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Some wonder if smoking ban will waft westward
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
11/9/2009
Monday, Nov. 09 2009
ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Jason Robinson, a smoker from St. Peters, worries that St.
Louis County voters' approval of a ban on smoking in most public places will
trigger a push to do the same in St. Charles County.
"I have a feeling that (as) the next county over, they'll probably try and do
the same thing," said Robinson, 37, who was interviewed while puffing on a
cigarette outside Mid Rivers Mall.
St. Louis County's vote last week indeed has spurred new efforts to enact
similar prohibitions.
St. Charles County Councilwoman Cheryl Hibbeler, D-O'Fallon, plans to see
whether there is council support to either pass a ban for unincorporated areas
or schedule an election on a countywide ban.
"I don't think St. Charles County is much different from the people living in
St. Louis County," said Hibbeler, a smoker herself, who will introduce a bill
only if she concludes it has a real chance of passage.
In Lake Saint Louis, Alderman John Pellerito says he'll ask his board to
reverse its rejection in 2007 of his proposal for a city ban.
"This gives me more ammunition" to show there is public support, he said.
But other elected officials across the county remain opposed to local bans,
either on philosophical grounds or out of concern that businesses would suffer.
"I hate cigarette smoke, but I don't think it's the government's place," said
County Council Chairman Joe Brazil, R-Defiance. "If a business owner pays his
taxes and buys his licenses, it's his choice."
And officials in three of the county's largest cities — O'Fallon, St. Charles
and Wentzville — said they saw no sign that the St. Louis County vote had
improved the chances of passage on their governing boards.
Last year, the St. Charles City Council was urged by a city commission on
health issues to pass a ban or let the city's voters decide, but none of the 10
council members would even introduce such a bill.
Meanwhile, it's unclear whether anti-smoking groups will mount a lobbying
offensive for a smoking ban in all or part of St. Charles County.
One anti-smoking activist who is recommending action is Pat Lindsey, executive
director of the Tobacco-Free Missouri Greater St. Louis Coalition. Lindsey said
she'd like to get laws in St. Charles County in place by January 2011, the same
time newly approved bans in St. Louis County and St. Louis take effect.
Passage in key parts of St. Charles County, she said, could build pressure on
the Legislature to act.
"Have we reached that critical tipping point in this state before we go for a
statewide law?" Lindsey asked. "I feel like we probably need St. Charles County
first."
The St. Louis and St. Louis County actions followed previous enactment of
municipal smoking bans in three other major population areas — Kansas City,
Columbia and Springfield.
Rochelle Nobs, former chairwoman of the coalition's St. Charles County
affiliate, is undecided what tack to take. She said it might be easier to
persuade local officials "to jump on board now that somebody's led the way."
On the other hand, she said, it could be better to wait until the St. Louis
County and St. Louis bans have been in effect for a while to show how they
affect businesses and the public.
"Once they see the sky didn't fall, they might be willing," Nobs said.
St. Charles City Council President Larry Muench, who operates a tobacco shop
and opposes smoking bans, predicted the idea will continue to have "severe
problems" across the county.
Muench said the St. Louis County vote might even make passage in St. Charles
County less likely because some businesses that allow smoking might get
increased business from St. Louis County smokers crossing the Missouri River.
Diana Loomis, manager of Beef Eaters restaurant in St. Charles, said her
establishment has been smoke-free about seven years.
"At first, it hurt the business because we had a bar crowd that was all
smokers," she said. "Now it's helping."
Randy Lightfoot, general manager of St. Charles Lanes, said that he's concerned
that bowling business could drop with smoking bans but that he expected "that's
going to be the way of the world."
He said governments should wait until after the recession to consider bans
because businesses already are suffering.
"It's a terrible time to approach this," he said.
Lightfoot and Steve Karagiannis, owner of Spiro's restaurant in St. Charles,
both said they were upset that the St. Louis County and St. Louis bans exempt
casinos and give them an unfair edge over other businesses.
A spokesman for Ameristar casino in St. Charles said his company opposes
smoking bans, partly because its competitor across the river in Maryland
Heights, Harrah's, will be exempt.
Jack Borgmeyer, managing partner of Grappa Grill in St. Charles, said his
restaurant's main concern is that the same rules apply statewide so
establishments in one community don't have an advantage over those in another.
The St. Charles County Municipal League last January passed a resolution
stating that any change in smoking laws should be considered only on a
statewide basis by the Legislature. Weldon Spring Alderman Mickie Ball said she
planned to sponsor a proposed smoking ban for her city but didn't do so because
of the league's recommendation.
Following the St. Louis County vote, Pellerito, the Lake Saint Louis alderman,
and St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano, another smoking ban advocate, said they each
would urge the league to reconsider its position.
Pellerito also said he'd ask the league to pass a resolution urging the County
Council to put a countywide ban on the ballot.
St. Charles Councilman Richard Veit, who sponsored the Municipal League
resolution on statewide action, said he'd oppose any change. He said some
businesses in the county still could be hurt if they had to go smoke-free and
others in nearby counties did not.
Veit added that he's optimistic that more and more businesses in the county
will go smoke-free on their own and that the issue will be decided by the free
market.
County Executive Steve Ehlmann declined to take a position on whether his
county should enact a ban. Now that the two neighboring areas have passed bans,
he said, "we'll study it a lot more closely."
Some smokers interviewed last week said they were resigned to a smoking ban
eventually passing in the county.
"I know we're a dying breed," said David Schwartz, 54, of St. Charles.
He said he's not bothered by government bans. "I try not to impose my habits on
anybody else."
Stacy Reiter, 40, of O'Fallon, said she hopes smoking bans aren't enacted in
her county, but "I'm kind of getting used to it. A lot of the restaurants are
doing it on their own."
St. Peters Alderman Gus Elliott, who has tried unsuccessfully to get a smoking
ban in his city, is skeptical there will be any shift on the issue across the
county.
"I think politicians in St. Charles County are scared of their own shadows,"
Elliott said. "They don't want to offend smokers, they don't want to offend
nonsmokers."
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