By Virginia Bridges

The Durham City Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution ending “corporate personhood.”

The resolution, presented by Occupy Durham’s Committee to End Corporate Personhood, rebuts the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 landmark decision in 2010 that said the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee prohibits governments from restricting political contributions from unions and corporations.

The Durham resolution states that only human beings have constitutional rights and that political spending is not equivalent to free speech.

"The current campaign finance system creates an unequal playing field and allows unlimited corporate spending to unduly influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions,” the resolution states.

Durham's Proactive Rental Inspection Program won the City Council's approval by a 5-1 vote tonight, with Councilman Eugene Brown in the minority.

Brown preferred deferring approval until an ad hoc committee finishes revisions to the city's Minimum Housing Code, which the PRIP is meant to enforce.

"It would be better in my opinion to have this come back to us in 60 days as a package," Brown said.

City Manager Tom Bonfield, though, said approving the PRIP and revising the code are "two related but distinctly different actions."

Mayor Charles Meeker says on Tuesday he will nominate Mary-Ann Baldwin and Nancy McFarlane to each serve as Mayor Pro Tempore - the mayor's number two who leads meetings in his absence and attends events that he can't.

Baldwin and McFarlane both have been on the council since 2007. The plan is for Baldwin to serve as Pro Tempore through April, and McFarlane to take the post from May through Novemeber, when the councilors will be up for re-election.

Baldwin and McFarlane have aligned closely with Meeker on some of his signature issues, namely the stalled construction of the Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center.

"Nancy McFarlane and Mary-Ann Baldwin are consensus builders who have worked hard to keep Raleigh moving forward during the past recession period, and both will represent the city well at meetings and ceremonies," said Meeker, Raleigh's five-term mayor. "Both are well-qualified and deserving. I didn't want to choose between the two."

Meeker's nomination must be approved by the council on Tuesday, when he also will swear in Eugene Weeks as former Councilman James West's replacement. Meeker said he will appoint Weeks to take West's place on the Law and Public Safety Committee, and to become the fourth member of the Public Works Committee.

Weeks will be the council's liason to the parks board, which he chaired before being selected to succeed West. West left the council last month after 11 years to fill a vacant seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

Raleigh's City Council is hosting a special public hearing tonight to discuss one of two options for the high-speed rail route that will connect Raleigh to Richmond, Va.

It could be a contentious meeting - some Five Points residents and officials with the Norfolk Southern station are adamantly opposed to the route Raleigh's Passenger Rail Task Force has recommended.

It almost certainly will be a well-attended hearing. So come early.

It starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers.

Raleigh's City Council unanimously approved temporary bike lanes along a revamped section of Hillsborough Street near the N.C. State campus earlier this afternoon.

The NC Dept. of Transportation, which maintains the road, gave the city approval to stripe the lanes. The city requested approval after a heated argument between bike advocates and business owners.

The city's Public Works Committee recommended the lanes, even after city staff suggested the issue be put on hold until after construction on Hillsborough was completed later this summer.

The nearly $10 million road construction project was vetted publicly a decade ago, and bike lanes were not part of those discussions. The master plan for the road, however, did include a shared space for bikes, pedestrians and traffic.

The cost of the temporary lanes is unknown. Permanent lanes are expected to cost about $40,000, which is to be taken out of left over construction funds. The city and state will evaluate the lanes for several months before determining whether or not they will become a permanent fixture.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved installation of a sidewalk on Merwin Road, despite a majority of residents in the area voting against it.

In a report to City Manager Russell Allen, Raleigh's public works director writes that 73 percent of homeowners in the west Raleigh neighborhood attending a public meeting about the sidewalk, and 64 percent of those voted again a sidewalk on either side of the road.

Immediately after City Manager Russell Allen reported those facts to the council, Thomas Crowder, whose District D includes Merwin Road, moved to install the sidewalk.

More to come in next week's Midtown Raleigh News.

Report's Sarah Ovaska writes in today's N&O that John Odom won't swing his vote to the affirmative on the stalled $205 million Lightner Public Safety Center.

It was believed that Odom, the lone Republican on the eight-member council, might switch his vote since the project is without a tax increase, as was first proposed.

This means Lightner might just be the deadest initiative this side of the Crabtree Valley Spreeway.

But Mayor Charles Meeker isn't giving up. He'll continue to court two other council members - likely Thomas Crowder and Russ Stephenson (Bonner Gaylord also opposes the project, but is most unlikely to waiver after his outspoken case against Lightner at a council meeting earlier this year).

Don't expect Crowder or Stephenson to budge.

BEER ME, OR NOT: The state Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission shot down a proposed exemption to state law last week that would have allowed Raleigh to hang the Bud Light logo on its new amphitheater in downtown. That would have brought the city a cool $1.5 million over five years. Instead, they’ll explore other options (perhaps a “Bud Light Concert Series”?). Read the full story.

