A few years ago a state-wide smoking ban went into effect in Minnesota. This precipitated a huge revenue slide for bars.

Enterprising bar owners built outdoor patios in an effort to try to win back some business. So how does the government respond? By taxing, of course:

One of the biggest whacks upside the head of the local blogging/trivia community this past year was the Met Council’s ruling that bars that’d established “smoking patios” outside their premises had to pay fees on that extra square footage as if it was indoor, year-round revenue-generating space. This has forced Twin Cities’ bars to shut down the practice of having special patios for smokers, especially cigar buffs.

The Met Council, for the uninitiated, is the most dangerous government entity in Minnesota, based on the fact that they have a lot of power and are generally misunderstood by the public. (Actually, the County Commissioners may give the Council a run for their money for that title…)

Mitch Berg makes a plea for public action to try to reverse this decision:

Bureaucrats take phone calls seriously. They – the smart ones, anyway – know that every phone call represents 100 people who didn’t call them. One call represents 100 like-minded people; it’s public relations truism.

And so it’d be great if you could take a moment to contact the members of the Met Council. Here they are. Please take a moment and leave them polite, reasoned messages asking them to reconsider their policy; it’s killing bars, putting people out of work, and playing into the hands of chain restaurants and establishments. Phone is better than email, but either is vastly better than letting the other guys have the stage to themselves.

Visit this link for detailed action information.