First-time school board candidate Mark Gifford was the top spender in the 2014 civic election – topping the biggest spender in the previous election.
Gifford, one of five school board candidates endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, spent $15,801 on his bid to win a seat on the New Westminster board of education.
Along with about $8,000 in donations from individuals and some corporate donations, he received $4,217 in contributions from individuals, including family members.
Gifford’s campaign cost $74 more than Jonina Campbell’s $15,727 campaign, in which she also topped the school board polls in her first election campaign.
The results are among the findings in the financial disclosure statements from the 2014 civic election that were recently released by Elections B.C.
For the November 2014 election, Campbell scaled back expenditures, spending $12,262 on her campaign. Trade unions contributed $4,136 to Campbell’s campaign, with other donations coming from individuals ($3,930), corporations ($1,500) and business/commercial organizations ($75).
First-time candidate Kelly Slade-Kerr, who topped the school board polls on election day, spent $10,735 on her campaign. Her contributions included $2,637 from individuals, $770 from corporations, $250 from business/commercial organizations, $4,624 from trade unions and just over $700 from non-profit organizations.
Longtime trustee James Janzen spent $7,452 on his campaign, with $6,635 of his contributions coming from labour unions.
Outspending veteran trustee and labour-endorsed candidate Michael Ewen was independent candidate Jeremy Perry, whose expenditures were $7,141 for the election campaign.
His contributions included $4,740 from individuals, $466 from corporations, and $1,910 from business/commercial organizations.
Ewen, the longest-serving trustee in New Westminster, spent $7,011 on his campaign.
In addition to being endorsed by the labour council, Campbell, Ewen, Janzen, Gifford and Slade-Kerr ran as a team with mayoral candidate Jonathan Cote and council candidates Bill Harper, Patrick Johnstone, Jaimie McEvoy, Chuck Puchmayr, Mary Trentadue and Lorrie Williams – all of whom were successful on election day. These candidates shared expenses for a number of election items, including a poster, leaflet, group photo, poll cards, mailouts and a newspaper wrap.
Trailing far behind in spending were incumbents Casey Cook, who spent $2,728 of his own money, and MaryAnn Mortensen, who spent $2,566 on her bid for re-election.
Jim Bell reported spending $2,039 of his own money in his attempt to win a seat on school board. First-time candidate Cort Caldwell spent $735 on his campaign.
Vancouver resident Rajiv Pandey didn’t spend any money on his quest for a seat on the New Westminster board of education.
