| # | Comments for City Council |
|---|---|
| 51 | |
| 52 | |
| 53 | |
| 54 | |
| 55 | I just want to know why it is that the rights of smokers are always taken away? Further more do employees not have a choice of where they work, there are plenty of place in town that are smoke-free that they could work at! My family and many others have now not eaten out at any in City Limits restaurant since the smoking ban, I think its a shame, not only for smokers but for the owners of those restaurants. I am not sure this is even America I live in anymore. Hey why stop at smoking, take away all our rights! Maybe you should let the community vote on this since these does violate their rights. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | |
| 58 | |
| 59 | |
| 60 | |
| 61 | |
| 62 | Mind your own business. |
| 63 | |
| 64 | The council has overstepped the boundries that it operates in... I hope the bars in question sue you senseless for the loss of revenue and the diminishment of thier property value. The ban should have been on a city ballot. |
| 65 | |
| 66 | |
| 67 | |
| 68 | |
| 69 | |
| 70 | Big government is an intrusion and limits personal freedom and liberty. There were plenty of non-smoking bars and restaurants before the ban. If you don't like smoke, stay out of venues that allow it. |
| 71 | This should have been brought to a vote by the people of Columbia! Vote the mayor out in April! |
| 72 | |
| 73 | |
| 74 | |
| 75 | |
| 76 | |
| 77 | Best intentions many teams does not lead to best results because of unintended consequences. Not only will businesses and their owners suffer, many workers will lose their jobs because of either the business going under or slowing down. Tax revenue will suffer. I hope you learn a lesson from passing this absurd ordinance. |
| 78 | No one is forced to enter a smoke filled environment. No one is forced to apply for a job at such an establishment. No one is forced to dine at such an establishment. No one if forced to take their children to dine at such an establishment. There are literally over 100 alternatives. If someone is being forced to enter a smoking environment, clearly another law is being violated. The only thing this law did was prohibit free choices for diners and potential employees. This is pure paternalism . Any society that seeks to maximize its citizens' health is not a free one.; |
| 79 | |
| 80 | This ordinance is an absolute joke. It was an ignorant decision, and one that is hurting the economy of your city. You can have a fairly large amount of marijuana and essentially get away with it, but you can't smoke a cigarette at a pool hall or a bar? Come on guys, wake up. I can understand a ban at family resturants, but not at bars and pool halls that have been around for a long time, and are now being run out of business due to this ridiculous ban. That's all that needs to be said. |
| 81 | The city of Columbia was offering both smoking and non smoking facilities prior to the ban. I believe it offered citizens choice. Thank you for your consideration of personal choice. |
| 82 | |
| 83 | please lift this ban, you tried and at least you can say that, but it should be apparant by now that people will not stop smoking just because you want them too, they will instead go out of the city and spend their money somewhere else causing businesses here to close and economic development to suffer. your creating a downward sprial think of it like this. if people go out of town to enjoy a cigarette it wont be long before they start to do all their shopping in these other places because they will meet people from these different towns, will bond with them form friendships and then out of those bonds they will start doing all their business with those people, and over time it wont just be the downtown businesses closing it will be all businesses of all categories in columbia that will suffer. let the business owners run their business, if you want to make columbia a healthier place to live, offer stop smoking classes and support groups, put in more bike trails, sidewalks, and city sponsored events to draw people to those types of things. |
| 84 | |
| 85 | THE PEOPLE voted it down. Enough said. |
| 86 | WIth all the non smoking in the bars our friends and family are losing there businesses. plus all the people who dont smoke, like to smoke when they are drinking or just as a soical thing. also columbia is losing business all around. People stop going. I am a smoker myself and to not be able to go sit down and have a smoke after diner , I feel like i am being punished for something that is sold in stores that the government allows to be sold in missouri. |
| 87 | |
| 88 | Looks like the City Council was really smart passing the ban, because they have shut down 3 businesses since January and still counting. Really great for the economy and unemployment rate slicks. We all know why this wasnt voted by the people (who are your boss), you idiots knew it would never pass. Focus on more important things in the community jackasses. |