WHERE”S MEEKER? The mayor’s official schedule:
Monday: Budget deliberations, 4 p.m. at City Hall; East CAC meeting afterwards at Lions Park.

Tuesday: Budget and Economic Development Committee meeting, 11 a.m.; 5:30 p.m. meeting at the Busy Bee with Common Cause, a left-leaning political non-profit that advocates for campaign finance and other reform issues.

Thursday: Health care convention at 8 a.m. at the convention center; ribbon cutting at Transatlantic bank (4801 Glenwood) at 6 p.m.

COUNCIL: No meeting this week.

TWEET TWEET: Follow District E Representative Bonner Gaylord on twitter: @bonnergaylord

BALANCING BUDGETS: The Wake County Commissioners are expected to adopt the county’s $951 million operating budget for the next fiscal year at today’s meeting. That will keep the doors open when the budget year begins July 1. Meanwhile, Raleigh’s council members will continue fine-tuning the city’s budget, handed down by City Manger Russell Allen. It won’t raise property taxes, but find out what it will do in Sarah Ovaska’s report this week.

HOT ISSUE: Contentious discussion at the county meeting might include the school board’s proposal to pay $4.3 million for land in Rolesville as the site for a new high school. The school originally was to be located on Forestville Road, but the school board voted to scrap that site. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and commissioner Stan Norwalk oppose the move. Read more about the battle.

COMING WEDNESDAY: In the North Raleigh and Midtown Raleigh News sections, learn how some Wakefield residents are finally getting what they were promised a decade ago. Also, a North Raleigh man is reunited with his beloved guitar 35 years after he let it go.

NEED YOUR INPUT: The city is hosting its first public meeting Thursday on how to transform putrid Capital Boulevard into a pretty gateway to the Capital City. So if you have ideas on how to spruce up the corridor, head over to the Bobby Murray Chevrolet on Capital at 6:30 p.m.

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Congrats to Ireland’s Graeme McDowell for winning the U.S. Open yesterday at iconic Pebble Beach, despite a final-round 74. Has absolutely nothing to do with Raleigh, of course – just a great golf tournament. Speaking of golf, Raleigh doesn’t even have its own course. Crazy…

FIRST ACT: Respectable crowd for the first night of Raleigh’s Outdoor Amphitheater and Festival Site. It’s not yet called the Bud Light Amphitheater, but you sure could smell the Bud Light Friday – and see its clear impact on hundreds of horrific, and shameless, dancers. The crowd was nowhere near a sellout. The city even allowed strollers, which it previously said it would not. Our own David Menconi tells Report that the crowd increased dramatically after sundown. No report yet on the Backstreet Boys’ Sunday night performance. The Cary News’ Sadia Latifi says she’ll report as soon as she stops hyperventilating (apparently, Nick Carter touched her hand).

CURING CRABTREE: Report has learned city staff likely will make a recommendation to the council sometime this summer in regards to how to best cure traffic woes around congested Crabtree Valley. If the council approves changes, it would be a landmark act to solve a decades-old problem. Several past attempts at curing the clustered corridor have failed. Report will give updates in the coming weeks.

MASTER PLANNER: Report’s Sarah Ovaska gives us a glimpse into the mind of Raleigh's sharp planner, Mitchell Silver. From her Sunday profile: “Being a top city in the Southeast isn't enough. Silver's goal is to shape Raleigh into one of the world's attractive cities, something he thinks is possible if residents and politicians commit now to building the public transportation network of bigger cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte and to resculpting Raleigh's suburban neighborhoods.”Read the whole story.

ON THE AGENDA: No meeting this week, and two committee meetings scheduled for June 8 have been canceled (Maybe a few council members REALLY enjoyed the amphitheater this weekend).

SNEAK PEEK: Coming Wednesday in the North Raleigh and Midtown Raleigh News sections: Silly Bandz are getting silly banned in local schools. North Raleigh hosts a world-record swimming attempt. The city’s eligible for a multimillion-dollar refund on the Falls of Neuse Road realignment project. The city should have its own golf course. 

UPDATE: Sadia's review is up. http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/06/07/519225/fans-sit-in-rain-for-backstreet.html 

As Durham's City Council and county commissioners worked through next year's budgets this week, some differences of opinion have emerged.

For example, over the Neighborhood College program -- a formerly twice-yearly course for Bull Citizens on how local government works. Some council members were not amused that the county has withdrawn its funding for next spring's term.

Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden wondered whether to bring the matter up at the next joint meeting of commissioners and council members.

"The county's just not committed to it," Councilman Mike Woodard said. "It's not fair for us to staff it without county help."

City Manager Tom Bonfield's recommended budget provides $3,000 for a class this fall.

"We need to show [the county] the value of investing in our citizens," Woodard said.

To which Council Member Diane Catotti responded, "Sounds like they're blowing them off on a regular basis, these days."

When Bull's Eye asked, Catotti declined to elaborate.