Vote on controversial smoking ban delayed

Sensing that his proposal to ban smoking in bars, bowling alleys and all workplaces in the city would fail to pass, City Councilman Michael Nutter yanked the measure before it could come for a vote yesterday.

"We're in gridlock here, eight to eight," said Julia Chapman, Nutter's chief of staff, adding that the councilman will lobby council members over the next two weeks to pick up the ninth vote necessary for approving the bill when the council reconvenes.

It is unclear who the swing vote would be.

"The plan is to move full speed ahead," Chapman said. The "goal is to try to get this done as quickly as possible. But it was clear [at yesterday's meeting] that we needed to take a little more time and listen to folks and address some concerns."

The bill would have made Philadelphia the first city in Pennsylvania to ban smoking in virtually all places where people are employed.

Although such a ban has the support of the mayor, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the health industry, it has met with resistance from some members of the hospitality industry who have said their businesses would suffer financially from such a ban.

Still, Nutter and council members Blondell Reynolds Brown, David Cohen, W. Wilson Goode Jr., Juan F. Ramos, Frank Rizzo, Marian Tasco and Brian J. O'Neill said they support the bill.

Paul Ryan, the owner of Smokey Joe's, said he isn't overly worried about the smoking ban.

"If it is passed, we'll just deal with it," Ryan said. "We'll take it as it comes and adjust; that's what we're used to doing in this business. If they ban hip-hop music, then I'd have a real problem."

Ryan said he believes that City Council has "jumped the gun" regarding the proposed ban and accused the council of being short-sighted.

"It's hard to know what they are thinking," said Ryan, who went on to suggest that a smoking ban would hurt business around the city and subsequently deprive the school systems of millions of dollars.

Current tax law dictates that the School District of Philadelphia receives 10 percent of liquor sales in Philadelphia, which amounted to $27.8 million three years ago.

Chapman contended that there would be no economic damage as a result of the passage of the smoking ban.

But employees at the Bleu Martini bar and lounge in Old City agreed with Ryan, saying that a smoking ban would "kill business."

"We sell cigars here, so it would hurt business big time," said Misty Palombaro, a server at the Bleu Martini.

Ryan, however, sees the ban as inevitable.

"If it doesn't pass now, it will come within the next five years," Ryan said. "I just think it's the wave of the future."

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