Signs of Campaign Finance can be Fascinating

I attended a “Meet the Candidate” get-together for a Novato City Council candidate at a friend’s house Sunday afternoon. At one point, the candidate mentioned looking at where contributions come from. You can tell if a campaign is at the grassroots level — $10 or $20 donations from many individuals — or if deeper pockets and business interests are playing a role.

That got me thinking about my favorite subject, the NUSD Board of Trustees, and I was struck by a desire to look into their contributions and expenditures.

I don’t pretend to be up on campaign financing by any means. I don’t pretend to be up on much, quite frankly. Thankfully, I can read. And, boy, is there a lot of information about campaign financing and fair political practices and forms and filinga and schedules through the Marin County Registrar of Voters Department. There are also extremely helpful and knowledgeable folks who work there and will walk you through the process.

All five of the six candidates actively seeking a seat on the Board of Trustees at this point filed paperwork by Sept. 29, one of the deadlines. Cindi Clinton, Tom Cooper, Ross Millerick and Jeffrey Vailliant all have valid Form 470s on file. Debbie Butler filed a Form 460.

What’s the difference between the two forms? A Form 460 is filed if someone has an open campaign committee. If you don’t have a campaign committee, you don’t need to file a Form 460 unless the candidate has raised or spent $1,000 on the campaign in 2011. By Sept. 24, the end period for the filing, only one candidate, Butler, had received or spent $1,000. The other four candidates presumably hadn’t raised or spent that amount by Sept. 24, so their 470s on file are sufficient.  

Looking at the public portal for campaign financial disclosure, you can see what Butler has filed. She has a loan for $1,150 from her husband, Gary Butler, who happens to be a candidate for the Novato Fire District. And she lists a $100 campaign contribution from the Novato Democratic Club. Her one expenditure, totaling $1,120.27, is to Centric Signs. [It’s interesting to note that her husband’s financial expenditure to Centric Signs is for precisely the same amount.]

I can’t wait to see how much the others spent on their signs (Vaillant excepted as he is not doing any campaign signs). It has to be less than $1,000. In fact, their total expenditures had to be less than $1,000 on Sept. 24 or else they would have had to file a Form 460. The next filing date is Oct. 27, and that will cover the period between Sept. 25 and Oct. 22. I can’t wait to see what shows up in those filings.

As for the signs? I started noticing several candidates’ signs throughout town in mid-September, and I back then. Here’s hoping they came real cheap for those candidates.