Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore outspent his closest challenger in last fall's civic election by a margin of 10 to one, according to recently released campaign financial disclosure forms.
The incumbent mayor raised $29,799 of the $30,220 he spent in the lead-up to the November vote, spending roughly $5.11 for each of his 5,827 votes. Challenger William Issa raised $1,950 and spent $3,281, paying approximately $1.94 per vote while third-place finisher Patrick Alambets did not raise any money, spent $20 on his campaign and garnered 310 votes.
Of the 32 donations Moore received, 22 came from corporations, nine came from individual donors and one came from a trade union.
Developers also gave some of the highest donations Moore received for the 2011 campaign. The Dominion Triangle Limited Partnership and Onni Contractors gave $5,000 each, the largest contributions Moore received, while Mosaic Developments donated $3,600. Other donors to Moore's campaign include:
K&T Properties Ltd. -$2,100;
Harmony Real Estate Ventures - $2,000;
Liberty Homes -$2,000;
Emterra - $2,000;
ParkLane Homes -$1,300;
Jack Cewe Ltd. - $1,000.
All of Issa's donations were listed under the corporate class. He received $500 from RPMG Holdings, $500 from Design Roofing and Sheet Metal, $200 from Advance Chemicals and $350 from the Cat and Fiddle Pub.
There was considerable variation among the amounts of money council candidates raised and spent in last fall's election.
Of the candidates who won election, Coun. Brad West, who topped the polls, led the way in spending, raising close to $25,000, mainly from unions and developers. The largest contribution he received was from RPMG Holdings, which gave to $4,500 to his campaign, and CUPE, which gave $4,250.
Coun. Glenn Pollock spent the second most out of the council winners, $11,841, with $3,750 coming from CUPE, and Conwest Contracting Ltd. and Dominion Triangle Ltd. each contributing $2,500.
Newly elected Coun. Dean Washington raised $2,750 and spent $7,054 while veterans Michael Wright and Mike Forrest also spent a considerable amount of their own money for their campaigns. Forrest did not raise any money and spent $6,235, while Wright raised only $50 and spent $2,805. Coun. Darrell Penner raised $1,500 and spent $5,243.
Not all the big spenders were able to secure seats on council. According to his campaign financial disclosure, candidate Eric Hirvonen spent more than $32,000, garnering only 738 votes. The funds came from a registered elector organization, the Canada Fire Safety Corporation, which Hirvonen runs.
