Barbara Fraser and Tobacco Free St. Louis

Dear Board Members of Tobacco Free St. Louis,

An article by Brett Blume of KMOX identifies Barbara Fraser as the new head of Tobacco Free St. Louis. If this is so, I hope the Board will remind Ms. Fraser that her new position puts limits on her former ability to lobby for smoking bans. I am all for Ms. Fraser's freedom to promote specific smoking ban legislation as a private citizen or councilman, but she now can no longer do that as the head of a tax-exempt educational charity. Her statements at the July 13th press conference clearly constitute the "lobbying" or "attempts to influence legislation" in St. Louis County that is beyond the legitimate educational purpose of a 501c3 charity.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=163392,00.html

I hope in the future Ms.Fraser will work to educate the St. Louis public concerning the dangers of tobacco smoke and the possible benefits of smoking bans in general, but leave the fight for specific new laws for St. Louis County to grassroots political groups who can legitimately undertake that fight.

Sincerely,

Bill Hannegan
Home phone: 314.367.3779
Cell phone: 314.315.3779