Commissioner McLaughlin, commentator Brauer "face off" on hotbed of smoking ban
December 21, 2005
From Peters [McLaughlin's] statement:I voted for the full ban in hopes that we could, in short order, achieve a full ban throughout the state of Minnesota. That did not happen. In fact, at this moment, outside of Hennepin County the only place in Minnesota with a mandatory, full ban, i.e., all bars and restaurants, at this time is Moose Lake, population 2,239. Even a ban similar to that in place in Olmsted and Ramsey Counties did not get a favorable committee vote with a recommendation to pass from any committee in the Minnesota House.
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Terrorists or anti-smoking zealots you decide......
December 16, 2005
It has come to my attention that Hennepin county commissioners, who sought to ease the plight of business owners and families losing jobs due to the smoking ban, are receiving death wishes of sorts.
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After the Hennepin County commissioners voted to partially roll back the county''s 9-month-old smoking ban, Sue Jeffers (center) of Stubb and Herbs bar in Minneapoliss, celebrated with Martin Duffy (left) and Maggie Pfeifer of Duffy''s in Osseo. Tom Sweeney Star Tribune
Smokers, bars revel in relaxed Hennepin County ban
With the vote, Hennepin County became one of the few local governments to adopt a smoking ban -- and partially roll it back.
Mike Kaszuba, Mary Lynn Smith and Myron P. Medcalf, Star Tribune
December 13, 2005
Melody Hach and her girlfriends were back Tuesday at Duffy''s in Osseo, celebrating Hennepin County''s dramatic decision to again allow smoking in traditional bars beginning next month.
"This is a bar-bar," said Hach, a smoker who had stopped coming to Duffy''s for a once-a-week girls night out after the countywide smoking ban took effect in March. "I don''t think about eating when I come here."
In a decisive but narrow vote, Hennepin County elated bars and their customers by becoming one of the few local governments in the country to adopt a smoking ban and then roll it back to placate bar owners who complained it was crippling them financially.
The vote, which came after months of public testimony, doesn''t change more stringent bans in Minneapolis, Golden Valley and Bloomington. But the decision by commissioners of Minnesota''s most populous county was seen as a major setback to efforts -- now stalled at the Legislature -- to adopt a statewide smoking ban.
It was also a blow to the state''s leading anti-smoking advocates, particularly the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT).
The well-financed lobbying group is funded by the landmark tobacco settlement to combat the harmful effects of cigarette smoking in Minnesota.
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who cast the deciding vote, said bars and their employees were being treated as "cannon fodder" in the zeal of anti-smoking advocates to win a statewide ban.
He said many ordinary citizens are frustrated with how "groups with political power treat those without power."
Tuesday''s 4-3 vote brought applause, hugs and tears as bar owners celebrated. One shouted, "Minneapolis, here we come!" -- a reference to the fact that bar owners said they would next seek to roll Minneapolis'' ban back. Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele, who supported the amendment to exempt bars who earn more than 50 percent of their net revenue from liquor sales, fought back tears as she thanked the bar owners and referred to them as "courageous people" for opposing the anti-smoking lobby.
"Today the little guy won. It''s great. It''s a great day," said Martin Duffy, who had testified on several occasions that his Osseo bar was hurt by the smoking ban. "It''s a miracle. It''s a bloody miracle. There''s no money behind us. There''s huge money behind them."
In recent weeks, the bar owners had increasingly tried to cast the fight as a David vs. Goliath showdown, with the bar owners squaring off against lobbyists from MPAAT and the American Cancer Society. MPAAT, with more than $116 million in assets, had acknowledged it had spent more than $100,000 in an advertising campaign prior to the vote, including funneling $35,000 to a local group of doctors to pay for newspaper ads urging Hennepin County not to amend the ban.
''A step backward''
Following the vote, MPAAT and American Cancer Society officials were subdued and conceded that the vote was a setback, though not necessarily a defeat. "We feel this is a step backward for public health," said Kerri Gordon, an MPAAT spokesperson.
Isis Stark, the American Cancer Society''s advocacy coordinator, was more blunt. "Exempting bars from secondhand smoke protections is like exempting coal miners from black lung protections," she said.
Stark also scoffed at suggestions that the bar owners, armed with Tuesday''s victory, might be able to similarly change Minneapolis'' smoking ban. "They would need nine votes," she said, referring to the City Council. "There''s no way they have nine votes."
Hennepin County''s amendment would allow several important changes to a countywide smoking ban that was adopted in 2004 and took effect only in March. The amendment, which takes effect Jan. 3, allows so-called traditional bars to apply for exemptions to the ban. Exemptions would be in place only until July 2007.
The Minneapolis, Golden Valley and Bloomington bans remain in force. But county officials estimated that about 75 bars could qualify to apply for the exemption.
The amendment will make Hennepin County''s rules more similar to ordinances in Ramsey and Olmsted counties. Bar owners complained that businesses along Hennepin County''s border with counties that did not have a ban, such as Anoka County, were losing money and laying off employees as customers flowed to bars where they could still smoke.
How others see it
Not everyone was happy with Hennepin County -- or McLaughlin.
At Dick''s Bar in Osseo, Dave Bauer, 48, said he had enjoyed the smoke-free atmosphere that had prevailed since the ban. "I don''t enjoy secondhand smoke," he said. "The air was cleaner."
Rep. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, a leading proponent of a statewide ban, dismissed Tuesday''s vote as a "misguided public health policy that''s bad for thousands of workers in these industries" and said he would continue to push for a statewide ban. McLaughlin, he said, had bent to "political pressure from a small group of bar owners."
Others, including St. Paul officials, said that Hennepin County''s rollback would not deter their efforts to strengthen or maintain their own smoking bans. St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune, who initiated a cascade of metro-area smoking bans last year, likewise castigated Hennepin County. "They''re not acting like leaders," he said. "They''re being followers and backsliders." St. Paul is expected to enact a full ban on smoking once Mayor-elect Chris Coleman takes office next year.
Although a spokesperson for the bar owners said they would quickly begin lobbying to have Minneapolis join Hennepin County in a rollback, city officials said Tuesday they had no intention of doing so. "The smoking ban in Minneapolis is more solid today," said Council Member Gary Schiff, a smoking ban proponent who called the county''s vote a "travesty of public policy."
Tuesday''s meeting put the spotlight on McLaughlin, who had been heavily lobbied by both sides on the issue. As an unsuccessful mayoral candidate in Minneapolis, McLaughlin had watched the issue play a significant role in his campaign against Mayor R.T. Rybak.
McLaughlin, a DFLer who faces reelection next year as county commissioner, said his decision had larger lessons for the party as a whole. "We need to listen to people. One of the reasons Democrats lose elections [is because] we don''t listen to people enough," said McLaughlin, who was joined by colleagues Steele, Mike Opat and Mark Stenglein. "This is a really modest change."
By most measures, McLaughlin said, the issue had more of a philosophical impact than a practical one. In Plymouth, he said for example, there are no bars and one private club among 248 licensed food and beverage establishments.
In contrast, McLaughlin said Golden Valley, Bloomington and Minneapolis have 94 of the 102 so-called traditional bars in Hennepin County.
McLaughlin, however, had kept secret his decision for months. Even Stenglein, who authored the amendment, said he was not convinced that McLaughlin would vote to change the smoking ban until Monday, the day before the vote. "I didn''t really know he was in the bag until we took the vote," Stenglein said.
mkaszuba@startribune.com • 612-673-4388 mlsmith@startribune.com • 612-673-4664 mmedcalf@startribune.com • 612-673-4092
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