Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Ortiz’s discussion of the cultural aspects of sport fighting. He did not support having a group of 10 to 14-year-olds go off against their parents’ will to participate and/or attend the events. Councilor Zelenka offered a friendly amendment to specify that minors could not attend unless accompanied by a parent. Councilor Bettman said this sounded good in theory, but she did not think they would be able to determine if a young person was being accompanied by a parent without checking identification. She asked the City Manager if the administrative rules would then require that identifications be checked and that minors were accompanied by the parent. City Manager Taylor replied that this was not a decision he could make based on the information provided. He said if this was the council’s will he would likely look at how other parental requirements were enforced. Mr. Lidz said the question in his mind was whether the administrative rules would add anything to Councilor Zelenka’s intent. He stated that the burden would be on the promoter of the event to ensure the rules were adhered to. Councilor Zelenka asked how age limits were monitored at movie theaters. Councilor Bettman said teens could go to a movie that was rated R with an adult. She opined that enforcement was lax. Councilor Pryor asked what the rules were for boxing and whether minors were allowed to attend. It seemed to him that the activity was similar to boxing and similar rules would be helpful. He underscored that the ordinance had been generated by concern for the safety of the participants and questioned the wisdom of “moving into public morals.” He did not want to get into what young people could or could not do. He felt that Councilor Zelenka made a good point. He was willing to support the notion of requiring young people to be accompanied by a parent. He said that if the amendment failed he intended to offer an amendment to that end. Councilor Solomon said she would not support the amendment. She did not favor prohibiting minors from attending. She felt the ordinance had done a good job of cleaning up the event. She also wanted to be careful if it came to crafting language requiring a minor to be accompanied by a parent given that some young people were being raised by guardians. Councilor Poling agreed with Councilor Solomon. He did not feel minors should participate but he did not want to restrict youth from attending. He reiterated that young people could watch worse on television. He said he would be amenable to including language that said no minors should attend without an accompany- ing adult. Councilor Ortiz said she was unwilling to support the amendment to prohibit attendance by minors, though she agreed they should not participate. She noted that watching such events was a part of her upbringing growing up in the Latino community. While she would not choose to attend such an event at this point in her life, she could not support preventing attendance by minors, given that it was still a spectacle some people watched as a family. She added that she would consider supporting an amendment that required an accompanying adult. Councilor Bettman wished to make a point about “children being allowed into these events.” She related that Mr. Georgianna acknowledged in one letter that one concern had to do with “cage girls that [were] MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 8, 2007 Page 9 Regular Meeting