COUNTYWIDE : Silva Leads Moulton Patterson in Fund Raising

Jim Silva has collected more money and enters the final days of the campaign with a larger war chest than Linda Moulton Patterson in the hard-fought Second District supervisor’s race, finance statements revealed.

Silva has raised $251,340, compared with $211,829 for Moulton Patterson. Silva’s ending cash balance was $30,494 on Oct. 22, the last day covered in the most recent finance statements. Moulton Patterson’s ending balance was $12,419.

Over the past month, Silva collected $56,662 and spent $50,699 on such items as mailers and fund-raising events.

During the same period, Moulton Patterson collected $37,187 and spent $34,612 on such items as mailers and signs.

The race is considered one of the hottest on the local ballot. The latest flare-up in the campaign came last week when Moulton Patterson--the mayor of Huntington Beach--unveiled a plan to reform county government.

The plan would slash the supervisors’ budgets by 15%, eliminate their county-provided cars and begin performance audits of every department.

“Essentially, if the voters like the direction the county is going, they will vote for Jim Silva,” she said in a statement. “If they want to change direction, they should vote for me.”

Silva supporters dismissed her plan as a “transparent” effort to capture attention. Silva, a Huntington Beach councilman, could not be reached for comment.