The Politics of Granting Exemptions By: Joe J. Wallace

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Joe Wallace

The Politics of Granting Exemptions
By: Joe J. Wallace

Once again the Evansville City Council is facing a vote on a resolution to pass a comprehensive smoking ban that mirrors the Vanderburgh County plan. Tonight a vote will be held on this resolution and this time it seems as though the inevitability of a stronger smoking ordinance has finally sunk into the skull of a majority of our elected leaders. It is a foregone conclusion that some version of a stronger smoking ordinance will be passed in Evansville in 2012. The only variable seems to be the number of exemptions that may have to be granted to garner the 5 votes needed to pass a resolution.

Many groups have asserted everything from constitutional rights to stating that the science behind the damage caused by second hand smoke is simply mythology created by those who would impose their will upon the sovereign rights of others. The truth of the matter is that the constitutional assertion has been shot down in court on a number of occasions and the evidence that 2nd hand smoke kills is overwhelming. Then there is the conundrum of the economics of exemptions.

The real question that the City Council will be considering when considering just what exemptions are deemed “appropriate” by a majority all comes down to economics. How much will it cost for any business to be granted an exemption? Aztar management has asserted that passing a comprehensive smoking ban will cost the City of Evansville several million dollars in taxes and may cost over 250 of their employees their jobs. That is debatable, but for the sake of avoiding an argument lets accept that as truth. One thing is for certain, bar owners and restaurant owners do not pay enough taxes or employ enough people to meet the economic threshold for an exemption so this exemption debate is really just about Aztar.

If 2nd hand smoke is accepted by the City Council to be a hazard, the real question is how much does an exemption cost? For what price my friends and City Council members will you prostitute yourselves to a powerful taxpayer. To ascertain an answer in other areas where public safety was the decision driver when they were adopted I would like to pose the following questions.

What if all Mercedes owners were named John and wanted an exemption to our speeding laws? Since the annual license fee and the sales tax for a Mercedes is substantially higher than it is for a 5 year old Toyota, these Johns are paying more license fees than Toyota drivers. Should this collection of Johns be granted an exemption from our speeding laws? After all they could always trade their Benzes for Camrys and lay off the nanny, the landscaper, and the pool man paying less in taxes and eliminating jobs in the process.

What if one particular chain of restaurants that is prosperous and employs lots of people wanted to be exempted from health inspections? If this restaurant stood before the City Council and stated with confidence that without an exemption that would allow them to serve undercooked squirrels that they will most likely be paying a couple of million dollars less in taxes and may even have to lay off a couple of hundred people. Would our City Council give serious consideration to such a request?

Finally, the WalMart Corporation employs many people and lines the coffers of local government with revenue from sales, income, real estate, and other taxes. If WalMart could reduce the already low wages that they pay their employees they would make higher profits and thus pay more taxes. The same cognitive process that concludes that Aztar deserves an exemption from the same rules that every other business has to comply with should exempt WalMart from minimum wage laws for the same reasons.

The politics of exemption really does make for some most interesting discussion and it always seems like the exemptions come down to economics and that it comes down to the golden rule. For those who do not remember that rule is “he who has the gold makes the rules”. Whatever the outcome of this year’s vote on a smoking ordinance it needs to make as much practical sense as possible.

If the City of Evansville has to compromise principles and make an exemption for Aztar that will be unfortunate but that also may be the economic reality of the situation.

With six of the current members of the City Council having committed to vote for a comprehensive smoking ban back during the 2011 campaign if a comprehensive smoking ban does not pass it will involve yet another case of politicians being purveyors of falsehood. Let’s also hope that at least the votes are decided in the Council Chamber instead of a local Democrat watering hole.

Just how on earth can an elected official (the seventh vote) transition from “I am my brother’s keeper” to “we can’t protect everyone” in two short years? Maybe when questions like that do not have to be asked then the City of Evansville can actually take a place among prosperous cities with growth potential. Until then more of the same seems to be the law of the land.

Tonight is an opportunity for this Democrat dominated City Council to prove that they have a basic understanding of what the concepts of truth, honor, and democratic principles really are. I will not count on them doing the right thing. Quite frankly I do not believe that a majority have the integrity to cast a yes vote for a comprehensive smoking ban as 6 of them have looked me in the eye and committed to do, but I do have hope.

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19 COMMENTS

  1. I had to laugh after I read the article and then glanced to my right only to see your ad on how you are making businesses better by assisting them with their stategies, operations, etc. Anyone who reads this article and then uses you as a consultant is either a moron, or has no business sense at all.
    Maybe the fine folks at Casino Aztar will hire you after their business falls off by 20-30%.
    You are obviously not a friend of businesses in Evansville.
    Glad to see you paid for your own article though!

    • Click on the ad and see the companies that you are calling morons. Lots of success stories there Big D.

      • And i’m sure your comments from previous posts of sacrificing jobs for the greater good “smoking ban” would sit well with those outstanding companies. Maybe we should send the article to those good businesses and see what their response is…at least you have your writing to fall back on.

