Monday, October 31, 2005
Tomorrow's meeting
Tomorrow's Board of Alderman meeting agenda has been posted on the city's website. Some of the more interesting topics will be the board hiring a receptionist for city hall, the possible creation of a cemetary commission, discussion and possible expenditure for a citizen survey, the city/MSU fire contract, an extension on Northland Cable's franchise liscence, and as always, drainage issues.
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9 comments:
what about the comprehensive plan. will it be there tonight
No that won't be look at until the 2nd November meeting.
When will the smoke-free workplace law be looked at and how will you vote on the issue? I hope that you will stand with the public health community and support this issue and not with business and the tobacco industry.
I'm tentatively in support of the anti-smoking ordinance, but "anonymous," can one not be opposed to the ordinance without being indirectly accused of being a pro-business shill? Believe it or not, there are people who believe that they should be free to allow or disallow smoking within their private establishment. You, of course, are free to disagree, but let's not pretend that this is some Big Tobacco versus the "little guy" issue.
Besides, any restaurant/bar that thinks they're actually going to lose revenue because of the law is seriously mistaken, in my opinion. Do you think people are going to stop going out just because they can't smoke indoors?
Based on the comment in Richard's blog, he seems to be taking the pro-business stance. He believes it is the right of business owners to disregard the public health issue and decide if they should be smoke-free. In my book that is pro-business. I don't think this should be a pro-business vs. the public health discussion. I think this should be doing the right thing vs doing the wrong thing discussion. The right thing to do is protect everyone's right to breathe clean air.
The government has regulated business throughout history when it has come down to a public health issue. Why should the case be different for a substance that is known to cause cancer and kill people.
Richard I hope you will support smoke-free workplace laws in Starkville. I know that I would enjoy the Grill, Harvey's and many more of my favorite places if it was smoke-free. And I am one of the few people that might eat out every night in Starkville.
Anon., I agree with most of your opinions on the matter, I just don't think being "anti-ordinance" is necessarily pro-business because I don't think the ordinance will negatively impact any restaurant/bar. I too would enjoy going out more if this ordinance was in place.
I don't see how anybody could enjoy Harvey's though, smoke-free or not, unless you just have a thing for mediocre food ;)
I think what "Anon" is saying is that most people that oppose smoke-free workplace laws do so because they think it will hurt business.
The idea that the ordinance will hurt businesses is certainly a valid hypothesis, I just don't think that it's correct. I seem to remember that Rick Welch said that his attempts at non-smoking nights were unsuccessful. It's likely that smokers decided not to go to Rick's that night because they couldn't smoke. But if all bars and restaurants were non-smoking, I very much doubt that people would stay home as a result. Conversely, I think many people would go out more often if the smoke wasn't such an issue.
Just one man's thoughts...
good thought
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