From the Record Searchlight 

Election funds top 2004
Redding council candidates amass $220,673 in donations

By:    Scott Mobley

Record Searchlight

Published: October 10, 2006

It's not yet mid-October, and some Redding City Council candidates' campaign war chests already have bulged beyond records set in the 2004 election. Two incumbents and four challengers will vie for three council seats Nov. 7. These candidates have amassed collectively $220,673 in cash, loans and nondollar contributions. So far, they've spent $131,731 on yard signs, pamphlets, mailing, media advertising and campaign-party supplies.

The usual big donors have weighed in heavily on this year's election -- mostly for Dave Rutledge, Rick Bosetti and Jay Gibson, the three business-backed challengers.

The Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce has donated $5,000 each to Rutledge, Gibson and Bosetti. The California Association of Realtors has contributed $5,000 to Rutledge and $2,500 each to Bosetti and Gibson.

Those three candidates also received $1,000 each from the Shasta Builders' Exchange.

Shasta Enterprises contributed $1,000 each to Bosetti, Gibson and Patrick Jones, and $750 to Rutledge. The council has the power to grant the firm's request to change Redding's general plan to accommodate two eight-story condo towers between the Sacramento River bluffs and Interstate 5.

Les Melburg, the architect designing those towers, contributed $1,000 each to Gibson and Bosetti.

The Redding Rancheria -- a political heavy-hitter not strictly aligned with the business/development lobby -- donated $4,000 to Jones and $3,000 each to Bosetti, Rutledge and incumbent John Mathena.

Finally, the Redding Peace Officers Association favored the two incumbents, Mathena and Mary Stegall, with $1,000 contributions.

Rutledge sits atop the fundraising pack so far, having collared $55,838 in cash and other contributions since Jan. 1, disclosure documents show. That's considerably more than the $40,860 that Ken Murray, the top fundraiser for council in 2004, had collected by this point in that campaign.

The Rutledge campaign has won 100 cash contributions totaling $44,603. The campaign has spent $26,591.69.

Rutledge lists 23 contributions of $500 or more. Redding area construction businesses, real estate agents and bankers heavily support Rutledge, himself an affordable-housing developer and Realtor.

Stegall, who is defending her council seat for the second time in two years, had raised $50,309 in cash and other contributions from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30. The Stegall campaign had spent $45,650 as of Sept. 30.

Stegall is the most prolific cash fundraiser so far this year, having roped in some $48,000 -- although she started with $5,000 left over from the 2004 race. She lists 164 contributors.

Stegall's disclosure documents list 13 contributions of $500 or more. The largest include $1,100 from Jerry Tucker, a Redding retiree, and $1,000 from Emily Young, a Chico State and National University professor.

Most Stegall contributions are $200 or less. Documents list donations from private sector attorneys, engineers, physicians and other service-industry professionals, nonprofit-sector executives and government officials, such as former Redding Mayor Dave McGeorge and retired City Manager Mike Warren.

Warren, now interim CEO at Turtle Bay Exploration Park, hosted a fundraiser for Stegall last month. Some of Stegall's political opponents have called that a conflict, noting Turtle Bay likely will approach the city for funding next year.

Stegall disagreed there's a conflict, since she has no financial stake in Turtle Bay's success. Nor does she accept the idea that the fundraiser will buy Turtle Bay her vote.

"City government would come to a standstill if we had to recuse ourselves every time someone who supported our campaign came before us," Stegall said Monday. "And that makes it too easy, takes the discomfort away. You don't have to make the hard decisions. And making a decision against someone who supported you is hard."

Gibson has amassed $49,749 in cash and other contributions. More than half of that -- $25,000 -- is a loan from Gibson's firm, Gibson Heating and Air Conditioning.

Gibson had spent $15,669.86 through Sept. 30, disclosure documents show.

The Gibson campaign lists 54 contributions from construction firms, as well as a fair number of doctors, attorneys, bankers, real estate agents, engineers and architects. Twelve of these contributions were $500 or more, including $1,000 from home builder Ochoa and Shehan and contractor N&T Digmore Inc.

Bosetti has raised $40,503 and spent $27,580. Cash contributions to the Bosetti campaign totaled $34,904 in 119 contributions.

Bosetti supporters include an array of small-business owners, banking and real estate professionals, construction firms, attorneys, and medical and financial professionals. The campaign also listed support from current and former government officials such as Shasta County supervisor Glenn Hawes, McGeorge and former state Sen. Maurice Johannessen.

Bosetti listed 20 contributions of $500 or more.

Mathena, who led fundraising when he campaigned for his first term in 2002, so far has collected $14,739 in cash and other contributions. His campaign has spent $13,630.

The Mathena campaign has corralled 49 contributions -- five of $500 or more. The retired title specialist has drawn donations from retirees, business professionals, a smattering of merchants and a few former government officials, such as McGeorge and former Redding Mayor Bob Anderson.

Jones, running for the third time since 2002, is starting to attract more money. His campaign had raised $9,535 as of Sept. 30, compared with $1,920 at the same point in 2004.

Jones has collected 21 cash contributions, including five of $500 or more. The small-business manager has landed a $1,000 contribution from Seco Manufacturing owner Paul Ogden and a $50 check from former Shasta County Sheriff Jim Pope.

Reporter Scott Mobley can be reached at 225-8220 or at smobley@redding.com