Council candidates report warchests

City Council candidates have reported the donations they received and the money they have spent in the first six months of the year to get elected. The next financial statement, covering July 1 to Sept. 30, is due Oct. 5.

Mayor Elizabeth Pearson reported the most donations of the four candidates.

She received 137 donations, 19 of them from companies. Laguna Beach residents accounted for 110 of the donors of individual contributions and 10 of the 19 non-individual donations were from companies headquartered in town. Donations totaled $46,294.

Local donors ranged from arts patrons to developers and included her re-election committee treasurer Matt Lawson, Realtor Michael Gosselin, Crevier BMW, art patrons Louis and Laura Rohl, former Mayors Kathleen Blackburn and Cheryl Kinsman, attorney and Laguna Beach County Water District Commissioner Susan Trager, Laguna Beach Live! founder Cindy Prewitt, attorney Gene Gratz, developers Joe Hanauer and Sam Goldstein, and the Rev. Colin Henderson.

Donations from outside the city came from Cox Communications in Rancho Santa Margarita and Waste Management in Sacramento, and Doctor’s Ambulance in Laguna Hills, but Pearson returned those checks.

Pearson reported spending $30,376.52 through June 30. Expenses included $360 for food catered by House of Big Fish & Ice Cold Beer for a fundraisier; other fundraising expenses of almost $2,100; campaign consultation fees of $4,725; printing costs of $17,532; $6,500 for print ads and $1,084 on the internet and about $400 for office costs.

Pearson lists her occupation as businesswoman and mayor.

Councilman Kelly Boyd came in second in the fundraising with a total of $24,680 from 82 individual donors, all but 14 from Laguna, and two Laguna Beach businesses.

Many of the donors to Pearson’s warchest were contributors to Boyds’ re-election campaign, including former School Board member Tim Carlyle, Mozambique owner Ivan Spiers, Friends of the Library and Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. President Martha Lydick, Chamber of Commerce Board member Michael Kinsman, Realtor Bobbi Cox and Planning Commissioner Linda Dietrich.

Through June 30, Boyd spent $1,796 on printing and banners and $119 for office expenses.

Boyd, who owns the Marine Room Tavern, identified his occupation as incumbent.

Emanuel Patrascu reported raising $4,420 from 21 donors, one with a Laguna Beach address. Seventeen were individual donors, including State Senator Tom Harman, for whom Patrascu works. Patrascu also received a donation from State Senator Kevin Gilhooey, Tri Ta for Westminster City Council 2010 and Cognify Inc. in Laguna Beach. He listed himself at a Riverside, California address as the lender of a $100 loan to his campaign on March 26.

Patrascu, the only challenger to the three incumbents, reported total expenditures of $1,141.72, $391 for a fundraiser, $271 for television or cable air time and production costs and $512 for professional services.

He identified his occupation as small business owner. He was elected to the board of the Chamber of Commerce as an employee of Harman, Chamber Executive Director Rose Hancock said. He is on leave of absence from the board during the campaign.

Patrascu said he does most of his private work from his home, but he does not need a Laguna Beach business license because the address for his political consulting firm, e-motive marketing, is in Newport Beach.

Incumbent Toni Iseman reported neither raising nor spending money for her re-election in the first six months of the year.

Iseman, a retired teacher and counselor, lists her occupation as Mayor Pro Tem.

All financial statements by candidates are public documents and can be reviewed in the City Clerk’s office, at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.

More candidates this year

A near-record number of candidates are running for office in Orange County, according to an update from the county Registrar of Voters.

“The number of candidate statements adds up to this: For elected offices filed with us (such as school districts, special districts, countywide offices, etc.), we have processed 183 candidate statements. The cities have accepted 203 statements for a total of 386. How does this compare with 2008? It is up by 89.”

Most of the candidates have filed a statement of qualifications, which requires an enormously complex proofing and tracking process, the update said.

Proofing is only to verify that the statements match what the candidate intended. Statements are not checked for content inaccuracies, a registrar spokesman said.

The statements of qualifications will appear on the ballots, but may also be reviewed at the Laguna Beach City Clerk’s office.