Madison's bars and restaurants are attempting to decide the debate over smoking in their establishments by releasing their own proposal to curb the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
Proponents of the measure, drafted by Rick Petri, the attorney for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, said the proposal is closer to a compromise than what has been coming out of the ad hoc committee developed to hammer out the details of the original measure proposed by Ald. Jean MacCubbin, District 11.
That measure would ban smoking in all restaurants that receive less than 50 percent of their total revenue from the sale of alcohol and eliminate exemptions for separately ventilated rooms.
\This is really kind of a substitute ordinance, which is really a compromise because there's a certain amount of frustration in the compromise committee,"" said Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, who will introduce the new measure to council on Nov. 19. ""The compromise [in the committee] is 'Do we institute the ban now or two months from now?' It's a matter of when.""
The new ordinance would allow establishments with less than 50 seats to be exempted from any ban, allow properly ventilated rooms for smoking and ban smoking in full-service bars by 2008. After 8 p.m. patrons will also be allowed to light up in smoke-free areas, while bars could receive a five-year exemption from the ban if they lose at least 5 percent of their revenue after the ban takes effect.
Ald. Gary Poulson, District 20, said the measure would allow smoking in places that previously banned it and he would not support the new proposal.
""If they have in fact put in the proposal a time provision ... I'm certainly opposed to that,"" he said. ""It makes no sense if you have smoking in a room for an expanded period of time and then you have people come in the next day and it's nonsmoking. Smoke doesn't disappear.""
Poulson said he felt the proposal was unfair to the current system, which he added has worked hard to find a way to appease both sides.
""We were trying to see if there was a compromise related to a specific proposal,"" he said. ""[The proposal] is almost like a bullying tactic and a diversion.\
