A week ago, The Daily Sound reported on Santa Barbara City Council candidate John Thyne's impressive fundraising effort. Thyne was the first to get the word out that he is building the biggest war chest for the upcoming November election by filing his disclosure statement well before the July 31 reporting deadline and furnishing copies of it to the local media.
With the deadline to report contributions now having come and gone, most of the other council candidates have now filed their statements. Here's a look at the money race including some of the more notable contributions in terms of size of contribution, name recognition of the contributor and contributions that came from outside of the city.
I'm listing the candidates' contributions in order of most to least money raised and, as I did with the mayoral candidates, the figures I'm listing are monetary contributions only. The numbers don't include loans or in-kind contributions of services or merchandise. In other words, just cold hard cash.
Thyne reported raising $50,052.00 in the six-month period ending June 30 including a $20,000.00 contribution from his brother, actor TJ Thyne, who can be seen on "Bones" on FOX. Besides the $20,000 he received from his brother he got $10,000.00 from Ray Mahboob of Montecito, $3,000.00 from James and Claudette Roehrig, $2,000.00 from Artistic Nails & Spa, $2,000.00 from Marty and Shannon Rodgers and $1,000.00 from Milan Timm of MTimm Development.
Thyne's disclosure form may have provided the biggest Freudian slip. He received a relatively modest contribution of $200 from Chris Lancashire. However, on the disclosure statement the local investor's name was spelled Lancashier. Somebody must have had "cha-ching" ringing in their ear while filling out the form.
"Bendy" White raised $22,709.00. Virginia and Robert Sloan gave him $1,000.00 as did retired UCSB Professor Raymond Smith, contractor Louie Carnevale and White's
Diane Channing reported raising $11,823.42. $5,008.75 came from herself and her husband Philip. Paulette Tuchyner of Pacific Palisades gave her $1,000.00. The Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County contributed $500.00 to her campaign. Mayor Marty Blum and her husband Joe gave Channing $100.00 as did city council member Das Williams.
Olivia Uribe raised $11,130.00. Her largest donor thus far is in the amount of $2,125.00 and comes from Fernand Sarrat whose occupation is listed as a Real Estate Investor. Close behind is Russell Trenholme who gave Uribe $2,000.00 for her campaign and whose address is listed as being in the 93108. Del Playa Rentals gave her $1,000.00. She received $500.00 from Miguel Avila and $250.00 each from Larry Crandell, who lives in Montecito, retired UCSB professor Dick Flacks and Santa Maria city council member Hilda Zacarias. John Buttney of Solvang gave her $100 as did David Landecker, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Center.
Frank Hotchkiss reported raising $10,849.00. $3,000.00 came from Randall Van Wolfswinkel of Highland Park, Texas who is listed as being a home builder with First Texas Homes. The Lincoln Club, a conservative Republican organization, gave Hotchkiss $2,000.00. James I. Davis gave him $1,000.00 and Albert Mercado contributed $500.00.
Michael Self has raised $7,399.00 but the bulk of that, $5,000.00 to be exact, comes from a single donor, Van Wolfswinkel, who also gave to Hotchkiss. James and Sharon Westby have each given her $500.00. I haven't been mentioning expenditures, but I can't let this one pass without comment. Self reports spending $264.25 for fortune cookies. That's 3 percent of all of the money she's raised!
David Pritchett has raised $5,086.00. $2,500.00 is a contribution from his wife, Cathy Murillo, who is the News Director at radio station KCSB and is also serving as his campaign treasurer. William Connell, the "Surf Dog" guy of Carpinteria is reported as donating $150.00. Dick Flacks contributed $100.00.
Cathy McCammon has raised $4,868.00. $2,000.00 of that was a contribution from herself. She has also received $600.00 from Judith Orias, $500.00 from Albert Yenni and another $500.00 from Tim McCammon (who I would assume is an in-law) from Burney, California.
Bringing up the rear of the fundraising race is Justin Tevis, who reports raising a mere $2,594.00. $500.00 of that comes from Donald Logan of Logan Capital Corporation and $300.00 comes from Mario Passanisi whose employer is listed as being The Territory Ahead.
All of the information above comes from the City's Campaign Finance Disclosure Portal. For some unknown reason, there are no reports there for incumbent Grant House who is seeking a second term on the council. However, Josh Molina, in Saturday's Daily Sound reported that House had raised $13,000.
As far as I can determine, candidate Lane Anderson has not filed a report.
My Saturday post on the fundraising of the mayoral candidates brought this clarification via e-mail from Helene Schneider about my reporting that she had returned a $500 contribution from former council member Brian Barnwell.
In late 2008, Barnwell gave me a $500 cashiers check, which is reported in my 12/31/08 filing statement and can be seen online. Filing rules state that donations of $100 or more must be by check or credit card - a cashier's check, even though a person's name is on it, cannot be used. So, we made that correction by returning $500 back to Barnwell and then he wrote me a check for $500 back.
And now you know.
© 2009 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
