Former Mayor Wayne Wright topped all spenders in election spending in the 2014 civic election, but newly elected Mayor Jonathan Cote had a little help on the funding front from his friends.
Wright was once again the top spender in the New Westminster civic elections with $72,102 in expenditures, topping the $61,263 he spent in 2011. Cote, the three-term councillor who dethroned the sitting mayor, spent $63,572 on his campaign.
Along with an $8,600 gap in spending, the top two mayoral campaigns also differed in terms of supporters. The results are among the findings in the newly released financial disclosure statements from the 2014 civic election.
Wright’s campaign included $14,850 in donations from individuals, $6,100 from business or commercial groups, $500 from the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. (his lone labour union donation) – and a whopping $50,650 from corporations. Wright’s biggest contributions came from: Weigung Real Estate $7,000; Master Piece Properties Ltd – $5,250; and Gondola Holdings Ltd, Plaza 88 Developments Ltd., Blue Sky Properties, Aragon Developments, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment – each with $5,000.
Cote, who was endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, received $16,733 in contributions from trade unions – more than many council candidates spent on their entire campaigns. His $63,568 in contributions also included $36,570 from individuals; $8,700 from corporations (including top donations from Wesgroup Properties – $2,500, Bosa Properties – $2,000 and Hyack Interactive – $1,250), and $1,565 from unincorporated business/commercial organizations.
Cote also partnered with city council and school board candidates who were endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council on some expenses. The group shared election expenses for a number of things including telephone canvassing ($4,562 for the group), a large poster, a leaflet, poll card brochures and a mailout, a group photo, a newspaper wrap and a poll card in the Punjabi language.
Cote’s portion of these expenses ranged from $9 for the poster to $1,943 for a newspaper wrap.
Pamphlets, signs and advertising, including newspaper ads, are always among the top expenses for civic election candidates. Wright and Cote also had expenses for office space and salaries for campaign staff.
The two other candidates running to be mayor of New Westminster didn’t come close to Wright and Cote’s donations or expenses, with James Crosty spending $5,640 on his second mayoral bid and Vladimir Krasnogor spending $231.
On the council front, first-time candidate Patrick Johnstone topped all spenders, with $23,352. Johnstone, who was elected to council, received contributions from a range of donors including CUPE B.C. (donations of $1,500 and $1,250) and Wesgroup Properties ($1,000).
Incumbent councillor Jaimie McEvoy – who has topped councillor spending in the past two municipal elections – was close behind Johnstone with a $23,172 campaign. That’s less than the $28,776 he spent in 2011.
McEvoy received $16,735 in campaign contributions from individuals – including his own contribution of $15,735, $2,250 from corporations and $4,187 from trade unions.
Council incumbent Bill Harper spent $19,046 in his successful bid for reelection. His contributions came from individuals – $6,275; corporations – $5,575 (including $1,500 from Wesgroup Properties and $1,500 from Port Royal Village Development) and trade unions – $7,212.
First-time candidate Tej Kainth, who placed eighth in the race for six seats on city council, spent $15,437 on her campaign.
Veteran councillor Lorrie Williams spent $13,181 on her campaign. She received $6,000 in donations from individuals (including her own contribution of $5,000), $1,250 from corporations (including $750 from Bosa Properties) and $5,637 from trade unions.
David Brett spent $9,423 in his attempt to get a seat on city council. He placed 10th in the race.
Newly elected councillor Mary Trentadue spent $8,015 on her first campaign for New Westminster city council. Her campaign included nearly $7,000 in union donations, as well as some individual donations and corporate contributions (including Wesgroup Properties – $1,000 and Bosa Properties – $750.)
Not far behind in election spending was incumbent councillor Chuck Puchmayr at $7,557. His campaign included $3,764 in contributions from unions, $2,058 from individuals and $2,000 from corporations.
Sapperton resident Catherine Cartwright spent $7,033 and former councillor Calvin Donnelly spent $6,001 in a bid to reclaim a seat on council. Queensborough resident Gavin Palmer spent $5,197 on his councillor campaign.
Scott McIntosh, the son of longtime city councillor Betty McIntosh, spent $4,792 on his election campaign. Although he wasn’t endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, McIntosh did get a $1,500 donation from CUPE B.C.
Downtown businessman Harm Woldring spent $2,070 on his campaign and longtime resident Jim Bell doled out $2,039.
Trailing behind in election spending were: John Ashdown – $1,714; Mike Folka –$1,661;Marge Ashdown – $1,280; Tracey Block - $719; Raj Gupta – $554; and Gerry Liu – $469. Matt Kadioglu ran the most frugal campaign – he didn’t spend a cent.
