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Rowe campaign spending dwarfed Senger’s

Gibsons election expenses

Incumbent Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe spent four times as much as challenger Suzanne Senger in last November’s municipal election, according to campaign finance disclosure statements released this week.

Rowe, who was running for his second term as mayor, spent almost $28,000 in the campaign, receiving $20,100 in contributions from corporations, $4,930 from individuals and $1,887 from unincorporated business/commercial organizations.

Senger, in her first election contest, spent $7,040, although total contributions to her campaign exceeded $8,000, with $6,953 contributed by individuals, $925 by corporations and $158 by anonymous donors.

Despite the gap between the two candidates’ spending, Senger declared $993 as surplus, reimbursing herself for $500 she had contributed to the campaign and claiming the remaining $493 as allowed under Elections BC rules if the net surplus is less than $500.

Rowe’s largest contributors were Coastal Craft Welded Aluminum Boats Ltd. ($5,000), Gibsons Park Plaza owners Wesbild Holdings Ltd. ($4,200), The Coast Group Chartered Accountants ($1,887), Harnick Holdings Ltd. ($1,500) and Gibsons Building Supplies Ltd. ($1,500).

The largest contributions to Senger’s campaign were $1,250 from Roger Swickis, who withdrew from the mayoral race to back Senger, and a total of $1,250 from resident Dorothy Riddle.

Among the elected council candidates, Silas White’s total expenditures were the highest, at $13,244, but more than $2,000 of that amount was unspent in the campaign. After reimbursing himself for $500 he had contributed, White paid the remaining surplus of $1,717 to the Town, which holds the funds until the next election, corporate officer Selina Williams said Wednesday. The funds will be returned to White if he runs again in the municipality or transferred into general revenues if he doesn’t, Williams said.

White’s campaign received $7,560 from individuals and $1,300 from corporations. The three largest individual donations, worth $1,000 each, came from parents Mary and Howard White, Amadeu and Debbie Amaral, and Jaret Thompson.

Also elected to council, Stafford Lumley spent $5,710 (receiving $2,840 from individuals and $1,300 from corporations), incumbent Charlene SanJenko spent $5,374 including a $90 surplus (receiving $2,914 from individuals and $1,800 from corporations, with $1,000 of that amount from Coastal Craft) and Jeremy Valeriote spent just over $4,000 including a $362 surplus (receiving $1,474 from individuals and $1,900 from corporations).

Among the defeated council candidates, former mayor Barry Janyk was the biggest spender, shelling out $8,269. Janyk received virtually all of his campaign funds from individuals and none from corporations. His largest contributors were Joanne Pulis ($2,300), Patricia Baldwin ($2,000) and Renay Daniels ($1,089).

Katie Janyk spent $5,817 including a $346 surplus. She received $4,362 from individuals, including her own contribution of $1,000, and $733 from corporations.

Defeated incumbent Lee Ann Johnson spent $4,821 including a $337 surplus (receiving $2,455 from individuals and $900 from corporations) and incumbent Dan Bouman spent $4,296 (receiving $3,334 from individuals and $233 from corporations).

Third-party sponsors included Art Olsen, who spent $2,584 in support of Rowe, Lumley, SanJenko, Valeriote and White, with the bulk of the funds contributed by individuals, and Jeff Rhodes of the Alliance of Gibsons Businesses, who spent $1,255 endorsing the same slate.

Opposing Rowe’s leadership and the most recent George Hotel proposal, Brad Benson spent $1,763 on third-party advertising, with the funds contributed by Danny Crosby ($1,200) and Janet Webb ($563).

Benson also registered the Gibsons Alliance of Business and Community as a third-party sponsor, but no spending was declared in the group’s disclosure statement.

Third-party sponsors that spent less than $500 were Gibsons Gold, Klaus Fuerniss Enterprises Inc., Young Voters Sunshine Coast and resident Graham Walker.