Local business fears it will lose customers if smoking ban approved

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, March 24, 2004

EVERETT — The White Elephant Bar and Grill on Broadway is a neighborhood joint, the kind of place where bartenders quickly learn your name and celebrate regulars’ birthdays.

The employees affectionately call owners John Troia and wife Donna Kerns "Mom" and "Dad." Troia’s father bought the bar 34 years ago, and his mother worked for the previous owner.

"We’ve had it so long that even talking about closing it makes me sad inside," Troia said.

He and Kerns fear they will be forced to shut down the White Elephant if voters approve an initiative to ban smoking inside bars and other public places.

"Over 90 percent of our customers smoke, and they’ve already told us they won’t come in if they can’t smoke here," Kerns said. "A ban isn’t going to stop smokers from smoking."

Customers who smoke would likely go to tribal casinos, she said, which wouldn’t be affected.

"I have nothing against protecting people’s health, but I think it’s wrong to tell me as a business owner that my customers can’t smoke," said Kerns, a nonsmoker.

She says working as many as 95 hours a week at the bar hasn’t affected her health, and she believes the economic impact of a ban would outweigh any damage caused by secondhand smoke.

The couple point to Pierce County, where the Entertainment Industry Coalition claims that bars lost 30 percent to 40 percent of their business when the county board of health banned smoking there.

The White Elephant earns about $125,000 a year, with its karaoke nights drawing up to 200 people, and Fridays and Saturdays bringing in about 400, Troia said.

"A ban would put us out of business," said Troia, who has smoked since he joined the U.S. Army at age 19.

He and Kerns are so concerned that they organized a meeting last week with other Everett bar owners and invited their customers.

Nona Brazier, a representative of the Entertainment Industry Coalition who spoke at the forum, said adults should be able to decide if they want to visit a business that allows smoking.

The coalition has filed a competing initiative that would ban smoking in public spaces open to minors, such as family restaurants, but not in bars or nontribal casinos.

"I think smoking is a terrible habit. The issue is not smoking. The issue is what kind of a country do you want to live in?" Kerns said. "Obesity kills more people than secondhand smoke. What’s next, a ban on chocolate?"

About 25 people were at last week’s meeting, and more meetings are planned for next week.

White Elephant employees say the bar’s ventilation system eliminates much of the smoke.

"I know what the hazards are. Even if I wasn’t a smoker, I’d still work here," said bartender Christina Hayes, who wore a "Smokers Vote" button.

Hayes says she doesn’t smoke around her three children and never lights up in her home.

"But when you’re away from home without your kids, you deserve a place to sit and relax," she said. "And have a cigarette if you want."

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.