Item 4A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

owned by the Giustina family, which had done much to encourage those businesses for the benefit of the community. The main motion, as amended, passed 7:1; Ms. Taylor voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency. Mayor Piercy reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. C. WORK SESSION: An Ordinance Prohibiting Extreme Fighting; Adding Section 4.740 to the Eugene Code, 1971; and Amending Section 4.990 of that Code City Manager Taylor introduced City Attorney Jerome Lidz to present the draft ordinance. He noted that the legislature would be addressing extreme fighting when it convened in January 2007 and recommended that the council postpone action unless it intended to outlaw extreme fighting entirely as regulation of a new form of martial arts would be better accomplished at the State level. Mr. Lidz reminded the council of what role the City could play in the matter. He said the State, through statute and the Boxing and Wrestling Commission, regulated all professional boxing and wrestling, with wrestling defined to include mixed martial arts. He said the State did not currently regulate amateur fighting and that was mostly what occurred in the cage fighting exhibitions. He said the legislative plan was to expand the Boxing and Wrestling Commission’s authority to include amateur cage fighting as amateur fighting was regarded as a loophole in current State law. He said that rules adopted by the Nevada Athletic Commission were considered the gold standard for regulation of mixed martial arts; a copy of those rules was included in the agenda packet. He outlined the council’s options: ? Ban mixed martial arts, or extreme fighting as defined in the ordinance altogether in the City ? Regulate mixed martial arts, with rules likely based on the Nevada rules ? Postpone action until the legislature acted Mr. Lidz said he did not know if legislative action on mixed martial arts would preempt local regulation as was the case with professional fighting, although he thought that was probable. Mr. Kelly said it was clear following a public hearing that there was not majority support for banning cage fighting in Eugene. Regarding the recommendation to wait until the legislature acted, he thought a council goal should be to enable a safer climate in the City and promote human dignity. He thought it was reasonable for the council to step in with a sensible amount of regulation of an unregulated sport that could hold another dozen or more events before any legislation took effect, possibly resulting in lifelong injuries to participants. He thought that administrative rules could be put in place with minimum effort and he would probably move to schedule the ordinance for action at a future meeting. He pointed out that a requirement for medical insurance was missing from the ordinance and he would move to amend to include that provision. Mayor Piercy asked for the City Attorney’s response to Mr. Kelly’s proposal to require medical insurance. Mr. Lidz said he was aware that some promoters had provisions for health insurance but was not certain whether that was limited to professional fights or included amateur fights. He noted that testimony during the public hearing indicated that such a requirement was reasonable. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 27, 2006 Page 8 Work Session