Aguirre Contributes $95,000 to Own Bid; Is Still No. 1 Spender

Underwriting his campaign with more than $95,000 of his own money, lawyer Michael Aguirre is outspending most other San Diego City Council candidates by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, campaign finance reports filed Thursday show.

The reports, filed with the city clerk’s office, also show that, as of last Saturday, 2nd District candidate Ron Roberts had out-raised all other candidates in this fall’s four council races with contributions totaling $81,625.90. In the 4th District race, former City Hall aide Marla Marshall had collected $72,052--three times more than her nearest competitor.

Because of a scheduling quirk in this year’s campaign timetable, Thursday’s finance reports were the second set filed within the past week by the council candidates.

Pattern Continues

Continuing the pattern established by last week’s reports, Aguirre relied heavily on personal funds to maintain a huge spending edge in his bid for the 8th District seat held by appointed Councilwoman Celia Ballesteros.

Since beginning his campaign more than a year ago, Aguirre has spent $95,716.26 of his money in the race, including nearly $21,000 last month, the reports show.

Considered one of the front-runners, Aguirre has received $14,555.18 in contributions--considerably less than most other major candidates--and spent $110,495.81.

Another major 8th District candidate, San Diego State University history Prof. Bob Filner, also has heavily subsidized his campaign with personal funds. Filner’s finance report shows that, after lending an additional $12,000 to his campaign in July, he now has spent $34,000 of his money in his race--about $6,000 more than he has been able to raise in contributions.

Filner, who lost narrowly to 3rd District Councilwoman Gloria McColl in 1983, received $28,143.53 in donations and spent $58,991.28, according to the reports.

Aguirre’s and Filner’s combined contribution total is less than the $57,291 collected by one of their chief competitors, Neil Good, who is on leave from his position as administrative assistant to county Supervisor Leon Williams.

Good, who has spent $47,319.66, argued Thursday that the finance reports demonstrate his breadth of support and his challengers’ attempts to “use their own money to compensate for a lack of popular support.”

‘Trying to Buy the Election’

“The 8th District is the only place where somebody’s trying to buy the election with their own money,” Good said. “The fact that they’re having to bankroll their campaigns tells you something significant about this race.”

Also in the 8th District, businessman Bob Castaneda raised $31,927.76, San Ysidro community activist Paul Clark received $5,221 in contributions and businessman Danny Martinez raised $2,049. Land-use planner Gail MacLeod has spent $16,142 in the race, including $6,200 of her money.

Meanwhile, in the 2nd District race, Roberts, the former chairman of the San Diego Planning Commission, surged to the lead in overall contributions by doubling his treasury during the past month, the reports show.

An architect seeking the seat being vacated by retiring Councilman Bill Cleator, Roberts raised $41,420 in July, giving him an overall total of $81,625.90. Of that amount, he had spent roughly half--$41,812.27--as of Saturday. Nearly 60% of Roberts’ contributions came from developers and real-estate interests, including contractors, real estate agents, architects and others.

Among other 2nd District candidates, Kay Davis, the president of the San Diego school board, nearly equaled Roberts’ July fund-raising performance, raising her total by nearly $39,000, to $63,400. Public-relations consultant Byron Wear has received $16,829 in contributions, while three long shots in the race have raised a combined total of about $3,000.

In the 4th District, Marshall, an account manager with a title company and McColl’s former administrative assistant, continued to easily outdistance her rivals in fund raising in their battle for retiring Councilman William Jones’ seat.

In fact, Marshall’s $72,052 contribution total--half of which came from development interests--exceeded the donations raised by the seven other candidates in the race, three of whom are expected to wage write-in campaigns after being disqualified from the ballot last month for failing to secure sufficient valid signatures on their nominating petitions. As of Saturday, Marshall had spent $61,808. She also lent her campaign $1,000.

The Rev. George Stevens, regarded as Marshall’s strongest rival after the disqualifications, had raised $23,183 and spent $19,684, the reports show. Wes Pratt, who had been considered the 4th District’s front-runner until he was forced to run as a write-in candidate after falling short of the signature requirement, has received $14,243 and spent $13,855.22.

Three other 4th District candidates filed financial statements indicating that they spent less than $4,000 each; the mailed reports of two others had not been received by the clerk’s office as of late Thursday.

Lawyer Bob Ottilie led the fund raising in the 6th District, where five candidates are on the ballot seeking to succeed retiring Councilman Mike Gotch.

Ottilie has raised $40,830.86 and spent $25,068.54, followed by lawyer Bruce Henderson ($31,367.05 in contributions), executive search consultant Jim Ryan ($15,593) and lawyer Bob Glaser ($7,550). The report of publisher Paul Johnsen had not been received by the clerk’s office.