CC Minutes - 11/27/06 Work Session

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ment. He wanted more discussion about the types of specific protections available without becoming overly regulatory. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Lidz said that a copy of administrative rules to implement the ordinance would be provided to the council for informational purposes but would not be an agenda item. Ms. Bettman felt that the ordinance was a reasonable approach. She suggested that Mr. Kelly’s amendment require the promoter or participant to provide proof of medical insurance instead of simply requiring insurance. She said the council was not preventing people from participating in cage fighting if that was their choice but it did have a responsibility to protect participants and the public in the same way that there were helmet laws or protection from second-hand smoke. She said the public would ultimately subsidize medical care for an injured fighter if insurance was not required. Ms. Bettman said she was not in favor of waiting for the State to act as it was possible there would be no legislative action or the threshold would be low. She said if the City created a reasonable threshold it would perhaps be a standard for the State. She noted that the council’s legislative agenda would need to be amended and asked staff to provide that language. She pointed out that the ordinance did not prohibit access to the cage fight premises by minors and asked if that could be included. Mr. Lidz said the council could prohibit access by minors. Ms. Bettman asked that the ordinance be amended to include prohibiting access by minors before it was considered for adoption. Ms. Solomon questioned how the regulations would be enforced and whether police officers would be sent to monitor the cage fights, thereby taking officers off the street who should be providing public safety services in the community. City Manager Taylor said his recommendation would not be to enforce a business regulation with public safety officers. He said it was more likely to be handled by the Planning and Development Department and include discussions with participants and promoters on how best to approach enforcement. He pointed out that Eugene had led the State on many issues, including a smoking prohibition, Public Employee Retirement System reform, and value-added changes to Measure 37. Mr. Lidz said the Nevada rules had been adopted by most of the mixed martial arts groups, at least for professional fighting and those groups would like to have similar rules in place for amateur fights. He said adopting rules with which promoters and participants were already familiar could reduce enforcement requirements. Ms. Taylor asked if minors could be participants in fights. Mr. Lidz said that could be specifically included in the ordinance. Ms. Taylor felt the only appropriate action was to ban extreme fighting as regulating it implied approval. Mr. Kelly indicated he also preferred a ban but understood that was not the will of a majority of the council. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to direct the City Manager to place the ordi- nance on the January 8, 2007, agenda for action, with the wording of the ordinance revised to add the following language as subparagraph 4 of Code section 4.740(2)(a): MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 27, 2006 Page 10 Work Session