Bob Bans Butts, Boosts Brandon Business

Oh yeah! Amidst all the candidate wrangling, it's easy to forget there's a smoking ban on the November ballot. I wonder if maybe we should vote against it... to protect the competitive advantage of the businesses that have already banned smoking:

"Picked up some new business, and some old business, I used to have, but quit coming in because of the smoking,” [Brandon Steakhouse owner Bob] Miller said.

Miller's spoken out against a state-wide smoking ban in the past. He still believes a business owner should have the right to allow smoking indoors... But, he says, he knew it had to be done, to accommodate families. He knows now, it was the right decision.

"We do have a lot of families, family reunions, banquets, Easter, we were full, Brandon's a young family town, so is Luverne, we tracked business from Luverne, that we didn't have before too, because we are smoke free,” Miller said [Cherlene Richards, "Business Booms at Smoke-Free Restaurant," KELOLand.com, 2010.04.25].

There is an argument that Bob Miller's telling you to take your butts outside is less of an infringement on your liberty than Pierre's issuing the same edict. If the economy improves to the point that waitresses suffering in smoky workplaces have more freedom to work elsewhere, maybe we won't need the ban at all. Let's hope more businesses can make the right decision for their customers, their employees, and their bottom line.