Call it a good omen
"It’s about the best way to kick off an election campaign," says Brian Young. "We’re just about to begin door knocking and already we have managed to raise the money needed to cover all the election expenses. It’s a really good sign." "It's so good to be able to focus on the campaign itself right from the start," says Young.
Young is part of the campaign committee working with John Sewell in his bid to become the councillor for Ward 21. Young signed many of the fundraising letters that the Sewell campaign mailed out in early July. The campaign has now raised almost $26,000 which is very close to the total campaign budget.
"I am delighted," said John Sewell. "It is so great to have the financial issues resolved so that we can concentrate on door knocking and talking to people about the city issues in the election."
Municipal election regulations put a limit on the amount that candidates for council can spend, equal to 70 cents for every voter in the ward plus $5,000. In Ward 21 there are 29,000 voters on the preliminary voters’ list: adding the $5,000 makes a spending limit of $25,300. Certain items are exempt from the limit, including fund raising costs, the cost of an auditor, and a victory party. In the case of this campaign the fund raising costs were relatively small since they consisted of the preparation and mailing of a letter. The campaign committee thinks that the exempted expenditures will not exceed $2,000 which means the total budget for the election is about $27,000. With contributions still coming in from the fund raising letter the committee feels it needs do nothing more about raising money.
In fact the Sewell committee is suggesting that those wishing to make a donation to the John Sewell Campaign should instead donate to several other candidates running in the city election: David White; Ed Shiller, Garry Green and Adam Vaughan. Details of their campaign addresses are on the website www.johnsewell.ca.
Sewell’s campaign decided only to accept contributions from individuals (not from corporations or unions) and is declining contributions from those seeking approvals from City Hall. All contributions are from individuals.
Municipal election rules state that any election surplus will be turned over to the city clerk. Once the $27,000 figures is reached in the next day or two the Sewell campaign will not accept further donations.
