Mayor Coleman Signs St. Paul Smoking Ban

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman signed an ordinance Wednesday banning smoking in all bars and restaurants in St. Paul. When the ban takes effect March 31, it will put St. Paul in sync with the comprehensive ban in Minneapolis and make the Twin Cities smoke-free in most public places. The City Council passed the ordinance on a 4-3 vote. Coleman recognized councilman Dave Thune, who led the smoking ban effort. He had presented the proposal twice before, sparking a wave of metro area smoking bans, but in St. Paul the plan was vetoed by former Mayor Randy Kelly, who was defeated for re-election in November."Not a bad day," Thune said as he greeted about 30 supporters at a celebration at the restaurant Dixie's on Grand following the vote. Thune happens to be a pack-a-day smoker who has been trying to stop for 30 years. His aide, Donna Swanson, presented him with 20 roses and an engraved ashtray that read, "Where there's smoke there's Thune." In a sign of the times, she said, she searched in vain for an ashtray at the Marshall Field's, J.C. Penney's and Herberger's department stores. She finally found one at the cigar shop Stogies on Grand.Councilman Dave ThuneBar owners lobbied against the ban, saying it would wipe out their profit margins. Under the new law, St. Paul will still allow smoking on outdoor patios. Similar smoking bans took effect in Minneapolis and Bloomington last March 31. Smoking is allowed in other parts of Ramsey and Hennepin counties, however, at bars that do more than 50 percent of their business in liquor sales.