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RESOLUTION NO. 5069 <br />A RESOLUTION CALLING A CITY ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 6, <br />2012, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING AN ADVISORY MEASURE <br />TO THE LEGAL ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF EUGENE <br />CONCERNING CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF CORPORATIONS. <br />The City Council of the City of Eugene finds that: <br />A. On February 15, 2012, the Eugene City Council passed Resolution No. 5055 <br />asserting its opinion that corporations, unions and special interest groups should not have the <br />constitutional rights that natural persons possess. A copy of Resolution No. 5055 is attached to <br />this Resolution as Exhibit A. <br />B. Common Cause Oregon, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization, has <br />requested that the voters of the City of Eugene be given the opportunity to express their opinions <br />on the constitutional rights of corporations. <br />C. The Eugene City Council agrees that an advisory measure should be placed on the <br />November 6, 2012 ballot. <br />NOW, THEREFORE, <br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EUGENE, a <br />Municipal Corporation of the State of Oregon, as follows: <br />Section 1 . A City election is called for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors <br />of the City of Eugene an Advisory Measure concerning the constitutional rights of corporations. <br />Section 2 . The ballot measure shall be as follows: <br />CAPTION: Advisory question on corporate /union constitutional rights and <br />campaign spending. <br />QUESTION: Shall Congress send to States constitutional amendment reversing <br />negative impact of the Citizens United case and limit independent campaign spending? <br />SUMMARY: This measure is an advisory question. Eugene voters are asked <br />whether they support the City Council's request that Congress send to the States a <br />constitutional amendment reversing the impacts of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in <br />Citizens United v. FEC. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled that the First <br />Amendment protects unlimited direct corporate and union spending to influence <br />elections. On February 15, 2012, the City Council passed Resolution No. 5055. That <br />resolution stated that corporations, unions and special interests should not have the same <br />constitutional rights that natural persons possess. The resolution then stated action is <br />Resolution - Page 1 of 2 <br />