Naked City

Last week, in an interview with the Chronicle's Amy Smith, City Council Place 5 candidate Margot Clarke supported Mayor Gus Garcia's campaign for a tougher indoor-smoking ordinance -- but "when we have local club owners holding on by their fingernails, I think it's going to be a very hard sell. I don't think pushing it through at this time is the best approach." In reference to this, last week's Chronicle story on the council's smoking-ordinance vote noted that Clarke and opponent Brewster McCracken "have likewise announced their opposition to the measure." (McCracken thinks smoking should continue to be permitted in bars and clubs among adults: "It becomes an issue of personal liberty. The bar is the last place in society where you can have your vices.")

Clarke, however, is "concerned that voters will think that there is no difference between me and my opponent on this issue," she later wrote in an e-mail to the Chronicle and to smoking-ban supporters. "I am in favor of a stronger smoking ordinance, because of the health risks stemming from secondhand smoke. I find it appalling that Austinites are getting sick and even dying prematurely because of other people's addiction to cigarettes.

"Yet, as a former bar manager, I understand very well club owners' apprehension about what they think will be the effect on their businesses," Clarke continued. "I think it would have been preferable to have more time to educate the public, especially the business community, in order to allay those fears." She argues, like Garcia, that a smoking ban could in the long run increase entertainment-industry business. "In that case, I will hope that any lingering unhappiness with the City Council over their action on this issue will dissipate, like smoke from an extinguished cigarette."

Early voting began Wednesday for the June 7 run-off, and both campaigns are in full fundraising gear. Clarke held a "Go, Margot, Go!" event Wednesday night at the Lazy Oak Inn in South Austin and has another tonight on the Eastside hosted by Guadalupe neighborhood leaders, and the Texas Young Professionals are holding a run-off rally for McCracken tonight (5:30-8pm) at B.D. Riley's Pub, 204 E. Sixth. Meanwhile, the City Council will again today (Thursday) take up the smoking ordinance.