[C-U Smokefree] Ballot measure?

[Kathy Drea]

C-U Smokefree -

Please read the message below.  It is from Cindy Wostrel in Lincoln
Nebraska.  She worked very hard to pass the ballot measure in Lincoln to
uphold their clean indoor air law.  Although they were successful in
Lincoln Nebraska - please carefully consider her remarks regarding
making clean indoor air a ballot measure.    You need to also know that
the Lincoln City Council had already passed a clean indoor air law -
this ballot measure only upheld it.  Also, note in Cindy's remarks that
they have been working on this issue for a decade.

It is my personal and professional opinion that making the clean indoor
air issue in C-U a ballot measure would be a grave mistake.  I cannot
even begin to describe the strength of the tobacco lobby in Illinois.
They consider Illinois, because of our population size and our
geographic area (very center of the U.S.) to be a critical battleground.
They will do just about anything to keep Illinois from going smoke free
- because they know that Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana wouldn't be very
far behind - and then the other states in the Midwest would be next.
They know (and we know) that a smokefree C-U would greatly improve the
chances of the entire state of IL going smokefree.  Some of you have
heard the unbelievable and outrageous tactics Tobacco has used at the
Capitol - and they are certainly not limited to Springfield.  

One of my basic concerns is the localized media situation in C-U.  With
Tobacco's unlimited resources they could easily FLOOD the local media
with advertisements - with only one daily paper and a very limited
number of local tv stations and cable companies it would be a very CHEAP
campaign for them.  At the same time - it would be a very expensive
campaign for us - we have very limited resources.   Also, the local
spring election will likely have a low voter turnout - which I do not
feel would be positive for this issue.

At this time, we do not have the manpower, paid or volunteer, or the
money for a campaign to pass a ballot measure.  While working with the
city council seems difficult, if not impossible at times, an all out
campaign for a vote on this issue would be much more overwhelming for
our group of volunteers.   Another concern would be the tobacco industry
owned factory in the C-U area.  It would be very easy to mobilize this
group, if Tobacco felt it was necessary.  They would have an automatic
"army" to put out yard signs, walk door to door, etc.   To be very
clear, I do not feel that a campaign to pass a ballot measure regarding
clean indoor air in C-U is feasible or realistic at this time, and that
the Lung Association would likely not participate in such a campaign.

 

Again, please see Cindy's remarks below.

Kathy

 

Kathy Drea, Director, Public Policy

American Lung Association of Illinois-Iowa

3000 Kelly Lane

Springfield, IL  62711

1-800-788-5864

FAX:  (217) 787-5916

kdrea at lungil.org

www.lungilia.org

 

-----Original Message-----
From: smartalk at smartalk.org [mailto:smartalk at smartalk.org] On Behalf Of
Cindy Wostrel
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 2:47 AM
To: smartalk at smartalk.org
Subject: (SMARTalk)Re: Following the ballot initiatives

 

Thanks for the congrats, Joe.

As pleased as I am by the victory in Lincoln, though, I would certainly
encourage others to exhaust every possible legislative means before ever
considering going to the ballot. We were forced to the ballot by the
opposition, and it's a terrific strategy on their part to try to exhaust
our resources, resources that could be spent on other ways to prevent
exposure to secondhand smoke or to address other worthy causes. We only
won through blood, sweat and tears, a strong collaboration and
contributions from organizations and individuals. We fought hard for
this victory. Ballot success takes strong individual and organizational
commitment, both cash and people power.

I am personally in debt to the many individuals and organizations who
helped contribute to the two-to-one success at the ballot in Lincoln.
And that includes a very personal debt of gratitude to the vision and
leadership of Dr. Steven Schroeder more than a decade ago, and to those
who helped make that vision a reality.

And while I'm posting, here's the 2 am update from Lincoln:

CITY OF LINCOLN REFERENDUM
          Vote for  1
           FOR  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    45,911   62.30
           AGAINST .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    27,788   37.70

 

 

 

 

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