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<br />J. i.vacation, Alleys and Easements, County Public Services Building - Council \:Vas re~ .
<br />:quested to set hearing da~e for consideration of Planning Commission re.commendatJ.ons/
<br />. wi,th regard to vacation of alleys and easements between 6th and 7th, Oak and Pearl, /
<br />~and easements between 7th and 8th, ,oak and Pearl, to accommodate construction of / ~
<br />Lane County public services building. , ~ Comm ..,
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<br />: Mr. Hershner moved seconded by Mr. Keller to call hearing asrequ~ 1~/23/74
<br />(December.;;..9, 1974). ~1otion carried uI?g.n'm _u ly.. ' Approve
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<br />K.\Ordinances, "Social .Games'" under .SEate ia.w':' Copies of three ordinances were previously
<br />. ~istributed to Council members. . They would amend the City Code to permit "social games"
<br />tin Eugene as defiped under State law and provide what staff felt were reasonable regula-
<br />'tions if the Council decided to take affirmative action. Manager said that adoption of
<br />the ordinances would create a very complicated enforcement problem and 'would raise ques- .
<br />itions about how best to provide for appropriate policing in order to be able to have .
<br />{social gambling which would meet the spir~t of the State law. Staff was generally of
<br />Itheop..inion that the general public would not benefit from this type of legislation.
<br />IHe added that only two establishments in the community had stayed in contact with his
<br />[office Ivith regard to the legislation although a petition containing many signatures "had
<br />been presented in May requesting action to allow social gambling. Other than that, he
<br />said, there appeared no great interest in adoption of. the legislation.
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<br />Councilman Williams asked whether there was information available from other ci ties around.
<br />the .State where this type of legisla,tion was enacted with regard to its impact on the
<br />community., He was under the impression -.ehat.-Por_tl~I!4 had adopted legislation similar to
<br />that nm~ under consideration. Stan Long, assistant city' attor!!ey, said several ci ties .~ .
<br />ihad ad01Jted sinlilar legislation, including Portland. His only contact was with city' .
<br />lattornies, however, who were not in position as were police departments to give the type:
<br />JOf information requested. He thought though that no city had enough experience to de- .
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<br />~termine real impact because of the relatively s~ort time the law had been in effect. !
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<br />;Dale Allen, police chief, said it was his understanding most citi~s'Pe;''mttilJ(i' social
<br />games pretty much restricted them to fraternal or religious organizations and did not .
<br />'allow gambling in public establishments as would be permitted by these ordinances "
<br />:under discussion. In response to Councilwoman Beal, he told of the. department's
<br />ilimited experience with open gambling dp!,ing the short period after the new State legls-
<br />:lation WqS adopted - two armed robberies and one aggravated assault directlyattribut-
<br />!able to gambling. Based on that and staff's judgment, the police chief felt legalized
<br />igambling would place a significant burden. .on the department. He felt it would result
<br />;in an increase in c:r;ime and add to the poii'c..e work load attempting to enforce regula-
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<br />::tions contained in the oz:dinances under consideratioI?~~/'/'
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<br />'Councilwoman Beal asked whether social games were now permitted in private clubs.in
<br />Eugene. The police chief answered that they were prohibited.
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<br />!Councilman Hershner asked what regulations Lane County was operating under and whether ,_
<br />: the port.land ordinance restricted social gambling to fraternal and religious organiza- e
<br />tions. Mr. Long answered that Lane County had not legalized gambling, social games
<br />were prohibited as in the city.. The Portland ordinance, he said, was similar to that
<br />under\.;onsideration here althC?ugh not as regulatory. ..' .,..
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<br />Mr. Williams moved seconded by Mr. Keller to ask staif.t~ make contact wi th Camm
<br />the cit~ o~.toEt!fJ;.nd to ~s~er~a}.~ their exper~ence with"~he ordin~nce ador:teg. 10/23/74
<br />there, 1. ts .~mpact on polJ.c1.ng- crJ.me and gamblJ.ng, and /brJ.ng that J.nformat1.on ~ppr~ve
<br />to the. GOUPcf~~ for considera tion when i tl was reri~iV(;;d.
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<br />COlJncifman Hershner was interested in knowing about Portland's experience, but he was
<br />inclined to drop the matter in view of the apparent public disinterest.
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<br />Councilwoman Campbell said she had felt no public pressure for this legislation. However,
<br />sh~ was concerned about whether gambling was going on in private clubs. She did not
<br />want the Council to be accused of discrimination, that is, allowing gambling in private i
<br />cl ubs but prohibi ting the "average ci ti zen" '. from gambling in publi c taverns.
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<br />Manager said the ci ty of Springfield had adopted an ordinance permi tting gambling in " .
<br />fraternal organizations within the scope of the State law,-'but it was his understanding .,' "
<br />th~t it was on an interim basis on the assumption that Eugene would be considering _
<br />something more extensive in which case they (Springfield) would reconsider their action .~
<br />to bring their laws into line with what was done here. He added that the staff posi- .,
<br />tion was.not based on the morals of the issue, rather it was based on the conCern about
<br />~' potential creation of police and administrative problems. with regard to gambling
<br />in private clubs, he said it could not be stated categorically that it was not occur-
<br />ring, .but there was no proof of that activity.
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<br />'365 10/29/74 - 10
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