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01.03.2008 2:48 pm

Seeking political organizer, non-smoker a must

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A sharp-eyed colleague spotted this job ad in Craigslist:

Job Summary:

Provide direction and coordination to a newly formed coalition in the City of St. Louis. Smoke-Free St. Louis City is a coalition of concerned citizens and organizations working to educate the community and local decision makers on the dangers of secondhand smoke and the ill health effects smoking in bars, restaurants and the workplace brings; with the long term goal of a smoke-free policy in St. Louis City that protects the health of all our city’s citizens. Position is full-time and includes competitive salary and benefits.

The ad says that a city resident is  preferred and that a non-smoker is,  understandably, a “must.”

It seemed inevitable that the national anti-smoking trend would reach City Hall. Earlier, the city’s efforts were limited mostly to following the county’s push to ban indoor smoking, which extinguished when Kurt Odenwald was not re-elected.

Selling a fresh plan might be a tad more difficult at the Board of Aldermen, where three members - Ken Ortmann, Joe Vollmer and Marlene Davis - operate taverns.

Even so, now that Illinois’ new smoking law has gone into effect, it might not be long before St. Louis also butts out.

In other news:

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16 comments

Comments are closed.

I’m sure Bill Hannegan will get a kick out of this!

— Jim (the republican)
2:52 pm January 3rd, 2008

In all seriousness … since when can an employer discriminate based upon where someone lives or whether or not they smoke?

— Jim (the republican)
3:11 pm January 3rd, 2008

Smoking is not a protected class as regards discrimination in employment. You can actually make employment decisions based upon anything you want with the exception of the protected classes.

— Nick Kasoff
3:35 pm January 3rd, 2008

Nick, doesn’t it make you feel good to know that Jake’s sharp-eyed colleague is sifting through Craigslist for news?

— Jim (the republican)
3:44 pm January 3rd, 2008

A smoking ban is long overdue in St Louis and for the state of Missouri for that matter.

— Phil
3:59 pm January 3rd, 2008

Phew, about time Missouri joined the civilized world and kicked smokers out of eating/drinking establishments…

It is truly surreal when I come home to Missouri and walk thru a restaurant and see/smell clouds of tobacco smoke wafting around… Disgusting.

DD @ NYC

— david d
4:24 pm January 3rd, 2008

Yes, thanks to the Dems kicking out Odenwald we get to continue gagging in restaurants and casinos.

— A CENTRIST
5:32 pm January 3rd, 2008

“since when can an employer discriminate based upon where someone lives or whether or not they smoke?”

Another example of Employers intervening in our private lives. Can’t some one talk about getting Big Business off our backs and out of our bedrooms.

“… thanks to the Dems kicking out Odenwald…”

Perhaps it was smoking Republicans that kicked Liberal Odenwald out of office.

— fun with numbers
5:57 pm January 3rd, 2008

I’m an ex-smoker, but I think a smoking ban is inappropriate and asinine.

* Inappropriate because business owners ought to be able to make that decision for themselves. I know, it’s gross to walk into a restaurant that is filled with smoke, and even grosser when you get home after being in such a place. But nothing says that every restaurant has to appeal to every diner. If you don’t like the smoke, eat somewhere else.

* Asinine because it has so many side-effects, and because there are so many better places to ban smoking. Side-effects like having to walk through a gang of smokers at the entrance to every public building. Better places for a ban, like in a car with kids, or a house with kids for that matter. Or at the bus stop, where others have to wait with you.

Now if you want to come up with a law that I’d support, how about this: Require that cigarettes be marked with a pack serial number imprinted on the filter, and that when purchasing a cigarette, they have to register your name to the packs you buy. Then, for any cigarette butts found on the ground, impose a $25 per butt fine on the person who bought the cigarette, with $10 of the fine going to the person who turns the butt in, and $15 going to a fund to provide air filtration equipment for the homes of smokers with children. And until you pay your fine, you can’t buy any more smokes.

— Nick Kasoff
6:49 pm January 3rd, 2008

I posted about that ACS position on my blog, KEEP ST. LOUIS FREE!, back on December 12th. I don’t own a bar or restaurant, yet I have already spent tens of thousands of dollars of my own money fighting a St. Louis smoking ban in the County. I am ready to spend even more fighting to keep St. Louis City free. But it doesn’t seem fair that ordinary citizens should have to battle for their liberty against hired guns sent against us by the American Cancer Society.
http://keepstlouisfree.blogspot.com/

Lewis Reed promised my group prior to his election that he would not put a smoking ban on St. Louis bars and restaurants “unless a ban was in place everywhere else.” I trust Lewis Reed to keep his promise.

— Bill Hannegan
10:14 pm January 3rd, 2008

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