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My son Jack Burnett and I own the Palmer Bar. We were very unsure of the outcome of the no-smoking ban when it went to vote, but I can tell you it has been a good move for us. We have gained several new customers, it is a more comfortable place to work and the patrons enjoy it a lot more. We are surprised and happy with the results. We are glad to be SMOKEFREE!

I decided to go smokefree because of health and economics. You don’t have to clean as much; you don’t have dirty walls to wipe down; you don’t have to replace bedding as often; and the whole building is fresh smelling. And the employees are delighted.

We made all the housing smokefree for two reasons: First, it is very costly to refurbish the apartments when someone’s been smoking in them—up to $10,000 for one unit. Second, our mission is to enable seniors to live as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and one of the ways we can do that is to ensure they have clean indoor air to breathe.

When they voted [on going smoke-free] the first time, even being a nonsmoker, I didn’t want it to pass because I worried about business. But overall, I think business has gotten better. More nonsmokers come in and the smokers just smoke outside.

Before we went smokefree, whether you worked in the smoking section or not, you still had to be around it all the time. You left smelling like smoke. And a lot of people just wouldn’t come here because of the smoke. Now it’s so much better; our employees are happier and our customers are happier. It’s been really good for our business.