Smoking ban vote in Appleton

The Appleton Post-Crescent has an article today that caught my eye. It is about a referendum on the ballot Tuesday that seeks to overturn the smoking ban established in 2005. Since Madison is wrestling with some of the same issues, it will be interesting to see the results of this vote.

The ban in Appleton passed 9,726 to 7,551 in 2005. A member of a business coalition trying to get rid of the ban thinks that the only reason it passed was because everyone assumed it would fail and didn't get out to vote on it. I doubt that is true and the city clerk is predicting a similar if not slightly smaller turnout for tomorrow's election so it remains to be seen if the business coalition has convinced enough people to vote to overturn the ban.

The bar owners in Madison are probably going to be watching the results closely on Tuesday. The Wisconsin State Journal had an article last week about an East Side bar, Hammer Time, closing in the near future. The owners say it is the result of the smoking ban, but supporters of the ban don't buy it.

It sounds like the bar had a lot of things going on that contributed to its closing, but with a location near the edge of Madison, the ban probably did have an effect on business.

If the referendum in Appleton passes on Tuesday to allow smoking again, business owners here will likely hold up bars like Hammer Time to start working to overturn the ban on smoking here.