| 89 | I lived in Columbia for almost four years while attending MU, and patronized many of the establishments downtown which have been affected by the smoking ban. I feel that this law unfairly limits businesses' ability to provide a comfortable environment for their patrons. Attending these establishments is a matter of choice. If second-hand smoke bothers some of Columbia's citizens, they should choose to attend establishments who have chosen of their own free will to prohibit smoking. The ban is an unfair imposition upon the rights of Columbia's business owners, and upon the patrons whose rights have been curtailed in the interest of public health. Allow citizens to vote with their feet. |
| 90 | The smoking ban is a violation of business owners' property rights. Also, several small, locally owned businesses have closed due to this ordinance. The city government does not need to play mom for its citizens. Adults should be free to choose what legal substances they wish to indulge in while at a privately owned establishment. There are plenty of smoke-free establishments in town for nonsmokers. This ban hurts small business owners and annoys smokers into not spending their money in Columbia. Ashland and neighboring communities have quite enjoyed the ban, however. I will travel there to eat and drink until Columbia decides not to play mother to its citizens. Prohibition didn't work in the 30s, and it won't work now. |
| 91 | I do not live in the county but feel very strong about the subject. I used to come to Columbia once a week to do my shopping, once a mo. to fill up the cupboards, go to the mall , doctors office and always have a meal. I truly wish I did not smoke but I do. I am the first one to talk to any one (young) and tell them what a big mistake they are making by smoking. I have C.O.P.D. and have smoked for over 55 years. I would stop today if I could, I have been trying for over 15 years. I could never make much since of the non smoking laws , but have always followed the law. I went out doors, always ask if someone was near if they minded , ect. Now can you tell me what in the world you think you are doing ? To make it a law that a person can not make up their own mind , what a customer can and can not do in their own business? I have owned two business's in this state and here to tell you that unless you are able to cover the loss in business to the owner you shouldn't have the right to force a law on them that they don't want. Do you really think everyone is going to toss their cigarettes out the window and thank you for saving them? Do you have a law that says the city of Columbia can not sell cigarettes ? You know like that other one way back..... oh you know dry counties and blue Sunday. Those worked real well. People just went somewhere else to spend their money. I have never tried to make anyone smoke. I agree that no one should ever start. I agree also that people should not drink and drive. We have laws that deal with that..... well kind of. The jails are full of them. People that don't want to be around smoke also have a choice, not to go to places that most people do smoke. I heard a rumor that you guys are also thinking about making it a law that you can not smoke in your car and or home. Hmmmmm you need to slow down and think about what you guys are doing. Thanks for hearing me out. R. K. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | |
| 94 | You have no legitimate right to inflict this damage onto the people who own property in the political subdivision known as "The City of Columbia." You only have the violence of hired guns known as "enforcement" to back such decrees. No matter how much you may choose to believe, other people are not your property. |
| 95 | Way to revoke the civil rights of businesses and citizens. Are we back in 1939 Germany? |
| 96 | You know Hitler was a avid non smoker and required his senior staff to be smoke free as well. I am very glad to see Columbia's city council follows their idols so diligently. |
| 97 | This was unfair representation! Every member of the council should have to vote on every issue. |
| 98 | |
| 99 | Smoking is my right. Get off your moral high horse! |
| 100 | Everyone on this list is a selfish moron. Smoke outside you retards. If I had no life I would go around and collect signatures of everyone that LOVES the smoking ban. It would severely trump this list, believe me. Also, I think it's a joke that anyone on this list actually believes this is hurting Columbia's economy at all. One petitioner wrote saying something like "three businesses have already closed". Get real. A pool hall and a bar close up shop and you think Columbia is in trouble? I used to be a smoker. Quit lying to yourselves and drop a bad habit. None of the rest of us are interested in wearing your disgusting habit on our clothes, or spending the night coughing up phlegm because you can't walk ten feet to the door to smoke outside. |