Fake Smoking Ban

This just in: the Springfield City Council passes an ordinance allowing peeing in only in designated parts of pools and call it compromise!

The SJ-R has the recap of last night’s City Council committee meeting wherein aldermen voted to allow a much, much diluted version of the proposed comprehensive smoking ban to go before the full City Council tonight.

The public affairs committee voted 3-2 to exempt bars, bar areas of restaurants, bar areas of bowling alleys, banquet rooms, private clubs, stage productions, non-health-care home businesses and tobacco retail stores from Ward 10 Ald. Bruce Strom's ordinance.

Under the amended ordinance, smoking would be banned only in the eating area of restaurants. In the bar areas, smoking would be allowed within 10 feet of the bar.

Strom's version of the ordinance banned smoking in all indoor workplaces except hotel rooms, private nursing home rooms and non-health-care home businesses.

Ward 9 Ald. Tom Selinger…introduced the amendments.

Oh, how super cool. This crappy piece of legislation does little more than codify the status quo. It’s not a compromise, it’s total capitulation to the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association.

I’m pleased to announce that my alderman. Tom Selinger, probably just lost my vote next time around (I say probably only because there is always the possibility that some right-wing, Bill O’Reilly lovin’ lunatic might surface to oppose him).

I was also interested in this passage from the SJ-R article:

Ward 2 Ald. Frank McNeil, who has leaned against any smoking ban, said he would consider such a compromise but wanted to know that restaurant owners would be OK with it.

Hey, Frank, how about considering what the majority of your constituents want rather than a few business interests. Sheesh. He says it without hesitation; he’s more interested in pleasing the (needlessly) frightened business owners than doing what’s right for the people who elected him.

The full City Council votes on this fraud tonight.