March marks a historic month in
Texans typically don’t like the government telling them what to do, from what speed limit to drive to whether or not an open container in a car is legal or not. But just like driving home from work on a Friday night with an iced cold one in your hand has gone the way of the dinosaur, so, now, will a smoke after a meal.
As restrictive as
As a former smoker, it took a long time for me to jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon, and I’ve still only got one leg more or less draped over it. I don’t like a lot of government interference in my life. I’d like to visit a
But smoking in public harms more than the smokers, who have the right, in my opinion, to choose to harm themselves. It hurts the pregnant server, the bartender who breathes it until last call, and any of the patrons unlucky enough to be sitting near the smoking section.
So this is an ordinance whose time has come, and I’m happy that we have a mayor and council representatives willing to stand up to a very powerful lobby.
This change might be the lasting legacy of Laura Miller’s mayoral tenure, since large public works projects and a park on the
I like Laura Miller, and I liked her vision for the city when she ran for mayor the first time. I thought Ron Kirk’s pro-business agenda was exactly what a senator’s platform should be — but not a mayor’s, since overdevelopment is not enhancing the quality of life in my
I do think we have probably the most qualified candidates we’ve had to choose from in a while. City council representatives know what the residents of
Presently, I think the mayor’s report card reflects a successful tenure, but I’ll be interested to hear where she plans to go from here. And if she can figure out some way to get around the TABC preventing me from shipping wine to my doorstep, she’ll have my vote for sure.