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Diary Of A Disaster Page 3
Read: Diary Of A Disaster Page 1
Read: Diary Of A Disaster Page 2
Sept. 26, 2005
Last week Hennepin County released the long awaited Hennepin County Impact report. No surprise to the bars but they determined the study cannot definitely prove or disprove whether any change in taxable sales from establishments selling liquor was solely due to the smoking ban. With their eyes firmly closed, they refuse to see the truth printed in black and white before them.
Using Minnesota Department of Revenue taxable liquor and taxable non-liquor sales data for establishments reporting sales in the second quarter of 2003, 2004 and 2005. The smoking ban was implemented March 31, 2005. The data is for the 7 county metro area and does not adjust for inflation. (Inflation for Mpls/St. Paul area was 2.9% per year for all items, 1.3% per year for alcoholic beverages and 4.5% per year for food.)
The study pointed out the many influences on liquor sales include: local economy, population changes, weather, consumer preferences, and prices. My personal favorite, the study did not include reduced cleaning costs or employee health-related costs (so far bar owners have seen ZERO reduced cleaning costs as we are now cleaning up outside. Our insurance rates have not been reduced one dime, nor have our taxes for that matter). The study includes sales from liquor stores as well.
The study shows Hennepin County's second quarter 2005 liquor sales increased from the second quarter of 2004, but it was the smallest percentage increase among the seven metro counties and was down from the previous year's increase. Keep in mind Hennepin County is the highest populated county in the state including the cities of Minneapolis and Bloomington.
All 497 "same establishments" that filed on-sale liquor sales tax returns in all three quarters studied had a 0.15% increase in liquor sales in the second quarter of 2005 over 2004. The metro average increase was an increase of 1.6% and below Hennepin County's 3.5% increase in 2003-2004. Anoka County showed a 7.2% gain.
The graphs and charts clearly show businesses in some areas were more severely damaged than in other parts of the city. The smaller independent "blue collar" bars selling more alcohol than food were hardest hit and less likely to be able to make up the difference with additional food sales. Food sales were up overall.
The Impact Statement lists individual cities On-Sale liquor revenues in Bloomington as down 6.71% (they too determined the impact of the smoking ban was inconclusive, promptly every bar on the fourth floor at the Mall of America except Hooter's shut down). Plymouth showed a decline of 7.41%. Roseville, a partial ban in Ramsey County was down 11.3%.
Attached was a consolidated statement self reported by 14 bars comparing 2004 to 2005. March, April, May and June. Gross liquor receipts were down 12.2% in April, down 25.84% in May and down 26.67% in June. Charitable gambling receipts were down 18.38% in April, down 18.34% in May and down a whopping 51.07% in June.
Looking at the above, do you really think the smoking ban has not hurt some businesses? Inconclusive, my a**. Oppps, sorry.
The study includes a "study" linking exposure to SHS to cancer and cardiovascular disease for reference. Available at www.nih.gov/news/pr/may 2000/niehs-15.htm. . Guess what, it isn't a study, it is press release.
This press release specifically states "the listing of a substance in the Report is not a regulatory action and is based on the observed casual relationship" between SHS and cancer. It states "A listing in the Report does not by itself establish that a substance presents a cancer risk to an individual in daily life..., the report does not address or attempt to balance potential benefits of exposures to certain carcinogenic substance in special situations."
The press release goes on to reclassify some listing and oh yeah, oppps, they unlisted a couple they goofed on. They also do not list one pending litigation, they will wait to rule following the court's ruling.
The new listings in the 9th edition show the first ever attempt to designate ETS to be classified as a Class A carcinogen. Ignoring the fact this diluted "mixture" causes cancer. This would be similar to listing "urban air" as a Class A. Yes, it has carcinogenic components in it but should the general public be worried or does it justify a ban?
The press release goes on to list drinking alcohol, tanning beds and diesel fuel. Will they be banned next?
September 30, 2005
Tonight at midnight three more bars will lock their doors for good. Three more closed businesses and the jobs that go with them, thanks to the smoking ban. Where are all those nonsmokers who promised to be rushing through their doors? Guess they lied yet again.
RIP:
Porter's
Molly Quinn's
The Breakaway Bar
I wish you the best my friends, my heart and prayers are with you. Good luck.
October 1, 2005
Two more closed businesses.
Minnehaha Grill
Margarita Bella
October 15, 2005
A quiet time here as the commissioners are on a three week break. Bar owners are spending the time regrouping and organizing as we wait for the upcoming mayoral election. The current mayor still stands by the smoking ban as the advocates are a large portion of his voter base. In spite of our proof of the damages from the smoking ban he still insists the ban is good for business just another way he makes himself look as incompetent and he is.
