It seems like they could have done this before passing a law that kneecapped thousands of businesses across New York, but your representatives in the state Senate are asking for your opinion on how the nation's strictest smoking ban is going.
Sen. Byron Brown, a Buffalo-based Democrat whose district includes Niagara Falls, sent a letter to restaurant and bar owners last week, asking for their feedback before the 2004 legislative session convenes in January.
Sen. George Maziarz, whose district includes most of Niagara County outside the city, is asking the same of his constituents.
Both senators say they're willing to consider amendments to a law that's already taken several businesses off the tax rolls and has dozens more teetering on the brink of insolvency. Some of the possible amendments include lifting the ban in enclosed, separately ventilated smoking areas, expanding the private-clubs exemption to include all such previously existing organizations and clarifying the standards for receiving a hardship waiver.
None of those changes, or any others, will get made unless opponents of the ban make enough noise. Brown and Maziarz specifically asked for input from proprietors affected by the ban, but the more ammunition they receive in favor of amending or repealing the ban, the better. Bar and restaurant owners should include as much specific data as possible. Any decrease in sales taxes or Quick Draw revenues generated should be noted, since they provide much of the bankroll for Albany's annual spending spree.
You can e-mail Byron Brown at bbrown@senate.state.ny.us, or send him a plain old letter at 615 Legislative Office Building, Albany, N.Y. 12247, or State Office Bldg., 65 Court St., Room 213, Buffalo, N.Y. 14202.
If you live outside the city, you can contact Maziarz at maziarz@senate.state.ny.us, or via the U.S. Postal Service at 805 Legislative Office Building, Albany, N.Y. 12247, or 60 Professional Parkway, Lockport, N.Y. 14094.
She didn't ask, but she voted for the ban, too. So while you're at it, drop Assemblywoman Francine Del Monte a line at delmonf@assembly.state.ny.us, or by writing to her at LOB 428, Albany, N.Y. 12248, or 1700 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls, N.Y. 14301.
Don't scoff at the notion that what you have to say can make a difference. The ban swept through Albany in two days last spring because proponents directed campaign contributions to strategic legislative leaders, as well as staging a massive mail and e-mail campaign that deceived lawmakers into believing there was a groundswell of public support for the measure.
Joe Cherner, self-appointed commandant of the Smokefree Network, is a master of such propaganda. He sends out several e-mails a week containing links to Web pages that allow fellow anti-smokers to flood legislators' e-mail boxes with form letters.
Forget that most of the letter-writers don't actually live in the districts of the lawmakers they harangue, or even in New York state. Politicians are bred to believe that one letter, call or e-mail means there are at least a dozen potential voters who feel the same way, and act accordingly.
In the past week alone, I've received e-mails from Cherner urging me to lobby in favor of instituting or strengthening smoking bans in Massachusetts, Colorado and California. Each of his missives includes links to send anti-smoking "E-Z letters" -- evidently, anti-smoking zealots are too swollen with self-righteousness to compose their own -- to elected officials in 27 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Ireland.
I'm sure those are all nice places, and smoking is just as bad for the people who live there as it is here. Unlike cyberdorks like Cherner, though, I don't believe in telling everyone else on the planet how to live their lives and run their businesses.
So if you're a restaurant or bar owner who has been hurt by the smoking ban, a smoker dreading being forced outside all winter by the whim of people who don't go to the same places you do anyway, or a non-smoker who doesn't believe the government should be forcing private businesses to prohibit a legal, taxed activity like smoking tobacco, get writing.
You can be assured that the Joe Cherners of the world are going to be spewing the half-truths and over-generalizations that got the ban passed in the first place.
With Christmas only a month away, the 74th Niagara Falls Firefighters' Christmas Toy Fund is operating in high gear, despite a pair of new challenges.
First, the aforementioned smoking ban has hurt one of the fund's main sources of revenue, the sale of logos in area restaurants and bars. Mirrors and walls in city establishments are traditionally lined with the red pieces of cardboard bearing the names of contributors.
With the smoking ban putting a damper on business just about everywhere, the logos are still going up. Just at a much slower pace.
"By this time, we're usually getting calls from bar owners saying, 'I'm out of logos -- bring me more,'" said Toy Fund Chairman Bill Butski. "They're not calling and asking for more this year, because business is down."
The ongoing financial troubles at Adelphia Cable forced a cutback in the Toy Fund's annual telethon from two days to one. At least there's a trade-off there. This year's telethon, which runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 6, can be seen by all Adelphia subscribers in Western New York, instead of only in Niagara County as in past years.
In an effort to offset potential losses from the decrease in logo sales and the shortened telethon, the Toy Fund is throwing a party on Dec. 5 at Niagara Falls High School.
Starting at 7 p.m., eight magicians -- including Butski, a recently retired firefighter -- from around Western New York will entertain the crowd, along with music by the Niagara Experience Players. Tickets are $5 and will be available at establishments selling logos, as well as at the door. All proceeds go to the Toy Fund, which sponsors a Christmas dinner for seniors on Dec. 9 in addition to providing gifts for needy families.
For more information on how to help, call 286-4726.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | November 25 2003 |