For the second election in a row, Mayor Richard Stewart bested candidates who raised more cash and spent more money on their losing Coquitlam mayoralty bids.
But the two-term mayor spent more than he planned and was left with a $30,000 bill. Stewart now plans a fundraiser in April to try and earn back some of that cash.
"The largest donor is me, we went so much over budget, I had to cover it," Stewart told The Tri-City News yesterday.
In what was the most expensive civic race in Coquitlam's history, Stewart spent $66,752.53 on campaign advertising and other expenses while challenger Barrie Lynch, a former councillor, spent $82,040.90 on his campaign.
Lynch said the cost was reasonable given that he set up a campaign office and that other mayoralty races for similar sized cities were in the same range. He also defended union endorsements and fundraising from CUPE, of which he is a member as an ambulance paramedic. "These [unions] are people that work in the community," said Lynch.
While Stewart turned down offers from CUPE branches with which the city will be bargaining in the current round of union negotiations, Lynch said he saw the donations from fellow union members as a vote of support. As well, he said, he accepted similar amounts from businesses and other organizations.
"I think as a member of city government, you need to be well balanced and it's important to have balanced donations," said Lynch.
In two successful bids for mayor, Stewart was the most spendthrift, under-spending Lynch by about $15,000 in 2011, and spending only $32,000 to Maxine Wilson's $77,510 in 2008.
He acknowledged that his election spending grew considerably this time but said original plans were to only spend $50,000 until he was hit by a car while campaigning, which required his supporters to ramp up the campaign while he healed.
Stewart said he would like to see spending limits for municipal campaigns in the future. "I accept the idea of spending limits and control," Stewart said, adding that he suspects voters can see through expensive campaigns and messages.
Meanwhile, the story of campaign contributions in the Coquitlam civic elections continues to be a tale of real estate developers versus unions.
Elected councillors who received much of their funding from developers included Brent Asmundson, Mae Reid, Lou Sekora, Linda Reimer and newcomer Terry O'Neill, a former Tri-City News columnist.
Successful candidates who received a significant amount of CUPE of funding, typically in the $7,500 range, as well as developer funding, were Selina Robinson, Neal Nicholson and another newcomer, Craig Hodge, a former Tri-City News photographer.
Another regular donor to the Coquitlam civic election was Great Canadian Casino, owner of the Boulevard Casino. As well, gravel operators Jack Cewe and Allard Contractors, and a group called One World Farms Inc. gave funds of between $250 to $500 to many candidates. The top developer contribution was $5,000 from Wesbild to Stewart's campaign while most developer contributions were in the $1,000 to $2,500 range.
Stewart said it's not surprising real estate developers contribute to civic campaigns because "they are interested in the governance of the system." He noted, however, that councillors don't negotiate with developers like they do with CUPE.
Mayor
Richard Stewart
Raised: *$66,752
Spent: $66,752
*Personal contribution $30, 012
see story for explanation
Votes: 10,050
$6.64 per vote
.53 per capita
(126,000 pop)
Brent Asmundson
Raised: $16,600
Spent: $18,934
Votes: 7,541
$2.51 per vote
.15 per capita
Craig Hodge
Raised: $30,994
Spent: $30,984
Votes: 9,424
$3.28 per vote
.24 per capita
*Neal Nicholson
Raised: $20,878
Spent: 23,691
Votes: 7,885
$3 per vote
.19 per capita
*Terry O'Neill
Raised: $21,240
Spent: $21,762
Votes: 7,566
$2.87 per vote
.17 per capita
Mae Reid
Raised: $21,650
Spent: $21,190
Votes: 7,784
$2.72 per vote
.17 per capita
Linda Reimer
Raised: $18,580
Spent: $27,261
Votes: 9,093
$2.90 per vote
.22 per capita
Selina Robinson
Raised: $19,680
Spent: $17,369
Votes: 9,635
$1.80 per vote
.14 per capita
Lou Sekora
Raised: $26,950
Spent: $30,351
Votes: 8,519
$3.56 per vote
.24 per capita
