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MINUTES <br />Eugene City Council <br />McNutt Room —City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon <br />February 15, 2012 <br />Noon <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Brown, Pat Farr, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, <br />Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka. <br />COUNCILORS ABSENT: Mike Clark. <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the February 15, 2012, work session of the Eugene City Council to <br />order. <br />A. ACTION: <br />Resolution 5055 Requesting that the United States Congress Refer to the States an <br />Amendment to the US Constitution Declaring that Corporations Do Not Possess the <br />Constitutional Rights that Natural Persons Possess <br />City Attorney Glenn Klein was present to answer questions. <br />Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to adopt Resolution 5055, a resolution <br />requesting that the United States Congress refer to the states an amendment to the United <br />States Constitution declaring that corporations do not possess the constitutional rights <br />that natural persons possess. <br />Mr. Zelenka shared highlights from an editorial written by Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 entitled <br />"Super PACS a disaster for democracy." He believed money was corrupting democracy and he <br />encouraged the council to support the resolution. <br />Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to delete the words "and unions." <br />Ms. Taylor did not think that unions were comparable to corporations. She said unions exist to protect <br />the rights of working people while corporations existed to make a profit. She did not think any other <br />communities' resolutions mentioned unions. <br />Mr. Poling could not support the amendment because the Citizens United versus Federal Election <br />Commission decision was specific to unions, corporations, and special interests groups. If the amendment <br />passed, he would be unable to support the resolution. <br />Mr. Zelenka agreed with Ms. Taylor. He supported unions and thought they were substantially different <br />from corporations. He also agreed that unions did not wield the same power as corporations. However, <br />he pointed out, the resolution was not about unions and corporations but about campaign finance reform <br />and the undue influence on money on democracy, no matter the source. He could not envision an <br />amendment that did not limit all contributions. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council February 15, 2012 Page 1 <br />Work Session <br />