[C-U Smokefree] (no subject)

[Scott P Hays]

We had a productive and interesting meeting this afternoon at Za's.

Here are some of some of things we discussed and decided, and some of
the ideas we shared.

We should continue contacting council members to the best of our
ability.

We need to do a better job at coordinating our volunteers.

We need to devote significant effort to channeling volunteers and
supporters to contact council and write letters to the editor.

No real consensus on whether to contact supporters other than those who
checked "volunteer".  We have no money for a mailing in any case (but
see "fundraising" below.  

We need to post a "What you can do to help" on the website that says
send a letter to council; phone council members; email council members;
write a letter to the editor. Should include a link to draft comments or
suggestions, a draft letter to the editor or bullets and link to council
member and council district information.

Contact Kathy Drea to see about setting up a local e-advocacy campaign
(Scott).

Coordinate News Gazette weekly letter writing campaign so that weekly
letters touch on different topics (SCOTT will do this).

Scott reported summary results from his tally of Smoking and non-smoking
restaurants and bars.  A draft total for C&U is as follows:

95 smokefree fast food restaurants
28 smokefree Table service restaurants
3 smokefree table service restaurants with attached bars
0 smokefree bars

43 smoke-permitted fast food restaurants
30 smoke-permitted table service restaurants
52 smoke-permitted table service restaurants with attached bars
20 smoke-permitted bars

That's 138 smokefree establishments vs. 175 smoke-permitted. Don't let
anyone tell you "aren't they all Smokefree now?"

Caveat: 95 establishments were still not classifiable as to type (28
smokefree/ 67 smoke-permitted).

Find and recruit a supportive citizen to run for council in Pirtle's
district in Champaign.

Decide whether we have the strength and stamina for an Advisory
Referendum Campaign.

Get the details to start the Advisory Referendum (Exact number of
signatures, exact form, deadline for filing signatures).

Consider doing the Advisory Referendum only in Champaign (not Urbana)

There are two parts: a) the signature drive - we will undoubtedly
door-to-door canvassing since our opportunity to address large crowds at
one event may be gone.  And b) the campaign.  We of course currently
have no money to finance a referendum campaign, so this means
fundraising and other activities.  We could also just get it on the
ballot - do very little - and assume we'll still get 65% support - which
we might.

Consider the possibilities for exempting bars from our proposal.  Be
sure we don't eliminate other "workplaces."

Fund Raising:  It was discussed that other organizations have grant
funds that can be leveraged to support the campaign, but CU Smokefree
needs some level of its own funding.

Little interest was expressed for selling hot dogs at WalMart.  We
should contact community organizations, but this requires legwork.  No
real thoughts on how to proceed.

Consider doing another Urbana Farmer's Market AFTER the next one October
16.

That's the low-down for now.

Thanks for your support,

Scott
aka: the Prez.

www.cu-smokefree.org





Scott P. Hays, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Center for Prevention Research and Development
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
Champaign, Illinois  61820

email: sphays at uiuc.edu
phone: 217.244.2616
fax: 217.244.0214