No-Smoking Policy a Bust for Bingo
To me, the Ventura City Council’s no-smoking ordinance is semi-dictatorial and outrageous, especially in this economy. It is really putting a big burden and financial losses on restaurants and nonprofit clubs that run bingo games strictly for charity and charitable donations.
We are losing customers and bingo players to border cities that allow smoking, such as Oxnard. As a result, the nonprofit organizations and clubs are taking a financial beating, what with supplies, rent, insurance and so forth. Besides, bingo clubs have to rent their hall for weddings, parties and meetings, but customers want a hall where they can smoke with no restrictions.
After 15 years of Sunday bingo, the Knights of Columbus at Figueroa Plaza had to cancel games because of low attendance caused by the smoking ban. Those players now go to the Oxnard bingos or to the Santa Inez Native American bingo, which offers free round-trip bus rides.
ELWOOD W. GILBERTI
Ventura
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