Tuesday, July 08 2008
In a follow-up to yesterday's posting in The Olympian (www.theolympian.com), cigar bar and club owners who were backing an initiative that would allow smoking in their establishments came up just short of the amount of signatures needed to get I-1016 on the ballot.
Joe Arundel, sponsor of I-1016 and owner of Rain City Cigar in Seattle, said his low-budget effort using a network of cigar shop owners and bar owners collected more than 213,000 signatures.
"Unfortunately, in our business, it's close but no cigar," Arundel said, trying to inject humor into defeat.
The law required 225,000 signatures.
I-1016 would have allowed smoking in private facilities, cigar stores and cigar bars.
Arundel is not giving up, and said he plans to ask lawmakers in January to permit exceptions.
"We need to do something about this," he said. "The exemptions we were looking for are relatively small."
State lawmakers have resisted efforts to water down the law, despite chafing by some business owners. Among them is Frank Schnarrs, owner of Frankie's Sports Bar & Grill in Olympia, who was found in contempt of court last month over allowing smoking at the bar for patrons who paid a $1 membership fee.
Smoking measure falls short
