news story / By John C. Osborn

Money in Politics

Compared to Cleary and Sundberg, Higgins only raised quarters ($6,113 this cycle; $13,357 total) and he even threw in a few of his own — $2,000 this cycle. Higgins also stated he wasn’t planning on being active on the fundraising front. Most of his contributions were $100 to $250, except for three $500 ones that he got from his business partner William Keir, Danny Hagans (a geologist consultant from McKinleyville) and Greg Blomstrom, a professional forester from Fieldbrook. Overall, many of his contributions came from experts in the fisheries and natural sciences field.

As opposed to Cleary, Higgins’ primary advertising blitz has been centered on print ads, mainly in Econews, Senior News and the Two Rivers Tribune, to the tune of $1,109. That said, Higgins appears to be spending heavily on campaign brochures and literature — a total of $4,056 this cycle, mainly through Sirius Studios.

Jeff Lytle was serious when he said he wasn’t raising a dime. And he hasn’t. But he is spending out his pocket, making him the only candidate to truly not take one donation from anyone, except for a $500 loan last cycle from his company.

Fourth District Supervisor

There was a big commotion by opponents of Bonnie Neely ($42,487 this cycle; $113,080 total) about a fundraiser held in Sacramento back in April. There was this expectation that she would draw in untold amounts of cash from out-of-area interests, like the $10,000 contribution last cycle from Dana Point-based developer MPDSE, Inc.

Of the 36 reported contributions this time around, 13 were from outside of Humboldt County. The largest of these were $1,500 from Thomas DeArth, a hydrologist from Ripon, Calif.; $1,000 from Congressman Mike Thompson’s and Wes Chesbro’s campaigns; Steven and Gillian Foster of Venice (Lucky Strike Entertainment); and M. Keith and Cynthia Wadell of Half Moon Bay (Robert Half International). Her largest contribution this cycle was $4,500 from Dee Atkins, manager of Ocean West in McKinleyville.

Neely has spent most of her cash this cycle on advertising and consulting. She paid Sacramento-based Duffy & Capitilo $7,500 for continued consulting services, as well as about $5,300 on salaries. Neely’s advertising strategy is primarily focused on radio and television ads, and she spent $17,527 with Action Media, based out of San Francisco, to that end. She also paid Times-Standard photojournalist Shaun Walker $450 for freelance photography services.

Jeff Leonard ($6,826 this cycle; $17,222 total) appears to have stayed true to his campaign promise of not relying on special interest money. That said, he did gain $1,500 from one Paul Shoen of Glenbrook, Nev. — his largest contribution — along with $650 from Ruth Robertson,of Bayside. He is also floating $2,350 in loans and gained almost half of his cash through small contributions ($1,607).

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