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publicize any reporting information, but noted that the City could have additional requirements to <br />the State requirements for reporting for Mayor and City Council elections. He said that in his <br />discussions with the State Attorney General, he had found that there was no express preemption <br />but noted that the office had not researched whether there was an implied preemption. <br /> <br />Mr. Klein said federal law prohibited limits on campaign expenditures but noted that it generally <br />allowed limits for campaign contributions. He cited Article 1(8), which had been interpreted by the <br />Oregon Supreme Court to say that there was no difference between campaign expenditures and <br />contributions and therefore they could not be limited. He stressed that a restriction on when <br />somebody could contribute to a campaign would not be valid. He added that there was another <br />section, Article 2(27), that said a city/state may not pass any law or restriction or prohibit any form <br />of contribution. <br /> <br />Mr. Klein said a voluntary system of limits could be set up with incentives to participate but <br />participation could not be required. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner urged caution in moving forward with the issue. He stressed that it was <br />extraordinarily complex in nature and opined that whatever was voted on by the council would be <br />legally challenged. He raised concern over incurring large legal costs. Mr. Meisner said there <br />were already existing guidelines on voluntary reporting and questioned what Mr. Kelly's motion <br />would do differently. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner raised concern that the ideas offered by Ms. Bettman would not be effective in a vote <br />by mail system. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap8 raised concern over trying to impose limits on contributions and expenditures. He said <br />he would support the reporting of timely and accurate information. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said his major concern was the disparity between incumbents and non-incumbents. <br />He said putting a limitation on a non-incumbent to be equal to the incumbent was not fair. As an <br />example, he cited his own campaign for the position of Mayor. He stressed the importance of <br />name familiarity and urged the council to allow the person who had not had the same amount of <br />public exposure a chance to present her/his point of view. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey urged an equitable discussion on campaign finance. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said he was explicitly promoting voluntary limits to avoid the legal challenges that would <br />come with mandatory limits. He noted that voluntary limits existed in many places in the country. <br />He stressed that anywhere the motion he was about to make did not explicitly say voluntary it <br />would imply voluntary, and would be part of a voluntary pledge program. <br /> <br />In response to Mr. Meisner's question regarding how his intended motion would be different from <br />the existing State law, Mr. Kelly said the State set a limit of no more than $2,000. He said, in the <br />current environment, in a contested council race, that limit was too Iow. He suggested a limit that <br />resembled the average spending of winning candidates over the last several cycles. Mr. Kelly <br />said his intended motion was also different from the existing State law in that it would also indicate <br />a voluntary limit on individual contributions. <br /> <br /> Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to direct the City Manager to <br /> draft an ordinance for voluntary spending limits on council/mayoral <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 13, 2002 Page 7 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />