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City Election: Results vs. Cost On Jan. 31, whether they won or lost, every candidate for city council races was to submit their semi-annual campaign income and expense reports to their respective city clerks. These final 460 reports for the 2012 election cover all related transactions during the period from 10-21-12 thru 12-31-12. To give future candidates or incumbents a peek under the covers in Mission Viejo, I have analyzed the three top finishers’ reports and offer the final results versus cost where we re-elected Cathy Schlicht and Frank Ury, the two incumbents for the two open seats. Challenger Wendy Buchnum finished third and Ed Sachs came in fourth. As Ed is out of the country, I do not have his year-end report, which precludes me from completing my analysis. Cutting to the chase: Wendy, relying heavily on "special interest" funding, spent $56,320 and received 15,614 votes for a cost per vote of $3.61. As an illustration of a "special interest,” the California Real Estate Political Action Committee gave her $1,000 on 3-28-12 and an additional $9,000 on 8-27-12. For over a year while campaigning Wendy had only invested $204.13 of her own money until realizing that her campaign was in serious trouble. Wendy added $8,000 in the final week. Talk about playing with OPM (Other Peoples Money). At $48,926, the second highest campaign expenditures were made by Frank Ury. Based on his receiving 18,760 votes, it cost him $2.61 per vote. Frank accepted over $2,000 from Sentinel Development, the owners of the Kaleidoscope project who have lobbied to add huge electronic billboards with offsite ads on their Crown Valley Parkway /I-5 entertainment facility. At a recent meeting Frank was the sole vote in support of this request. Cathy Schlicht, with heavy local "grass roots" support, spent only $28,963 in her successful re-election obtaining 15,892 votes at a cost of $1.82 each. Therefore, any future candidate for our city council, even with an open seat, will need to spend a minimum of $30,000 to $50,000. If you are considering a run for city council with 50,000 plus registered voters and cannot pony up the cash, be it from personal funds, friends or PACs, you're sadly spinning your wheels. |
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