When They Came For The Bar Owners, I Did Nothing…
By Mitch Berg
One of the biggest whacks upside the head of the local blogging/trivia community this past year was the Met Council’s ruling that bars that’d established “smoking patios” outside their premises had to pay fees on that extra square footage as if it was indoor, year-round revenue-generating space. This has forced Twin Cities’ bars to shut down the practice of having special patios for smokers, especially cigar buffs.
Of course, it’s been a bigger whack upside the head for the bar owners themselves. Already on the ropes from the smoking ban, the extra smack to their summer revenue (summer is already a slow time for most bars) has pushed many Twin Cites establishments up to and in some cases over the edge.
And in a rare move for a bureaucracy, the Met Council seems to be considering responding to the pressure from bar owners and their patrons. There’ll be a hearing this coming Tuesday afternoon to reconsider the fee structure. I’m not sure if there’s time to salvage the summer (or if the provision will be lifted in time to set up a patio for the MOB party)…
…but I am sure that the region’s anti-smoking gestapo will take a break from whinging about the “orchestration” of town-hall meeting outrage over healthcare to organize plenty of people to come to the meeting to bitch about secondhand smoke.
This is where you come in.
Bureaucrats take phone calls seriously. They – the smart ones, anyway – know that every phone call represents 100 people who didn’t call them. One call represents 100 like-minded people; it’s public relations truism.
And so it’d be great if you could take a moment to contact the members of the Met Council. Here they are. Please take a moment and leave them polite, reasoned messages asking them to reconsider their policy; it’s killing bars, putting people out of work, and playing into the hands of chain restaurants and establishments. Phone is better than email, but either is vastly better than letting the other guys have the stage to themselves.
Of course if you are free on Tuesday, here are the details:
Proposed Changes to the Service Availability Charge (SAC)Rules Regarding Outdoor Spaces Public Information Meeting: 1 p.m., Chambers
I might…just…be able to make it. Fingers crossed.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
When they came for Muslim Americans, I did nothing…after all, I wasn’t a Muslim, and Muslims love terrorism anyway, or so I’ve been told.
Conversely Mitch, smokig isn’t a Constitutionally protected right in a public place especially so when it clearly brings harm to others, it’s DEFINETELY not a right. When I have to pay additional taxes to cover the damage caused by smokers, it’s most certainly not a right.
People have a right to be secure in their persons, they have a right to take a job and expect reasonable risks – and if the job is the only job in town, then requiring them to expose themselves to someone else’s cigarette smoke is NOT stopping your rights at MY feet.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Say peevee? How much do you think it adds to our insurance bills every time you go to the emergency room to have another gerbil fished out of your ass?
When I have to pay additional premiums to cover the damage caused by gerbil smugglers, it’s most certainly not a right.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Not sure why Peev thinks Mitch’s advocating changes to the “service availability charge rules regarding outdoor spaces” amounts to a “constitutionally protected right” complaint. I mean, even if it did, the right in question would pertain to the property rights of bar and restaurant owners, not any “smoking” right, as Peev seems to believe. I suppose there’s also the matter of the right of bar and restaurant employees to choose whether or not to work in an establishment which permits smoking.
Anyway, I suppose there might be some post about this “constitutional rights” stuff out there somewhere in the wide, wide world of sports. It’s just that Mitch’s post doesn’t talk about any of that stuff, so I wonder how Peev arrived there.
August 7th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for “Rhetorical Skeet Shooting”; Peev puts ’em up, I see how fast I can shoot them to little clay flinders.
OK: PULL!
When they came for Muslim Americans, I did nothing…after all, I wasn’t a Muslim, and Muslims love terrorism anyway, or so I’ve been told.
Prejudicial strawman; I have never said any such thing about Muslims, or advocated any such action.
PULL!
Conversely Mitch, smokig isn’t a Constitutionally protected right in a public place
Betrays a fundamental misunderstanding about the Constitution; it doesn’t give rights, it spells out what government is and is not allowed to do. The only part of the issue of any constitutional interest is the property rights angle.
PULL!
especially so when it clearly brings harm to others,
Misinformation: There’s nothing “clear” about that assertion; if there’s any science out there squishier than the science re: global warming, it’s “second hand smoke”>
PULL!
When I have to pay additional taxes to cover the damage caused by smokers, it’s most certainly not a right.
Assertion without evidence; You probably don’t pay any additional taxes to cover anything; smokers don’t live as long, ergo cost less. And you pay higher taxes because of the smoking ban; unemployment is rampant in the hospitality industry.
PULL!
People have a right to be secure in their persons, they have a right to take a job and expect reasonable risks – and if the job is the only job in town,
Strawman: it’s not the only job in town.
One minute and forty-five seconds!
August 7th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
“so I wonder how Peev arrived there. ”
You must be new.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
…take a moment and leave them polite, reasoned messages asking them to reconsider their policy…
Ha, ha, it’s moments like these that keep me coming back. You know, when you have to sit the Mitchketeers down, gently hold their hand and request that they not sputter vicious epithets and violent death threats to local government officials over the phone. Any town halls coming up? If so, I see an essay in your future wherein you politely point out the perils of gunning down the opposition and ramming SUVs into the terrified citizenry.
August 8th, 2009 at 3:51 am
Tim,
Out of context as usual.
But do try to do the same for your SEIU thug friends.
August 8th, 2009 at 5:41 am
Hi Mitch
I was one of the instigators on this effort, and am not a bureaucrat, so you don’t need to flood my cell phone with calls… I worked (sucessfully) on cutting the city portion of the same fee when I was on the Lakeville City Council. Although the issue gained more prominence due a higher interest in outdoor bar/restaurant seating due to the smoking ban, it is not about smoking. It is about economic development, and trying to make sure government fees for infrastructure cover the actual costs, and are not so prohibitively high as to thwart that development from happening at all.
Wendy Wulff
Met Council District 16
August 9th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
all I know is that Edina has a lot of vacant commercial properties. I would urge bar owners in to moving to my quaint little city, of course this pending my (hopefully) successful bid for a City Council seat in 2010.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
BD: “so I wonder how Peev arrived there. ”
MON: “You must be new.”
Ha ha ha ha 😆 😆 😆 ha ha ha ha