Anti-smoking backers submit I-901 petitions

Less than two weeks after the theft of dozens of petitions from a Seattle campaign office, backers of the anti-smoking Initiative 901 announced yesterday they would turn in petitions bearing 325,000 names to put the measure on the November ballot.

Organizers needed 225,000 signatures before today's deadline to qualify for the ballot, but they gathered additional endorsements in case of duplicates, false names and to show support for the cause.

Secretary of State Sam Reed's office said staff members will check the signatures and determine which initiatives get on the ballot by early August.

If passed, I-901 would expand the statewide Clean Indoor Air Act to prohibit smoking in all places of employment, including bars and nontribal casinos, as well as public buildings and vehicles.

"This year is the year to respect the right of every worker to earn a living without breathing toxic air," said Marina Cofer-Wildsmith, chief executive of the Washington American Lung Association.

Two buildings connected with Healthy Indoor Air For All Washington, the organization running the initiative, were burglarized on the weekend of June 25. At the organization's second-story headquarters in Green Lake, a window had been smashed and between 80 and 100 petitions bearing about 1,000 signatures were stolen.

Another building in Lacey, Thurston County, was broken into in similar fashion, with a shattered window. The building was operated by Progressive Campaigns Incorporated, an organization that Healthy Indoor Air for All Washington had paid to help gather signatures. Lacey police said nothing had been stolen.

Authorities said an investigation has failed to turn up any suspects. Shortly after the theft, I-901 campaign director Megan Sather said she turned in about 240,000 signatures to bar any additional problems.

The group said it planned to turn in additional petitions today.

Opponents of I-901 say it goes too far and would bankrupt businesses.

In late June, Gary Murrey, vice president of the Great American Gaming Corporation, said when a similar ban passed in Pierce County, he lost 40 percent of his business and was forced to lay off employees.

That ban was eventually overturned by the state Supreme Court, but Murrey said I-901 could do similar damage to businesses if passed, and filed I-911 as an alternative initiative.

I-911 would ban smoking in public places where children are present indoors, but let those over age 21 light up in bars and minicasinos.

Murrey earlier conceded that he likely would be unable to gather enough signatures to get his measure on the ballot.

Ari Bloomekatz: 206-464-2540 or abloomekatz@seattletimes.com