The current council as well as both mayoral candidates spent a varying amount of money in the 2012 municipal election.
The Times-Herald surveyed the elected council members and the other mayoral candidate Fraser Tolmie regarding their campaign contributions and expenses.
Mayor Deb Higgins said she broke down all of her expenses into “pretty broad categories.” She said she spent $12,000 and received $12,000 in donations from family, friends and people in the community. She said the bulk of her expenses went to advertising. That included media advertising, signage and pamphlets.
She said she supported the idea of having the community know how much each candidate spent during an election.
“The city clerk will be looking at gathering from each of us and candidates in the last municipal election an outline of how much money we raised and where the money was spent to use as information and guidelines when the city is looking at this for their own discussion,” said Higgins.
“Instead of looking at other cities, what was talked about at council was that we look at the experiences in Moose Jaw and that’s where we’ll draw our bylaw from.”
Tolmie said in an email that prior to running for mayor he was told he would require between $30,000 and $40,000. He said he was unable to raise that amount, but he raised $19,000 from local businesses and private donors.
He said he used that $19,000 for printing brochures, digital billboards, lawn signs, radio and newspaper advertising and social media. He said $500 was used for a campaign headquarters downtown and he spent $50 on office supplies.
For more information, see an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