The challenger, Peter McLaughlin, career politician that he is, still sits comfortably on the fence. Because the antismoking advocates have allocated $25,000 to influence the election we have seen their ramped up efforts keeping Peter on that fence. Phone banks, signature drives and advertising continue to spread their message of how much people like the smoking ban. The latest is a sticker promotion that customers can stick on their guest check thanking the bar owner for being smoke free. Not a bar owner I have talked to has seen one yet.
Bar owners often wonder why the smoke haters never ask us or our customers what we think of the smoking ban. Speakers at the commissioners meetings are not our customers either. We have a picture of the mayor in one of our bars holding a cigarette that we use for our personal enjoyment. We are expecting to see a dramatic increase in bancruptcy filings fromt he bar owners before the laws change on Monday.
Filming started last week for the documentary "Devil's Weed". Curt Johnson (producer of “Michael Moore Hates America”) and director Maura Flynn will show the effects of the Minneapolis smoking ban. The Onion, a weekly newspaper is running some advertising for us as well, we are working on the other papers as well.
The Private Property Rights Forum kindly allowed the bar owners to be featured on their cable show last week. They gave me a microphone and I couldn't stop talking, as usual. Two hours of fun that will hopefully continue to get our story out there. It was a joy to not have to explain to a group of people why bar owners should be able to decide if a legal product can be used on our property.
Last week I sent the DC city council and mayor a letter about the smoking bans effects on Hennepin County. The letter is now being used in several other cities as well. The Chicago Sun Times printed it. The next day I got a letter from our local American Cancer Society challenging my claims. She never bothered to write the DC council but she did copy a local TV station and several local politicians. My response to her letter is posted on smokersclubinc.com, it is a good read.
Tuesday October 18 is the day we have been waiting for. Before the ban we filed a lawsuit challenging the city and county authority to pass these bans. We believe they do not have that authority but if it is determined they can pass these laws, the law must be changed. We asked for a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the ban until it is determined if they can pass bans like this. The judge ruled our losses were "speculative". They are not speculative any longer. We need all your support behind us.
Once again, I will remind people do not waste your money on lawyers to stop a ban, it is then too late. Get informed, get organized, advertise, call, write and e-mail (all three) and do what ever you need to do to prevent these bans from getting passed in the first place.Don't think for a minute your elected officials are different. Don't think for a minute your city, county or state won't pass a smoking ban. Don't think for a minute it won't harm your business.
Wish us well on Tuesday, even with the facts and the science on our side it is a long shot.
Call this week:
District #1: Commissioner Mike Opat 612-348-7881
commissioner.opat@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #2: Commissioner Mark Stenglein 612-348-7882
commissioner.stenglein@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #3: Commissioner Gail Dorfman 612-348-7883
gail.dorfman@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #4: Commissioner Peter McLaughlin 612-348-7884
commissioner.mclaughlin@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #5: Commissioner Randy Johnson 612-348-7885
randy.johnson@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #6: Commissioner Linda Koblick 612-348-7886
linda.koblick@co.hennepin.mn.us
District #7: Commissioner Penny Steele 612-348-7887
penny.steele@co.hennepin.mn.us
FYI Commissioners Steele and Stenglein voted against the smoking ban,
the others voted for it.
October 17, 2005
Letter to CO and all bar owners
October 26, 2005
Hennepin County Commissioners voted 4-3 to hold a public hearing to consider amending the smoking ban. The hearing will be held on November 15, 2005 at 3 PM at the Hennepin County Government Center.
November 20, 2005
The disaster continues. We now have 77 businesses closed and more to follow, I have lost count of those sold and the thousands of lost jobs in our city and county. Charitable gambling losses the first 4 months total $14.5 million and continue to escalate more each month.
The new restaurants opening will never replace the landmarks going out of business. I heard a review of one featuring pureed mango juice and grilled tofu. Also gone are more chains, especially those catering to the blue collar clientele. Clearly this is a class issue as the nanny's continue to try to legislate our behavior and trample on our property rights. My property rights should trump their entitlement rights every day of the week.
The good news is after 8 months of a smoking ban we have finally gotten Hennepin County to consider amending the ban. Week after week for 4 months (which is 4 times longer than it took to pass the ban) we badgered the commissioners. Owners, staff, cops, scientists, Libertarians, employees, insurance reps, food reps, beer reps, charitable gambling folks, vets, the list goes on. The stories we told made a difference and some of the commissioners actually listened. Quite surprising for an elected official around here.
