St Joe, and it isn’t just the “southend factories”!
Thank you to those who do read and who do care.
Sheila Martin
Small business owner
I wanted to thank you for this fantastic read!
! I certainly enjoyed every little bit of it. I’ve got you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
An Open Letter To Interim Chamber President Steve Hamilton
I enjoyed our conversation a couple of weeks ago in which you were very informative and helpful. I understand the Chamber mailed out 2500 informational surveys and you received back 300 in favor of the Clean Air St Joe program. You said that this is approximately 10% of your membership and you announced that to the city and the media. Although I view the chamber as a well-run organization, my concern is 2200 members evidently feel this survey was a waste of time, since they did not complete and return to you. My thought is they did not wish to send any message to small business that would make them feel they are being treated unfairly, since they would not be “exempt” as would be the boat.
Let’s define small business. When this man started out all he had was a few cars, some business cards and his name. His marketing and sales skills made his business grow to one of the largest car dealers in this town. I’m speaking of a man who is not a member of the Chamber, Cecil Myers. I do not believe that Cecil,” the dealer with a heart”, along with any of your members, which are the bigger auto dealers in town, want to send a message to the St. Joseph small business, “We don’t want you in town”. And if that is true, let’s talk to some of your 2200 members that are the large real estate companies such as Coldwell Banker, Prudential Summers Realty, Reece Nichols and don’t forget the smaller ones like One Home Realty. I don’t believe they want to send the message “We don’t want small business in our town”. Now, let’s talk about auto insurance companies such as American Family, State Farm, Allstate and I can go on and on. This Chamber was not, nor will ever be built to slap the face of any small business to make this town more progressive. A prime example is the federal violation the city is now encumbered in by allowing federal funds to be used to lobby the council on the smoking ban issue. Missouri Western State University has acted much the same by ignoring two separate student elections on whether or not to allow smoking on campus. Both times the result was to allow smoking. MWSU did not like that outcome so elected to take a vote of the faculty senate to determine the outcome of this issue and any students caught smoking on campus were threatened to not receive their diploma. This comes from a very reliable source within MWSU. To the best of my knowledge, MWSU applies for and accepts federal funding .And amazingly is also listed as a sponsor of Clean Air St. Joe.
Before this gets very embarrassing to over 2200 of your most valuable members and making them look uninformed by the city and the biased media, I feel it is your responsibility to let this city manager know that your Chamber members request that he do his responsibility of closing this matter down completely. If you will look at the letter I have sent to the city you will see it was accepted and stamped February 15, 2013. Therefore any further statements by this city manager, health department employee, city council or mayor may have to go before the Justice Department and I do not believe this is what they really want or is in their best interest.
I look forward to an announcement from you to the city manager and media that this Chamber in no way lets 300 members, including the paid coordinator of CASJ and one councilman who is also an ambassador to CASJ, to say “ stay out of St. Joseph” and end this farce today if at all possible. Steve, I thank you for your valuable time and any help you may give. Let’s stay “St. Joe Proud”.
Bob Meeks, United Freedom Coalition
St. Joseph
I thank you for keeping us informed. Hopefully the city council will just leave the policy as it is.