Trustees, Smietanski discuss smoking ban

2006-11-03
Lee Provost

With only one restaurant in Bourbonnais allowing smoking, a handful of village trustees talked Thursday with anti-smoking crusader Lori Smietanski.

The two sides talked about what could be done regarding the passage of a village-wide anti-smoking ban in all restaurants.

Smietanski was encouraged by the board's openness to the topic. "They are willing to talk and that's a key part to this," she said after the meeting. "I feel they are seriously looking at this issue."

Two of the three village trustees who had attended an anti-smoking discussion in area restaurants were not at the meeting. Scott Byrne and Vera Amiano were absent. Jeannie Guebert was at the meeting.

Currently, seven Bourbonnais restaurants have already banned smoking. Those establishments are Aurelio's Pizzeria, The Chicago Dough Company, Monical's Pizza, Taco Bell, Taco John, Beef O'Brady's, Wendy's and McDonald's.

Brickstone Brewery is the only restaurant to allow smoking, but that establishment could also be considered a bar. The two other bars in the village, T.J. Donlins and R.D.'s Place, allow smoking, Smietanski said.

Rather than strictly banning smoking, the ordinance Smietanski is pushing would set restrictions in a variety of public places, including restaurants, but not bars.

"It was refreshing to have some good discussion," Smietanski said.
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Posted by Garnet Dawn from Lake Bluff, IL at 1:50PM on Saturday, 11/4/06
This story leaves no doubt that residents' wishes have been ignored. This "so called" discussion of a smoking ban didn't consult the affected businesses . Again, this subject has been raised by an anti-smoking crusader, just like every other proposed smoking ban.
If seven private businesses have already banned smoking, based upon free-market and free choice, where is the logic to forcibly remove that same choice from the remaining smoking establishment and patrons? Non-smokers and health fanatical Anti-smokers do not have to patronize them. Weren't the principles for freedom of private life-style choices and respect for private property a large portion of what this country was originally founded upon? What kind of logic, other than arm-twisting by a Tobacco Control representative, can be motivating the Trustees to believe it's their responsibility to intrude? Are they so eager to jump on the public-good bandwagon without reasonable cause? http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com/

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