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Over $100,000 has entered Livermore-based campaigns so far this year, according to recently submitted financial disclosures.
The lion’s share of contributions went to candidates running for mayor and City Council. Meanwhile, candidates for the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) each sat under $2,000 in contributions and expenditures this year and candidates for Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board of Education were a mixed bag of missing records and ranging contributions.
The financial reports, also including donor names and expenditures for the period of July 1 through Sept. 21, were due on Sept. 26 for the first of two pre-election filing deadlines.
The candidates who have raised and spent more than $2,000 during the calendar year were required to file Form 460 by the September deadline to abide by the Political Reform Act, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission website. These candidates are also required to submit two semi-annual reports.
Under the $2,000 threshold, candidates were not required to submit Form 460. Instead, they are usually required to submit Form 470 to confirm they fall beneath the threshold, according to a Form 470 supplemental.
Below is the breakdown of campaign contributions for Livermore-based candidates.
Livermore city races
Incumbent Mayor John Marchand is the only candidate running for the mayoral office. During this calendar year, he has received $17,894.13 in campaign contributions. Of those funds, about $13,500 were collected during the most recent period (July 1 through Sept. 21) and nearly all donors were Livermore or Pleasanton residents.
Most of Marchand’s contributors donated hundreds of dollars during this period, but a few stand out as four-digit donors: the Valley Chateau Vineyards, LLC at $2,000, CEO of Black Tie Transportation Bill Wheeler at $1,000 and Martha Sutton at $1,000.
Also notable for this period was $3,120.60 loaned to Marchand from Lori Souza, a board director for the Las Positas College Foundation. Of that amount, $499 was forgiven and the rest was repaid.
As for political supporters, former Livermore mayor Bob Woerner donated $250 this period and Livermore school board member Kristie Wang, who is running for City Council District 4, donated $100 to Marchand’s campaign.
In District 3, Steven Dunbar and Jeff Kaskey lead in contributions raised this year at $19,837 and $22,945, respectively. Candidate David Farley lags behind, having raised $3,769 this year.
Of Dunbar’s $19,837, nearly $19,600 was raised this period. The majority of his donors lived in Livermore or the wider Bay Area.
The largest contributions to his campaign this period include $2,750 from Souza, $2,000 from IT manager of the CA Superior Courts David Dunbar, $2,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union, $1,000 from Wente Land & Cattle Co. and $1,500 from Mark Palajac.
Within those months, he also received $100 from outgoing Livermore City Councilmember Brittni Kiick, $50 from LVJUSD candidate Christiaan VandenHeuvel, $100 from Marchand and $150 from Wang.
In the same time period, Kaskey gathered $12,905 of his total $22,945. Nearly all his donors were Livermore residents and one was from out of state.
Kaskey’s top contributors this period were Jean King at $5,500, former Livermore mayoral candidate Mony Nop at $1,000, Sheridan & Andrea Loyd at $1,000 and Lee & Faye Younker at $1,000.
During the previous period, which ran from Jan. 1 to June 30, Kaskey took out a loan of $10,000 for his campaign.
As for Farley’s campaign contributions, he gathered all his funds this period except $100. The bulk of donors lived in Livermore and San Francisco, but a few were from out of state.
All contributions to Farley’s campaign have been $500 or less, except for his personal loans totaling $2,000 this calendar year. He has not paid off these loans yet.
In District 4, Tom Soules and Wang have comparable contributions this year so far at $15,760.00 and $14,798.33, respectively.
But the two diverge when it comes to their contributors.
Soules is the main contributor to his campaign, having taken out a $10,000 loan that he hasn’t repaid yet. Next on the list is King, who contributed $5,500 this year.
Wang, who received $13,053.33 of her $14,798.33 campaign contributions between Jan. 1 and June 30, gathered support from a long list of current and former officials.
In that previous period, Wang received contributions of $250 from Berkeley City Auditor Jennifer Wong, $150 from Alameda County Board of Education President Cheryl Cook-Kallio, $250 from Woerner, $192.72 from Alan Burnham 4 Zone 7 2024, $25 from executive director of Tri-Valley Haven Christine Dillman, $27 from LVJUSD board member Steven Drouin, $25 from Kiick, $250 (for a year’s total of $610) from former Livermore councilmember Trish Munro, $100 from former LVJUSD superintendent Chris Van Schaack and $100 from Zone 7 Director Sarah Palmer.
The majority of Wang’s contributors were Livermore residents, but some were from other cities in the Bay Area and a few were from out of state.
As for the current period, where $1,245 was contributed, the largest donation was $500 from Sutton.
And within the whole year, individual contributions maxed out at $1,000, which one donor gave in June.
Wang also took out a $500 loan for her campaign in September 2023 that she hasn’t paid back yet, according to the financial records.
LVJUSD Board of Education
Of the six candidates vying for two seats on the LVJUSD Board of Education, Deena Kaplanis has raised about $10,000 more than others who have filed their campaign disclosure statements.
In this period, Kaplanis collected $10,990.63 for a total of $11,490.63 this year. The majority of her contributors lived in Livermore, Pleasanton or another Bay Area city, but a few lived in other parts of California.
Her top contributions this period were from Gavinko Petroleum at $1,541.44, John Moore at $1,000 and $1,000 from Jill Weeber, listed as a “Supervisor Coscto (sic) & Campaign Manager”.
She also received a loan from Demitri’s Taverna for $500 earlier this year.
Tara Boyce, Amanda Pepper and Jean Paulsen expect to raise less than $2,000 and spend less than that amount this year.
As of Oct. 3, Maggie Tufts and Christiaan VandenHeuvel have not submitted forms indicating their campaign contributions and expenses.
LARPD Board of Directors
Four candidates, racing for just two seats on the LARPD Board of Directors, are on about equal financial footing so far.
Incumbents James Boswell and Jan Palajac as well as newcomers Matthew Bogdanowicz and Jacob Vital have all verified they expect to receive less than $2000 and spend less than that amount in the calendar year.
Contributions and expenditures from city-based elections are publicly available at public.netfile.com/pub2/?aid=liv. Others are publicly available through the County of Alameda Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure website at public.netfile.com/pub2/Default.aspx?aid=COA.
The next reporting deadline for campaign finance disclosure lands on Oct. 24 and will account for Sept. 22 through Oct. 19.
