A look at City Council campaign funds

Posted by hgomez February 12, 2009 11:35AM

On Thursday we learned how deep Mayor Frank Jackson's campaign pockets are heading into a re-election cycle. Today, let's look at the City Council.

Some council members are more aggressive fund-raisers than others. Seven of the 21 active members had more than $10,000 on hand at the end of 2008. But seven others had less than $1,000. New Ward 7 Councilman T.J. Dow had nothing.

Some undoubtedly will kick up their efforts this year. Others will be keeping a close eye on the Council Leadership Fund. The account is controlled by council President Martin J. Sweeney, who uses the money to help his colleagues.

The Council Leadership Fund had a balance of $313,294.37 at the end of 2008. Sweeney raised $34,500 for the pot in the second half of the year. There were only six donations, the smallest a $2,000 contribution from the Continental Airlines Employee Fund.

Other contributors:

• David Brennan, the charter-school magnate, $10,000

• Dave Damus, executive with the L&R Group parking enterprise in Los Angeles, $10,000

• Edward Crawford, chairman of Park-Ohio Holdings Corp., $5,000 (Note: Crawford was one of several suburban businessmen who lobbied hard for this year's council reduction.)

• Teri Brenkus, an executive with Crawford's companies, $5,000

• Carpenters Political Action Committee, $2,500

Now here's a look of council member fund-raising, ward by ward.

• Ward 1 -- Terrell Pruitt, $1,722 on hand at the end of 2008.

Pruitt is a newcomer who had to run in a primary and special election last year after being picked to replace Nina Turner. He received lots of help from his colleagues.

• Ward 2 -- Nathaniel Wilkes was appointed to the seat at the end of the year and raised no money last year. He is not expected to run for the job this fall.

Wilkes' predecessor, Robert J. White, had $23,552 on hand. White resigned before being convicted on a federal bribery charge. His report did not list any fund-raising activity.

• Ward 3 -- Zack Reed, $13,782 on hand.

Reed took in more than $15,000 at a fall fund-raiser. He also spent more than $10,000 on other campaigns, cell phone bills and hotel rooms for conferences.

• Ward 4 -- Ken Johnson, $414.87 on hand.

According to his report, Johnson did not raise one cent last year.

• Ward 5 -- Phyllis Cleveland, $4,321 on hand.

Of the $4,190 Cleveland raised last year, $2,000 came from the Council Leadership Fund and another $1,000 came from Sweeney's own campaign fund.

• Ward 6 -- Mamie Mitchell, $137 on hand.

Mitchell, who joined the council last year, paid $1,000 to her campaign manager and is left with barely enough to send a few mailings or make a few robo-calls.

• Ward 7 -- T.J. Dow, $0 on hand.

Dow must start from scratch as he was not the council-backed successor to the late Fannie Lewis. The money and institutional support went to Stephanie Howse, whom Dow beat.

• Ward 8 -- Sabra Pierce Scott, $485 on hand.

Pierce Scott only raised $1,000 last year. It came from the Council Leadership Fund.

• Ward 9 -- Kevin Conwell, $6,846 on hand.

Conwell took in $3,425 at a fall fund-raiser.

• Ward 10 -- Roosevelt Coats, $2,212 on hand.

Coats took in more than $5,000 at a fund-raiser, including $2,000 from the leadership fund.

• Ward 11 -- Michael Polensek, $87,306 on hand.

Polensek is one of the council's best fund-raisers. It looks like he raised most of his money in the first half of 2008, donations not shown on his year-end report.

• Ward 12 -- Tony Brancatelli, $4,055 on hand.

Brancatelli had a fall fund-raiser, in which he netted more than $1,400 in contributions of $25 or less. That was more than half of his $2,600 haul at the event.

• Ward 13 -- Joe Cimperman, $36,837 on hand.

Cimperman's September fund-raiser brought in more than $53,000. Real estate developers were generous -- $2,000 from Dominic Visconsi and $1,000 each from John Ferchill, Dick Jacobs, Ari Maron, Bob Stark and Scott Wolstein. But Cimperman also spent a lot of money on assistants, consultants and other campaigns and organizations.

• Ward 14 -- Joe Santiago, $156 on hand.

After The Plain Dealer reported that Santiago's support of nuisance bars had caught the attention of the FBI, the councilman hired consultant David Eden and paid him $5,000.

• Ward 15 -- Brian Cummins, $398 on hand.

Cummins raised $50 last year.

• Ward 16 -- Kevin Kelley, $34,076 on hand.

Kelley, who chairs the committee that oversees Hopkins International Airport, received $1,000 from the Continental Airlines Employee Fund. He also received $2,000 from the Council Leadership Fund. His fall fund-raiser took in more than $12,000.

• Ward 17 -- Matt Zone, $19,593 on hand.

Zone took in more than $20,000 at a fund-raiser. His biggest donors were Robert Kanner of Palm Beach, Fla., and Jeffrey Nock of Moreland Hills. Each gave $1,000.

• Ward 18 -- Jay Westbrook, $3,317 on hand.

Westbrook raised $3,000 last year; $2,000 from the leadership fund and $1,000 from the Continental employees fund.

• Ward 19 -- Dona Brady, $104,173 on hand.

An impressive war chest. She raised $815 in the second half of 2008.

• Ward 20 -- Martin J. Sweeney, $147,877 on hand.

Raised $1,900 the second half of 2008, including $1,000 from parking executive Jordan Simons of Denver.

• Ward 21 -- Martin Keane, $932 on hand.

Keane raised $3,000 last year; $2,000 from the leadership fund, $1,000 from Sweeney.

There are a lot of names and numbers to digest. But if you ever wondered how Sweeney has held on to the council presidency for so long despite so much council drama, there are plenty of clues above.