Jump to full article: The Washington Post, 2010-03-09
Author: Ann E. Marimow Washington Post Staff Writer
Intro: For decades, Washington power brokers have gathered on Saint Patrick's Day to toast, and in some cases invent their Irishness with Guinness, Kelly green cummerbunds and cigar smoke.
Last year, they survived without the smoke. But not everyone was happy, to the point that one legislator has pushed an emergency bill in the D.C. Council to let the stogies burn next week, and tried to make a permanent exception to the city's smoke-free laws.
Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has asked his council colleagues to keep tradition alive for the all-male Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and another organization, Fight for Children, which hosts an annual smoke-filled professional boxing fundraiser.
Evans, who is a member of the Irish organization, said the measure was narrowly crafted, making an exception for only two nights a year and protecting workers by allowing venue employees to opt out of working the events.
But the bill has proponents of the District's 2006 workplace smoking ban in a huff.
Angela Bradbery, co-founder of Smokefree DC, urged Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) in a letter Monday to veto the legislation that she said would force workers to choose between their health and a paycheck; open the door for other organizations to request exemptions; and send a message that "it's okay to break the law if you're on the council or a buddy of a council member."
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