Smoking Ban: Council vote surprised many

Last February, the outlook for the smoking ban did not look good.

Cambridge’s nine city councillors were split, with five leaning against and four leaning in favor of the initiative to ban smoking in the city’s restaurants and bars.

For some city councillors, the issue was a political Scylla and Charybdis.

While several councillors have major financial backers among Cambridge restaurateurs—the ban’s major opponents—they also have supporters in the pro-ban camp.

The turning point came in the spring, when Councillor E. Denise Simmons, an owner of a small business who said she sympathizes with the concerns of restaurant and bar owners, decided to support a ban.

With Simmons’s support, the smoking ban had enough votes to pass.

But it still came as a surprise to many when, in the final tally, councillors Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 and Anthony D. Galluccio—both of whom had previously opposed the ban—ultimately cast yes votes.

John Clifford, who owns the Green Street Grill and staunchly opposed the ban, says he worked hard with other bar owners to make their case to the city council.

“We campaigned pretty hard to keep smoking, a number of us bar owners and some citizens…. We testified at city council meetings, we met with councillors individually,” Clifford says.

Despite Reeves’s last minute shift, Clifford says he does not plan to stop supporting Reeves.

“I think that he had people on both sides of that issue. I think every city councillor did,” Clifford says. “Denise Simmons was the swing vote, and she decided to ban smoking at some point along the way. It wasn’t much point to try to save it because the votes were there.”

Joe Satar, owner of the Middle East Restaurant in Central Square, was another opponent of the ban.

“We told [the council] how it would affect our business,” Satar said. “I don’t think it’s very beneficial for business.… I’ll hope we’ll be able to ride it.”

Satar declined to comment on whether he would continue supporting Reeves and Simmons in the next election.