The Hennepin County public hearing to consider the amended ban last week was wonderful. The smoke haters spent millions in advertising (full page ads to the tune of over a $100,000), radio and TV ads, post card campaigns, you name it, they had it. We were quite proud, the smoke haters thought they had Hennepin won and now they had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (not to worry, they have plenty more) all thanks to the scrappy bar owners.
Bar owners, without the millions of dollars the smoke haters have, asked alternative newspapers to run ads for us telling about the damage from the smoking bans. They did. We appreciate their support of our businesses and if we survive, we will advertise heavily in their papers.
Of course the smoke haters put enormous pressure on the commissioners with letters, phone calls and e-mails. All the big dogs came to speak at the meeting. Speaker after speaker told us of an upcoming state ban and the dangers of smoking as they tried to say SHS was the equivalent of mustard gas. I went into the hearing with low expectations for our success as I looked at the group of liars I have come to disrespect that had been assembled. As much as I dislike this group, I have to admit they are very good at railroading these bans through cities, counties and states. I wonder how they sleep at night. Feeding at the public trough with the admirable goal of getting smokers to quit, they are not harming big tobacco one bit. They are harming small businesses, employees, revenues and in the long run, themselves.
Guess what? WE BLASTED THEM!!! The bar owners, employees, industry folks, customers...we were fantastic. Given only 2 minutes to talk the meeting lasted seven hours. Each side was given the first 20 speakers as they saw fit, we had a fantastic list. Ditto on the next 20 and the next 20 and the next 20. The commissioner in charge conveniently skipped my name but 4 hours later when he called my name, it just didn't matter. We had kicked some serious butt.
The commissioners will now vote on Nov. 29 to move the recommended amended partial ban forward to a December 13 vote. We need 4 votes. So far so good but we know better than to trust a one of them, we are keeping our eyes and ears open.
Changing the Hennepin County smoking ban does not help Minneapolis and the Minneapolis election results did not help our cause. Our mayor was reelected as were a couple of his hand picked council candidates. The smoke haters donated heavily to these campaigns. With several of the smoke haters removed from the council through retirement, re-districting or losing the election, we still face an up hill battle to amend the Minneapolis ban. We will need 9 votes to over ride the mayors veto, we are working on it.
In the meantime, we lost our appeal to stop the ban until it is determined if the cities and county have the authority to pass these bans. Plain and simple, if they have that authority, the law needs to be changed. More money wasted on legal fees down the drain.
Far and away the worst news in the Twin Cities is the election of a new mayor in St. Paul. The new mayor promises to pass a total smoking ban as one of his first orders of business. St. Paul and Ramsey County currently have a partial ban. If a business serves more alcohol than food they can buy a smoking permit or apply for a waiver. The county has refused to examine the partial ban for two years.
The St. Paul council twice passed a total smoking ban but the exiting mayor vetoed it both times. He understood the goal of a smoke free state should not be gained on the backs of our local businesses. He understood if businesses were successful we could pay lots of taxes. He understood the importance of being business friendly. He supported George Bush in a strongly DFL city. He lost by a landslide.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press recently ran a poll saying 56% of the voters wanted the ban to remain the same or repealed. The council will ignore these figures and just see the 27% who support a ban as they pass the new total ban. Fair warning to anyone who writes this group...they are not a friendly bunch. Thune is the 2 pack a day smoker sponsor of the ban who told me I had been breathing too much french fry grease and he would ignore my bizarre and addled comments. (copy available to anyone who wants it). Lantry, council president, will do what it takes to appease the bar owners and then just pass the ban. She knows how to play the game.
St. Paul better get busy if they hope to stop this total ban from destroying their businesses like ours have been destroyed. Secretly, I the think some bar owners hope for the total ban in St. Paul. They mistakenly think it will help their business, it won't. They mistakenly think a state ban will improve their business, it won't. Shame on them.
Back to work for me...thankfully our business plan I put into effect in anticipation of the smoking ban is helping to bring my business back to where it was 10 years ago. Pathetic.
November 24, 2005
This started my Thanksgiving. I get letters and phone calls like this all the time, it breaks my heart to see businesses and lives being destroyed with needless government regulation.
MN: Ban Damage to Bowling Industry.
November 30, 2005
Read:
MN: How many jobs lost due to smoking ban?
Yesterday the Hennepin County Commissioners voted 4-3 to progress an amended smoking ban for our county. A full vote will be December 13, 2005. If the new ordinance is passed 2% of the bars, those serving more alcohol than food, in Hennepin County will be smoking on December 31, 2005.
Please take the time to thank Commissioners Opat, Stenglein, McLaughlin and Steele for listening to us and have the courage to vote for small businesses, property rights and common sense.
