Anti-Smoking Ban Ordinance Is Not Dead

Tonight councilman Marty Bender introduced his ordinance to reverse part of the smoking ban that was enacted last year by city council. Bender's ordinance would allow smoking at bars and restaurants with bars (among other places) provided the bar area was totally enclosed and on a separate HVAC system. There was quite a nice show of support for Bender's ordinance given the inclement weather this evening; I would estimate there were roughly 70-80 people there to support his proposed changes.

Unfortunately Bender didn't fully understand the requirements to move an ordinance from introduction to committee. Bender was under the assumption that a simple majority of votes was all that was needed, but it actually takes 5 votes to move to committee for discussion. Since councilmen Hines and Shoaff were absent, Bender's ordinance needed 5 of the 7 present councilmembers to support his ordinance - he only received 4. The members voting for sending it to committee were Bender, Harper, Didier and Goldner with Smith, Pape and Brown voting against.


Right after Didier declared that the ordinance would not be sent to committee all of Bender's supporters got up and left and many were visibly upset. I don't think they understood that the ordinance is not completely dead and that Bender can re-introduce it 2 weeks from now when Hines and Shoaff would presumably be present. Furthermore they missed their opportunity at the end of the meeting to speak before council and tell them what they thought.

I think it's also important to remember that Hines was the member that introduced an amendment to the original ordinance that would've exempted bars in the first place. I've been told (not by him) that he's now against revisiting the issue but I don't know that to be fact.

So as much as it pains me to say it all is not lost for the anti-smoking ban crowd. After the meeting concluded, council attorney Joe Bonahoom was kind enough to explain what happened - including the fact that Bender could re-introduce the ordinance:

Godwin's Law Invoked

There was a letter to the editor in today's JG where an opponent of the smoking ban compared the JG and ban supporters to Nazi's:

The Journal Gazette published several articles regarding smoking the week of Jan. 13. This concentrated blitz is surely an effort to influence the City Council as it prepares to consider modifying that oppressive piece of legislation commonly known as the smoking ban.

Now, the smoke Nazis are encouraging people to inform on their fellow citizens. They have even come up with a special 311 number to make the process easier, and they have enlisted the pledge of the police department and fire department to enforce their edict.

This whole debacle reeks of the same tactics that got the Third Reich started, i.e.: unreasonable laws, people informing on each other, businesses going broke, people out of jobs and so forth. For those too young to remember, maybe the words “Adolf Hitler” and “Nazi Germany” will have meaning.

The words Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany certainly do lose their meaning when applied inappropriately to analogies like the smoking ban. In fact it's actually quite offensive to many people that truly suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime.

So I'm invoking Godwin's Law on the author of this letter and letting him know that he has automatically lost the debate. Rules are rules...

Godwin's law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990. The law states:

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

There is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law.

2008 Agenda

So I took all of 5 minutes to brainstorm the local stories and politics that are of utmost interest to me and here are a few items where I'll be focusing my energy. Feel free to join the cause on any of these issues. As usual we'll likely be opponents on some issues but that shouldn't preclude us from working together on like minded ones. Also, feel free to comment and let us know what issues will be important to you:

1. Oust Carol Coen and Steve Carona from the Fort Wayne Community School Board while re-electing Jon Olinger

I was a Blue petition supporter and I firmly believe that Coen and Carona no longer represent the voters of the district. I hope to see the defeat of these two start a domino process that will lead to a complete overhaul of the board. Meanwhile, Olinger was the sole vote against the facilities project and he deserves the support of all voters who want to further the district's educational goals while maintaining fiscal responsibility.


2. Uphold the Smoking Ban

I was a vocal supporter of the comprehensive ban and I don't want to see it rolled back by the new council. I also think supporters of the ban should lobby the county commissioners into making the ban county-wide.


3. North River Development

Citizens should demand that ZERO tax dollars be used to clean up a polluted site owned by the richest family in the county. We also need to make sure that we get all the relevant data related to the problems before any plans to purchase the land are publicly discussed.


4. Tax and Capital Projects Review Board

This one has gone under the radar but starting in 2009 the all-appointed County Tax Adjustment Board will be replaced by a new body that will have 2 elected members. It is crucial that we elect members to this board that will protect our tax dollars and who are not tainted by the group-think policy of Allen County politics - the Good ol' Boy network if you will.


5. Harrison Square Accountability

City taxpayers need to keep a keen eye on the development of Harrison Square and make sure we're getting what we were promised. We also need to monitor the cost and schedule of the project and insure the citizenry has all the available information.

Councilmember-Elect Karen Goldner Wrong on the Smoking Ban

Rachel Blakeman posted comments from Karen Goldner on the smoking ban and the possibility of rolling back the ordinance. I applaud Karen's interaction with the blogosphere and her willingness to discuss any issue with anyone - it's one of the many reasons she beat long-time incumbent Don Schmidt in the latest election. However, in general, I disagree with her on the smoking ban and specifically I disagree with several of her recent comments (shown in bold).

