All but one Patterson candidate disclose campaign finances, top Stanislaus County donors
Four of five candidates for Patterson mayor and City Council District A spent an average of $7,000 on their campaigns between July and October, according to financial disclosure statements.
Unlike the others, mayoral candidate Mark Miles has not filed spending and contribution reports the California Fair Political Practices Commission requires, Patterson’s public portal showed Monday — three days after the latest deadline.
On 460 forms submitted for the Oct. 22 deadline, Dennis McCord and David Keller, respectively, reported spending about $9,000 and $4,000 on their bids for mayor this election. Disclosure forms for the District A race also show one candidate has spent twice as much as the other, with Shawun Ruth Anderson reporting $10,386 in expenditures compared to Shivaugn Alves reporting $4,818.
McCord, Keller and Alves met the previous Sept. 24 deadline, while Anderson did not file required forms then and instead included overdue financial disclosures in the report she submitted last week. The City Clerk’s Office did not receive required statements from Miles last month either, Deputy City Clerk Aracely Alegre confirmed in an email. Per the state commission filing schedule, Miles should have filed either a 460 form if he raised at least $2,000 or a 470 form if he did not.
Miles did form a campaign committee, so he was also subject to the second statement deadline on Thursday. Records show Alves filed those disclosures a day late, but no spending and contribution reports by Miles were available on the public portal as of Monday morning.
Elected officials, others donate to Patterson candidates
Among the donors listed on disclosures are Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini, as well as outgoing Patterson City Council Member Joshua Naranjo and his business Sky Whirl Heating and Air Conditioning. DeMartini, whose district includes Patterson, contributed $500 each to both Anderson and McCord’s campaigns.
McCord and Anderson also reported receiving $500 each from Naranjo, who both serves on the council with McCord and has endorsed Anderson’s campaign to succeed him in representing District A. Sky Whirl further gave Anderson a non-monetary donation of signs worth about $2,800, she disclosed in September.
Flores Excavation and Demolition based in Patterson made the largest reported contribution, donating $1,500 to Anderson. Alves reported the most small donations, including four $100 contributions from individuals living in the county and Ripon. The only disclosed donation from a political action committee was $250 for Keller’s campaign from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee.
Spending focuses on ads, signs
Anderson paid $1,950 for print advertisements in the Patterson Irrigator while Keller spent $975 on the same. McCord reported paying the newspaper a total of about $2,400 for T-shirts and advertisements. On his Facebook page, Miles has also posted a picture of his campaign advertisement in the Irrigator.
Alves reported spending about $2,500 in printed campaign materials. In comparison, Anderson spent about $3,200 in campaign literature and mailings, $400 in information technology costs and $200 in campaign text services. Both reported $750 in candidate filing and ballot fees the city charged.
Keller likewise spent $460 in door hangers and $1,800 in campaign paraphernalia. McCord reported paying about $5,400 for signs and stakes.
McCord and Keller, respectively, reported about $4,000 and $1,700 in outstanding debts as of mid-October. They also disclosed ending cash balances of about $1,200 and $500 each. Meanwhile, Anderson and Alves had about $600 and $70 cash on hand at the end of the filing period.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