Commissioners Koblick, Dorfman and Johnson still ignoring the lost jobs, closed businesses, millions in lost revenues and charitable gambling and of course still ignoring the science and trampling on our property rights voted against us.
We are working on an amended ban in Minneapolis and lets not forget St. Paul who has their first public hearing next Wednesday to consider a total smoking ban.
Please forward this on to all industry friends!
December 14, 2005
In just 24 hours, I have gotten 408 e-mails congratulating us on amending the Hennepin County smoking bars...none compare to the one phone call the 4 commissioners who voted to amend the smoking ban got, hoping they all die from lung cancer.
I knew when I walked into the commissioners meeting we had won. None of the "big boys" were there. The bar owners, our staff, the media, the county workers, we were all there. But no one from MPAAT, the lobbyist groups, the health care companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the doctors, the employees from the assorted organ associations.
The media got my quote right. Our David VS Goliath battle, an accurate description of what our small business owners were up against describes it beautifully. We fought the well funded "big boys", the highly paid lobbyists, the propaganda handed to the media and touted as fact, the exaggerated science, arrogant elected officials who refuse to listen and yep, the little guys won one for a change!
Big tobacco did not win, we never saw them. (I never saw a dime and we sure could have used it, I would have given it to all my friends who are now out of business.) Special interest groups did not win, in spite of millions of dollars from the tobacco settlement behind them. The non profit organizations did not win, those well funded folks with good intentions, who took our donations, abused our trust and our generosity and still have the balls to ask for more.
Small business owners and our staff won. The backbone of America, the salt of the earth, the people who know how to run their businesses, take care of their staff and customers, provide jobs, pay taxes and are involved in the community. Our small victory gives us hope. Hope for the little guy, hope for common sense and hope for some of the bar owners who would not survive after year end. The tears of joy, the shouts of excitement and the hugs, and kisses were everywhere after the vote.
I usually get a fair amount of e-mail, including hate mail and phone calls. I was on the phone until 4 AM the night after the vote. Talking to reporters, bar owners, staff and new friends who wanted to support the vote and thank us. I received over 400 e-mails in the first 24 hours supporting the hard work and the amended ban. Sadly, bar owners like me, do not benefit from this vote. We own bars in Minneapolis or Bloomington, and still fall under a total ban.
Not everyone was as happy. A commissioner told me today the staff had taken phone calls hoping the 4 commissioners who supported the amended ban would die from lung cancer. These couragous commissioners deserve our support and thanks for listening to the damage these bans cause and are willing to fix it despite enormous pressure to leave the ban in place.
Every day customers say thanks, congrats, don't give up, and how proud they were of wilingness to stand up for property rights. They hope we succeed in Minneapolis and Bloomington as well. Even my non-smokers who like the ban said it was just plain wrong to destroy businesses with bans like these. The public tide is turning!
Excerpts from some of my e-mails are listed below, some parts are slightly edited as they contained additional information not really relative.
What a great thing Santa has done for these club owners.
You will set an example for the oppressed in other parts of the country.
Linda
"A lot of credit goes to bar owners like Sue Jeffers of Stub and Herbs and so many others who lobbied not only on annecdotal evidence but also worked diligently to compile hard facts, figures and research. It shows what a group of citizens can do when they band together and present a well reasoned case. Even big money special interest groups like MPAAT and the American Cancer Society can be backed down from their social engineering agendas when faced with reality and fact."
Barry
Amen!
Jim A
Congratulations!
One small step forward for you guys has to feel great!
Stephanie
I was just thinking last night how many families struggling with cancer could be helped by the $100,000 the ACS plans to spend on the St Paul re-vote.
Jim C.
...and good luck with the Minneapolis city council. Gonna be watching
St. Paul now. Perhaps Mr. Thune & Co. can be persuaded to compromise
and only change to match Hennepin County's, namely that all new
establishments must be non-smoking, rather than crush everybody.
Mitch
Thanks for all your help! My thoughts are with you guys!
Iris
Even with the report that revenue wasn't hurt (or was better) they stillllll rolled it back. Interesting, isn't it? :-)
Audrey
Taxable liquor sales in the county increased from $113.8 million in the second quarter of 2004 to $115 million during the same period this year.And how much of that - a reasonable person might ask - was retail? What was the bar revenue? That's the only stat that counts.
Richard
Seriously, congratulations to Sue, and the other bar owners, MASB, MHA, and everyone who wrote a letter, made a call, or showed up to protest. There is more work to do. The fight isn't over, and won't be for a long time. We have to stick to it.
Dan
First, congratulations on your hard fought victory over the might of the county and it's smoking ban. I just want to say that I appreciate that you stood up and fought for what you thought was a wrong and you helped to make it a right.
