DENVER -- Denver's city council will vote Monday night on the proposed smoking ban but without holding a public forum on the controversial issue.

On June 23, council president Cathy Reynolds decided a public hearing would be unnecessary because most of those on the council have already made up their minds about the ordinance.

A majority of council members appear to be against the measure, which would ban smoking in restaurants within the city limits. They say passing such a measure would hurt businesses because customers would just go to a bordering suburb where there is no smoking ban.

Reynold's legal but rare move, which has not been seen in 28 years, angered those who supported the ban. They say the public needs to be heard further on the issue.

"It's a gag order," said councilwoman Susan Barnes Gelt. "It blows smoke in the faces of the hundreds of citizens that have worked on behalf of this ordinance."

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People on both sides of the issue packed the meeting room.

"I feel blindsided," said Patrick Nash, a cancer survivor who smoked for 40 years and is president of Smoke Free Denver, which pushed for the ban. "But we're not going to give up."

Councilwoman Debbie Ortega said she wanted to hear from both sides before making up her mind. Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie said the Council had been supplied with so much information over the past few months that she couldn't imagine what additional information would sway votes.