County Supervisors Call for a Rave Party Task Force

At last weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival (more photos here and here) | Photo by Nadia Kovacs/LAist

After a death of a teenager and over one hundred injuries at last weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival, two L.A. County Supervisors today called for a multi-agency task force to address the health and safety issues associated with rave party events and report back with findings and recommendations.

The death of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, who was one of the over 100 people transported to local hospitals during the event, has renewed a public dialogue about rave events. Around 185,000 people attended the two day festival. Rodriquez' autopsy has been completed, but officials are deferring the results. Two fundraisers have been planned by her friends to help pay the funeral.

The motion (.pdf) calling for the task force, which was co-authored by Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe, wants the group to address raves and similar events at both public and private spaces. "Issues to be considered include educating potential ravers about how to avoid risks if they choose to attend these events, and/or restricting the location, hours, size and manner in which these events can legally be held," they wrote.

Earlier this week, Yaroslavsky called for a moratorium on raves at the L.A. Coliseum, which has temporarily banned the type of event until its commission can discuss the issue.

The task force motion will be considered by the full board on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday's Agenda: Proposal Would Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in L.A. County Unincorporated Areas