O.C. PLATFORM : No Consistency

As a restaurateur in Orange County, I work every day to satisfy the wishes of my customers.

At one of my restaurants, we have a distinct smoking/nonsmoking section available to our customers and make every effort to keep apart the smoker and nonsmoker.

Currently, I’m considering expanding the no-smoking section because of increasing requests by my customers.

However, at my other restaurant, a coffee house atmosphere exists in which most of the patrons smoke and smoking is much more tolerated by the nonsmokers.

If the government regulates smoking, then we should have a consistent, statewide standard that covers all public places.

Otherwise, businesses should be left free to respond to the demands of the marketplace and not tied up in contradictory local ordinances.