Even before it takes effect,
Springfield’s new smoking ban may be loosened. Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards has proposed
exempting private clubs from the ban, which is scheduled to take
effect in September. The proposed exemption made it through first
reading on a voice vote at the Feb. 7 City Council meeting. Edwards
says that he expects a final vote as early as next week. The proposal would allow Elk, Moose, and
members of assorted other fraternal organizations and social clubs
to puff away in their lodges. “I’ve been approached by
more than one club,” Edwards says. “I like to think
clubs are an extension of your domain. Your house isn’t open
to the public.” Michael Higgins, owner of Maldaner’s
restaurant, feels the same way but has reached a different
conclusion. “I spend 70 percent of my time here,” he
says. “In a sense, this is my house — and I don’t
smoke in my house.” However, Higgins, who banned smoking at his
restaurant last month, says that he isn’t oppose to letting
folks to poison themselves with tobacco smoke at private clubs. But
he doesn’t want one exemption to signal the beginning of a
trend. “I know both sides have considered
it,” Higgins says. “As long as the city doesn’t
start filling it [the ban] full of exemptions, I probably
don’t have a problem with it.” Edwards is making no predictions, but Higgins,
who’s appeared at press conferences in support of smoking
bans in Springfield and throughout the state, guesses that the
measure will pass. Ward 10 Ald. Bruce Strom, the main City Council
proponent of the smoking ban, says he’s opposed. “It introduces a number of
problems,” Strom says. For one, Strom says he’s concerned clubs could liberalize guest policies and
start competing with bars that are subject to the ban. For another,
even if members want to smoke, employees could be exposed to secondhand
smoke and accompanying health risks. And non-smokers who belong to
clubs may not be comfortable speaking out even though they’d
prefer going smokeless, he says. A manager of the Sangamo Club says that the
club’s board is aware of the proposed exemption but
hasn’t formed an official opinion. Ed Charles, past president
of the Eagles Club on Ash Street, says that he’s all in favor
of an exemption, although he’s not sure whether the club
could use an exemption to market itself. “I don’t know
if it would be a selling point or not, but it would definitely
allow us to retain the members that we have,” Charles says. Edwards says that he hasn’t polled his
colleagues on the council and doesn’t plan on doing any heavy
lobbying. However, proponents of the smoking ban say that
they’ll push to keep the ban intact. “Springfield has a
good law,” Kathy Drea of the American Lung Association says.
“I’m sure we’ll be in contact with the City
Council members and the mayor about the issue.” The proposed exemption, Drea says, is about
more than allowing Masons to choose how pure their air will be.
“Some of these private clubs have employees, and some of them don’t — nobody should have to risk
their health for a paycheck,” she says. “The entire goal of
this is to protect workers, people who are exposed for their entire
shift.” That some bartenders or servers may profess ambivalence
makes no difference to Drea. “Just because they don’t care
doesn’t mean they won’t get sick,” she says.
“Secondhand smoke causes a whole laundry list of diseases, both
major and minor. Believe me, if they were diagnosed with something
minor, they will care.” Foreseeing the possibility of bars’
charging a dollar for a lifetime membership and declaring themselves private
clubs, Edwards’ proposal defines a club as one that
“sells alcoholic beverages only incidental to its
operation.” Clubs also cannot be operated for
“pecuniary gain,” a fancy term meaning that for-profit
operations couldn’t get around the ban. Nor would smoking be
allowed when clubs opened their doors for fish fries, bingo nights,
or other events open to the public. “It’s not wide-open
smoke-’em-if-you-got-’em,” says Edwards, who
doesn’t smoke. Rather than see smoking bans pass or fail
city-by-city, Edwards says, he’d prefer a statewide ban.
State legislators last week took a step in that direction when a
House committee passed a statewide ban and sent it to the full
House, where it is awaiting action. The proposed statewide ban,
which exempts Chicago, would apply to private clubs. Drea says that smoking bans instituted in
Chicago and Springfield have pushed the state to consider a ban of
its own. “We’re surprised at the amount of
pressure since Chicago passed their law,” she says.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2006.