        • Go ahead. Businesses are pretty in tune to political types being inconsistent and unfair. Maybe I will book some new clients.

    • BD,
      I can only assume you are a smoker and if so, you truly may not understand the aggravation, stink, and health consequences you cause others. That is hard to believe though considering all the undeniable medical proof.

      Just because you have not experienced a non-smoking bar or casino, doesn’t mean that such things do not exist in other parts of the country. They do good business too. It is my opinion that we need to step up, grow up, and make Indiana a leader rather than the very distant follower that she always is.

      What about it city council? Do you have the anatomy to cast the moral, ethical, fair and right vote and take the city to a better place? I mean across the board with no exceptions. Aztar is a big company. Let them compete like the adults they claim to be. Put them on par with the small bars so that the little guys have a chance.

      I am my brother’s keeper. Will you be mine? Show me what real strength is. Haven’t seen that lately.

      • Nope not a smoker. I just believe a business should make the decision not the government. Everyone has a choice to frequent business establishments and if you choose not to frequent a business that allows smoking that is your choice. In the case of casinos, it is very well documented that extreme amounts of business is lost when smoking is not allowed. You only have to look at Illinois to see the facts. Now they want to put the city’s biggest producer of taxes in an unfair business position that would certainly cost jobs and revenue. Casino Aztar would be the only casino in the state that would not allow smoking. That puts them at an even greater disadvantage. I have experienced a non smoking casino, because I frequent Metropolis Casino in Illinois. I have watched their business dwindle down each year. The employees that I have talked to all agree that since their smoking ban has been in place they have struggled. A smilar fate will be in store for Casino Aztar if this is put in place here. I for one would hate to see that happen to my friends at Casino Aztar.

      • 292,
        How can you put the casino on par with the little guys (bars)? Aztar doesn’t compete with the Peep Hole or Fox and Hound, they compete with other casinos. People don’t drive from Owensboro, Jasper, Nashville, or Illinois to go to the Duck Inn. 83% of Aztar’s business comes from outside of Evansville and of those that do smoke will go elsewhere to smoke (French Lick, Horseshoe) if they can’t smoke at Aztar.

          • Even I agree that Casino Aztar does not compete with the corner taverns. Unfortunately the last rendition of the Evansville City Council could not grasp that concept. With 2 and maybe 3 bar owners how could they? If the Council of 2008 would have done their job competently there would not even be a resolution being voted on tonight.

          • That council was only one vote from passing the ordinance, but Councilman Friend was not willing to exempt the casino.

  2. This is an issue that will never be resolved. When we debate whether casino patrons should be allowed to smoke we are trying to determine whether the customers are going to lose once or twice in one visit. Every intelligent adult ought to know that the odds are that a casino patron will leave the building with less money than they came with. If they’re also smoking they will also degrade the physical condition of their lungs. Whether this affects other patrons is besides the point: If you don’t want to inhale second-hand smoke, go to Metropolis, or stay out of casinos altogether. But realize this: If you smoke three packs of Winstons a day for 10 years and suddenly quit cold turkey you will eventually rehabilitate your lungs to their pristine, nonsmoke condition. How long does that take? Beats the hell out of me; I quit in 1985. The moral to the story is this: If a smoker can rehabilitate his or her lungs, it certainly is no big deal to patronize a casino three to 12 times a year without dying of lung cancer, unless one already has other respiratory problems.

    As for me, I dislike gambling more than I dislike smoking: but either way, you’re going to lose.

  3. Personally, I have been on both sides of the fence. I am two years smokefree and couldn’t be happier. I have waited tables in smoke filled restaurants, with smokers with their oxygen tanks (with such little regard for their own safety, I knew they had none for mine, but I digress). I must admit that going places with no smoking is much nicer than those that allow it. That said, I feel smoking ordinances like this are a little shortsighted. We were all instilled with free will and “bans” such as this mitigate that free will. I, as a nonsmoker, have the freedom to make the choice to patronize an establishment for whatever reason, and smoking is one of those considerations. Business owners, as well, should have the liberty to conduct their business as they see fit; of course, within ethical reason. I am not arguing the health benefits or detriments of the bill, but the common sense notion that we can think for ourselves on this one. JMHO

  5. The issue has nothing to do with smoking in a business owned and managed by a private citizen or group of citizens. If it’s a smoking establishment then take your business elsewhere if you are against smoking. Let the entity that created and paid for the business to decide: Smoking or No Smoking. And then let the consumer decide to spend or not spend their money in that business. Stop treading own American businesses. Bars are for customers 21 or older…let them decide vs. the City Council idiots.

  6. Selling smoking tobacco and smoking tobacco are a legal activities! Ban the sell of all tobacco products in Evansville! Yes that is a stupid proposition…just just the recent ban of legal activities in bars. Let the consumers decide. Demorats need to be recalled!

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