I agree that "going backward" is a poor sign, and I also believe that the entire discussion has had a high opportunity cost relative to what (in my opinion) Council should be working on, which is how to improve Fort Wayne's economic condition. Therefore, I am disappointed that the previous Council passed the extended ban in the first place.

Of course one could argue that a smoke-free Fort Wayne helps the city's economic condition. Improving public health certainly has direct financial benefits to the citizenry and its government. What certainly does not help economic development is to have the city council flip-flopping on local ordinances. Businesses will be more reluctant to invest in this community if they think our legislation is unstable. And I'm not sure I want the current council attempting to improve the city's economic condition. Of course if I were a baseball team owner or a Subway or McDonalds franchisee then I might feel differently.

Of course I do not question that smoking is very bad for everyone, and I agree that the national (and international) tide is moving toward comprehensive bans. Of course, you could say similar things about the effects of cars on our communities and our health (pollution, congestion, obesity).

These are poor analogies. Cars are an integral and critical part of most people's lives - the same cannot be said about smoking. Pollution is obviously a major concern and that's why it is heavily regulated. Obesity is an individual issue - the fat man standing next to me does not affect my health one iota.

What I do question is why Fort Wayne City Council needed to make the statement that it did, creating a very unlevel playing field, with (in my opinion) disregard for the impact on local businesses and their clientele. I support a broader ban that is statewide, because that would be both fairer to all businesses and also more effective.

First, the city did what was necessary to improve public health after the county commissioners failed to pass a comprehensive ordinance. The lack of such comprehensive ordinance in the county should be blamed for the unlevel playing field. Second, there is absolutely no publicly available evidence to support the idea that the smoking ban has harmed local business. While Goldner does not say this directly, it is often the core argument for rolling back the ban. This is something that is measurable if only the county would break out the food and beverage tax receipts for municipal businesses.

I am disappointed that Goldner takes a stance that is contrary to public health and the wishes of the citizenry. Her decision to roll back the ban would only erode whatever confidence the public might have left in the Fort Wayne city council

News Summary

I was out of town all day today and so, as you can see, there wasn't much posting going on. However there were a few things I wanted to mention.

1. WBOI had a great two part story about the local blogosphere. When I was interviewed for the story I was unsure which direction they were going to go but I must say that I'm impressed. Anyone that was unfamiliar with blogs would have a much better sense of what they're all about after listening to this story. So a big thank you to Don Clemmer and Jeanette Dillon for doing this story.



2. Thanks to Steve Shine for plugging our New Media, New Rules upcoming panel discussion on WOWO this morning.



3. Special prosecutor Dan Sigler rightfully lashed out at Matt Kelty this morning and called him "completely untruthful". Of course this isn't news to me as I've been saying that for months. A nickel's worth of free advice to Kelty. Pissing off the special prosecutor by making personal attacks claiming he's "politically motivated" is probably not wise when you're facing multiple felonies. Is there anything this guy can't screw up? I was going to post Sigler's response but Dan Turkette already has the documents and they should go up sometime tomorrow



4. Sylvia Smith had several good articles about Senator Bayh's wife and her "career" as a full time corporate board member. It just shows that if you can't buy off a Senator you can always buy off their spouse.



5. I see councilman Tom Didier is considering the idea of not rolling back the smoking ban. I know Didier is ultimately against the ban but his rational is right on the money on this one.

Smoking Ban Editorial on Bar Sign

This picture was taken at Jags on Lima road - they always have anti-smoking ban comments on their sign. It's a great neighborhood bar and my buddy Justin tends bar there Wed-Sun so if you're in the area stop on in...

Smoking Ban Resurfaces at City Council

Tonight's city council meeting was quite interesting. Around 60 opponents of the smoking ban, including several bar owners, showed up to voice their displeasure about the new smoking ordinance. At the end of the meeting they had their spokesman, Mikeal Vaughn, a state representative with the Indiana Niteclub Association, make their case that the ban was putting bars out of business.

Now I'm going to try and avoid rehashing this debate because I'm already on record. But I feel compelled to point out that Vaughn is a terrible spokesman. He rambled on for what must've been 25 minutes saying the same thing over and over. He made his point in the first 5 minutes and should've just went on his way. He was so bad that his own supporters were mumbling that he should just shut up.

He also threw out several threats about re-election that just rang hollow. Does he not think that people were energized in the primary? I'm pretty sure that the councilmen know that many people are upset - they don't need some outsider that probably doesn't know the first thing about local politics making threats.

Any bar owner or employee could've done a better job than Vaughn - they are personally vested and are the ones with the most to lose. I would strongly suggest that they ditch Vaughn and take up their own cause - he might be doing more harm than good...

Enjoy Smoke-Free Friday

Looks like I'll be enjoying a smoke-free environment come Friday night:

An injunction hearing scheduled for Thursday in front of Allen Superior Judge Nancy Boyer is now cancelled. No hearing is currently scheduled in federal court, clearing the way for a smoke-free Friday as scheduled.

I would encourage everyone that supports the ban to visit your local watering hole and toss a few back while enjoying the fresh air...