Thanks again for your hard work.
Tim
I agree we can do it, but as we've said before some of these bar owners are drowning in 2 inches of water. They need to get involved. They need to be part of their own destiny.
Mike
Dear Commissioners,
I know it wasn't easy for you to stand up to the Antismoking Lobby and do the right thing. You deserve congratulations and respect.
I don't know if you're aware of the recent research done by me and a collegue of mine, but using a database over 1,000 times the size of the ones used for studies like Helena (the little town where they supposedly "saved" so many lives with a six month smoking ban) we found that smoking bans clearly do NOT have any such effect. Actually, data from California and Massachusetts indicate rather perversely that the bans may actually INcrease heart attack rates due to stress or other factors.
See the article by noted physician Michael Siegel for more information if you like:
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2005/11/new-study-casts-doubt-on-claim-that.html
Once again, congratulations, and if there's ever anything I can do to help your campaigns in the future (I gots no money, but I kinda write OKish. ;> ) please let me know.
Michael
YOU SHOULD SEE THE EXCITMENT IN MY BAR!
Luke
Break-Away Bar
What gets me the most is that because it is in the paper, or often
picked up and repeated by our local television stations, that it is
then taken as the gospel truth!! If it has been reported, then it
can't be misleading or an outright lie, can it? [heavy sarcasm]
Annette
Thank you. Thank you and congratulations!! We owe you an awful lot for standing up for us and taking the abuse and fighting for all of our rights. You've been "out there" like few could. I'm sure it would have easy to give up, but you didn't. The road ahead will still be rough, but the damn thing's unravelling. Thanks to you.
David
Thanks for leading us through round one. Let me know what I can do for round two.
Louis
We here in WI (Madison) post your info and you and MN have us talking!
thanks for being there!
Capri
CONGRATULATIONS.
Linda
Thanks. This sort of thing isnt right in a free country. At least i
can go out in Hennepin now. It was the right thing to do. Thanks
again! :)
Unknown
sweet, congratulations :)
Unknown
The little guy can make a difference!
Unknown
I, like several other owners, have called the Mayor of Minneapolis to request a meeting with him. Reportedly he will meet with us. I just wonder how long we will have to wait for this meeting.
Off to fight the battle.
January 23, 2006:
Sue Jeffers for Governor
March 23, 2006:
Sorry for the delay, running for governor is a full time job! The smoking ban is just one example of ignoring our property rights and personal freedoms but was not the main reason I decided to run for office. Politicians who refuse to listen to the people were the reason. There are a lot of them.
January brought salvation for some Hennepin County bars that qualified for exemptions to the total smoking ban. All report flourishing business, in some cases revenues are higher than before the smoking ban took effect. For Minneapolis bars, which happens to be where my bar is located, we got no such relief.
After waiting almost a year to get a meeting with the mayor, he canceled when he found out I would be attending. Another bar owner decided we were not ready for the meeting and canceled it. We are still waiting. It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad; our mayor has yet to meet me and still refuses to do so.
In the meantime, St. Paul is fighting hard. A new mayor was elected and took office in January 2006. Mayor Coleman proudly announces he is "best friends" with our mayor in Minneapolis. He promptly signed a total smoking ban for the city's bars. Some of the St. Paul bar owners have spent tens of thousands of dollars to make smoking rooms and they now face a total ban on March 30. St. Paul's mayor is rumored to have been asked if he knew how many bars would go out of business with a total smoking ban as replying, we have too many bars anyway.
St. Paul bar owners have options Minneapolis does not have. They are very organized. The bars have begun the process for a voter referendum and are collecting signatures like crazy. In St. Paul they could write the question, as it would read on the ballot. In other words, the city could not change the wording and effect the outcome. If a voter chooses not to vote on the issue, the vote is not automatically counted as a yes or a no vote.
St. Paul filed a lawsuit that has a great chance of succeeding, it was argued March 23, 2006. Now we wait a week for the opinion. We are all hoping and praying for success for the St. Paul bars. Of course the minute it was filed, bar owners began experiencing a higher rate of inspections. Lucky they had been warned so they were ready.
St. Paul City officials are a little busy now, they just made a secretary take down her bunny and egg display...people are outraged. I hope this is what it takes to rein in these elected officials.
Several bar owners went to a Minneapolis city council committee meeting this week. These council members have no concern for the lives they are destroying, it is sad to watch. One bar owner told the council members that the ban has cost him 30% of his business, with the street improvements coming soon he will not be able to remain open. Another one will bite the dust.
Sue Jeffers
Stub and Herb's
612-384-4374
Minnesotans Against Smoking Bans
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