St. Louis County Municipal League supports indoor smoking ban
Barbara Fraser
Gerry Welch
The ban on smoking in indoor public places on the Nov. 3 ballot in St. Louis County won the endorsement of the St. Louis County Municipal League with ease Thursday night.
About 60 municipal officials attended the league’s monthly meeting at the new nature lodge in Florissant’s Sunset Park on scenic bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. In a voice vote, only four people opposed backing the measure.
The vote did not mean that about 60 municipalities supported the measure because some municipalities had more than one official at the session.
St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, the sponsor of the ban, spoke to the group. A few officials had questions, but no one spoke in opposition.
The proposal would not be on the ballot without the compromises she had to make, Fraser said. It is a good, but not perfect measure, she said.
Too much attention has gone to an exemption for existing bars with no more than 25 percent of their income coming from food, Fraser said. She estimated that only about 60 establishments out of more than 900 that hold county liquor licenses can claim that exemption.
“Only people who want to smoke will go to those places,” Fraser said.
“Enforcement will be by peer pressure,” the councilwoman said. “The people will enforce it when they see blatant violations,” she said.
The measure on the ballot calls for the county health department to enforce the ban. Complaints will drive government enforcement, she said.
The league at a voice vote at the meeting unanimously endorsed an 0.1-cent sales tax for an emergency communications system that is the county’s Nov. 3 ballot.
Before Fraser spoke, Webster Groves Mayor Gerry Welch talked at length in support of the tax, which an emergency communications commission would use to retire $100 million in bonds. Welch said $50 million would go for the infrastructure of the communications system, $30 million for radios for numerous emergency services agencies and $10 million for equipment that would allow dispatchers to locate people making 911 emergency calls on cell phones and for renovating and expanding the county’s siren warning system.
“We have the problem, we have the solution,” the Webster Groves mayor said. “What we need is money,” she said.
Supporters have prepared a variety of informational material about the proposal, including small handout fliers, material for use in municipal newsletters, three short videos and a website. A lawyer reviewed all the material to make sure it complies with state law that says government agencies can provide information, but not endorse proposals on the ballot, she said.
Welch strongly urged the municipal leaders to back the proposal by putting fliers where the public can take copies, adding a note about it to their newsletters and speaking about it wherever possible. She asked municipal officials at the meeting what they will do for the proposal. Many said they will take the message to churches.
Supporters said the main thing they must do is educate the public about the proposal. After most people hear an explanation, they will support the tax, Welch said.
The economy may be the main hurdle facing the proposal, Welch said. “Many people worry they can’t afford it,” she said. “We have to communicate the proposal’s merits and the need for approval in these tough economic times,” she said.
A county resident who buys a vehicle worth $20,000 would pay an additional $20 in sales taxes if the proposal tax passes.
“Only people who want to smoke will go to those places,” Fraser said.
Well duh!!! That’s what people do now without the ban. We go to places based on various reasons. It is called “Choice”.
“We have the problem, we have the solution,” the Webster Groves mayor said. “What we need is money,” she said.
Yes, you want more of my money. You do so much good with the money you already tax me on.
Barbara Fraser was urged over and over again to adopt an exemption that would be fair to all County businesses such as an “over 21 exemption” or an “air filtration exemption”. Instead she rewarded bars that don’t serve food and casinos with a monopoly on smoking in St. Louis County. 60 establishments? Trust me, in 2010 bars and taverns in St. Louis County will close their kitchens and rework their books cash in on this unfair law. Fraser was also warned many times that her exemption violates the Special Laws Clause of the Missouri Constitution and will likely face a legal challenge from bowling alleys and restaurants.
> Many said they will take the message to churches.
Really? Most churches have banned information from Missouri Right to Life, claiming that distribution of any political material on church grounds is inappropriate and unlawful. It would be truly disgusting if churches permitted themselves to be used literally as tools of the government to promote a tax increase.
I have sent the following email to Tim Fischesser, executive director of the St. Louis County Municipal League, staff@stlmuni.org. Others may wish to do a similar thing.
Dear Mr. Fischesser,
I was disturbed to read in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch that many of your members plan to distribute information at churches encouraging people to vote for the emergency communications tax. Regardless of how one feels about this tax, churches are certainly not the place to be promoting it.
Advocates for “separation of church and state” have pushed strongly to prevent religious conservatives from using churches as de facto campaign tools. The use of churches to distribute information on a tax proposal which has been endorsed by the county council and numerous elected officials certainly crosses that line.
Whether this is an enforceable matter of law, it is certainly a matter of integrity. I hope the Municipal League will make both a public statement, and a statement to its members, that it does not support the use of churches in this or any election matter.
Sincerely,
Nick Kasoff
Be careful of the fine print on the ballot. The tax exempt American Cancer Society tricked the voters of Ohio into voting for a ban with exemptions, only to have them removed AFTER they were voter approved. If they got away with it once, you know they will do it again. Thank you American Cancer Society, we never knew all you do. The private vets clubs of Ohio who thought they were exempt according to the ballot learned what they do. I’m sure they are remembering them with with their donations and estate plans.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/30/smoking.html
Bob, you keep whining about Ohio and the Cancer Society. I’ve spent a lot of time in Ohio since it passed. I’ve only witnessed one business violating the law. Most were quite happy about the change. There has been NO momentum in Ohio for change.
Also, The ACS has consistently opposed the St. Louis County ordinance because it is not absolutely perfect to their standards, and they have publicly said so. So exactly how is it that the ACS is fooling people here? Or are you like so many of the anti’s and not local? I’ve seen Hannegan posting in Montana like he lives there, and Harley whatever posts everywhere in the country.
Check out this very long list of Ohio business that violate the smoking ban. The comments along with each entry are pretty good!
http://www.smokechoke.com/
I am a staunch conservative (not republican) and have been researching the new world order for 15 years. if you watch this movie you will see it does not matter who you elect. It will put it all in perspective for you. But be prepared to pause it and read to fully comprehend the message. It is by far the most informative on our system yet. I have been saying for 10 years we have a one party system disguised as a two party system. Just trying to wake everyone up to reality. This movie will do it. http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ If you care it will be the best 3 hours you ever invested in doing something, I promise.
No one spoke against it? I’ll bet the Municipal League didn’t invite any opposition. Surprised Harrah’s didn’t send a rep to tell ‘em thank you. Oh, a thank you to Mayor Welch. The communications network is important. But you can forget about educating me. “What we need is the money.” Christ Welch, where did you go to school, the Jerry Maguire School of Greed?