ST. LOUIS — Alderman Lyda Krewson asked that her smoking ban proposal be tabled as a key colleague copes with a death in the family.
The bill passed out of the Health Committee earlier this month and was eligible for consideration by the full board today. However, Krewson moved to place the plan on the “informal calendar” this morning out of respect to Alderman Joe Vollmer, whose brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly.
Vollmer, who represents The Hill, owns a tavern, Milo’s, and has emerged as one of the aldermen most active in sculpting the smoking ban proposal, which has been amended since first introduced by Krewson.
It would have likely been amended further today had debate not been delayed. As it’s currently written, the ban would not go into effect unless St. Louis County adopts its own ban.
That could happen as soon as Nov. 3, when county voters will weigh-in on a ban pushed by County Council member Barbara Fraser.
Now, the time becomes at an issue at City Hall, where aldermen have just a few weeks to act before county voters have their say. It seems fair to speculate that St. Louis aldermen will wait until Nov. 3 before they make their move, rather than put energy into a proposal that would be moot if the county version is rejected.
Right now Keep St. Louis Free is in a strange place with this issue. While we will always fight for the greatest possible freedom for St. Louis, a strict ban would help our cause in the long run. The stricter the ban the Board of Aldermen comes up with, the easier it will be to gather signatures to put a more reasonable law on the ballot and to raise money for a legal challenge.
I am have spoken with two bar owners tonight who have too much square footage to be exempt under the current version of Alderman Krewson’s law. Both pledged to raise money for a legal challenge. If both had been exempted, I doubt I could count on their financial help.
Our lawsuit would contend that the casino exemption of the St. Louis City Smoke Free Air Act of 2009 violates the Special Laws Clause of the Missouri Constitution. If we prevail, Krewson’s law would be knocked down altogether, despite its severability clause.
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Jake
I believe that it was Donna Barringer that had a death in the family. Donna being a co-sponsor on the bill was not in attendance would have been one less vote. I think that Joe Volmer’s brother in-law is sick. It will be interesting to see if Lyda affords the same courtesy to Alderman Volmer.
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“For St. Louis City, estimates suggest that a 100% smoking ban would decrease employment approximately 19.7% in the bar industry (NAICS Code 7224) and 1.1% in the full-service restaurant industry (NAICS Code 7221).”
From a June 1st, 2009 letter of University of Wisconsin economist Dr. Chad Cotti sent to the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen.
http://www.bepress.com/bejeap/vol7/iss1/art12/
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During the Oct 7th meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee, Alderman Vollmer proposed an ‘over 21″ exemption to the smoking ban which would allow smoking in bars that do not admit minors and in the bar area of restaurants, bowling alleys, etc. if those areas are separately ventilated and do not admit minors. But Vollmer withdrew it out obvious concern that it might to seem self-serving.
The real question is will North St. Louis aldermen vote for any smoking ban that does not equally include downtown casinos along with North St. Louis bars and clubs. Under any smoking ban, I believe that longstanding, independent North St. Louis bars and clubs like CW’s Lounge, the Harlem Tap Room, La Rose Room, Palomino Lounge, Apollo Lounge, or Luckett’s Lounge will be hurt worse than venues in other parts of St. Louis City. If these establishments lose their traditional smoking patrons to downtown casinos where smoking is still allowed, the economic harm they will suffer from a smoking ban will be even worse.
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