My wife and I don’t smoke.  We don’t go places where there is a lot of smoking. I would guess that I haven’t been in W.F. Cody’s since the eighties.  But that doesn’t mean that Cody’s should be forced to change its entire business plan to accommodate the preferences of people who don’t go to Cody’s anyway.

Cindy and I vote with our feet every day.  No one forces us to go to a particular restaurant or club.  We go if we choose to go. We go WHERE we choose to go.  That’s the pesky little “pursuit of happiness” phrase that is in the Declaration of Independence.  Yet there is a group of do-gooders who are determined to interfere with everyone else’s pursuit of happiness.

When the smoking ban was first introduced, it was to great fanfare that it was a “workplace safety” bill.  When it actually came to members of City Council, it far exceeded anything resembling a workplace safety bill.  If there was ever a bill that defined “mission creep,” it was this one.

It provided that you couldn’t smoke within five feet of a park.  That meant that someone walking down South Campbell several blocks south of Grand could not smoke because the sidewalk was adjacent to Fassnight Park.  Never mind that no one plays in that area of the park except the squirrels—if you were on the sidewalk, you would be forbidden to smoke.

The proponents said they were trying to protect people who were “forced to work” in smoky atmospheres.  Yet, if you drive around behind a restaurant at about 10:30 in the morning before most of them open, you’ll see a lot of employees out back smoking before their shift starts. 

Also, if you talk to restaurant owners, you’ll find that—even with the tough economy we’ve had that last three years, there has still been a lot of turnover among wait staff.  If someone wants to change jobs in the restaurant industry, there are always plenty of opportunities.

At a time where we are trying to preserve every job possible in Springfield and bring new ones here besides, this intrepid band of do-gooders has crafted a petition that would put at least two and possibly more businesses out of existence. 

In fact, the owner of Just for Him showed me a letter he had received from the City of Battlefield indicating they had just built a new commercial mall and would love to have his business as one of the anchors.  The surrounding towns are looking at Springfield and plotting how to get more of our businesses and, yes, jobs to transfer out of town to their communities.  As a Springfield Council member, I’m beginning to feel like MSU every three or four years when the basketball coach gets plucked away to more welcoming environments.  If passed, this ban will cause us in Springfield to lose jobs.

Finally, this bill has been publicized as “protecting kids.”  While that’s a laudable goal, it just doesn’t measure up.  If you look at one business alone, the Bingo Emporium, you find that several charities share the building and provide bingo games in order to raise money for children’s organizations.  According to records, over $200,000 was donated to charities dealing with Springfield’s young people this last year.  Also, according to their records, 17% of the revenues came from the smoking section of the bingo parlor.  The smoking section has a separate ventilation system and the people who work in that area are all volunteers.

However, these numbers demonstrate that, if the smoking ban passes, groups such as Big Brothers, Hillcrest Band, and the Boys and Girls Clubs will all lose 17% of the donations from last year.

This means $34,000 will NOT go to local charities serving Springfield’s young people if this ban passes.

People who smoke and play bingo will not give up smoking and continue to play bingo.  Rather, they will drive an extra 10 minutes and go to Republic—where there are bingo parlors that allow smoking.  And our young people will suffer for that.

Finally, let me say that a business owner has a number of significant decisions to make as he or she starts the business.  One of the first is the market segment to attract.  Smokers comprise only about 20% of the total population.  But if a business owner wishes to cater only to 20% of the market, that is a decision the business owner should make—not an outside special interest group.

In the second paragraph, I indicated that Cindy and I vote with our feet every day. We have the freedom to make our own choices as to the businesses we support. This so-called smoking ban will reduce our freedom and the freedom of every other citizen in Springfield.

I will vote no next week.