Building Durango’s Future candidates raised nearly $10,000 more than the so-called “progressive” candidates, based on the most-recent campaign finance reports, but they still lost the Durango School District 9-R board election in a landslide.
Building Durango’s Future candidates, however, spent slightly less than the progressive candidates, based on the most-recent reports, which were filed Nov. 1 – one day before Election Day. It is possible the Building Durango’s Future candidates finished with large, unspent sums or went on a last-minute spending spree. The next and final filing date is set for Dec. 2 and should reveal more about how much was raised and spent in the final days.
Building Durango’s Future candidates included Kristina Paslay, who ran in District A; Richard “Dean” Hill, who ran in District C; and Donna Gulec, who ran in District E. Despite their efforts, none of them made a successful bid for election.
Collectively, the Building Durango’s Future candidates raised $24,387 in campaign contributions as of Nov. 1, according to the most-recent campaign finance reports submitted to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. By comparison, the three winning candidates, who did not run as a slate, raised $15,795 collectively as of Nov. 1.
Building Durango’s Future candidates ran as a bloc and were featured together on election mailers and signs, and they shared a website, www.buildingdurangosfuture.com.
In late October, Durango resident Harrison Wendt filed campaign finance complaints against each of the Building Durango’s Future candidates alleging they violated campaign finance law by failing to disclose expenditures in a timely fashion related to advertising materials.
Wendt said in his complaint that Gulec improperly gave non-monetary contributions to Hill and Paslay, who in turn failed to report those contributions.
The Secretary of State’s Office determined that if Wendt’s facts are accurate, they would be sufficient to demonstrate a violation of campaign finance laws. But the Secretary of State’s Office also found that one or more of the potential violations Wendt alleged could be rectified through a cure process – in other words, fixed in subsequent filings.
Paslay faced incumbent Erika Brown and candidate Catherine Mewmaw in the District A race.
Brown, who ultimately won with 65% of the vote, raised $8,255 in contributions, while Paslay raised $6,840 in contributions plus another $137.22 in non-monetary contributions, as of the Nov. 1 filing date.
Paslay filed a major contributor report that reveals $2,000 of her contributions were given by Rick Carlton of Nashville, Tennessee, who according to the report is associated with Glacier Development, a real estate corporation based in Durango that develops real estate and subdivisions.
Carlton purchased The Glacier Club in 2001, according to the property’s website.
Carlton also contributed $2,000 to both Gulec’s and Hill’s campaigns.
Brown spent $5,740 and was left with a balance of $2,515, and Paslay spent $2,637 and still has $4,202.68 in unspent contributions as of Nov 1.
Mewmaw was by far the least-funded candidate. Her campaign accepted one non-monetary contribution of $263, which the filing states was paid out-of-pocket by Mewmaw for signs.
A complaint was filed against Mewmaw alleging she failed to disclose campaign contributions or expenditures on signs and a campaign website. The status of the complaint is unclear; the complaint has been removed from the complaints section on the Secretary of State’s website for tracking campaign finances, but a copy of the complaint remains on the candidate’s page.
Hill ran against Richard Petersen in the race for District C. Hill collected the most contributions of any individual candidate with a total of $8,466. Petersen, who won with 68% of the vote, collected $4,550 in contributions, in addition to a $1,000 loan, which he paid back as of the Nov. 1 filing.
According to records filed by Nov. 1, Hill ultimately spent $4,979 and wound up with an ending balance of $3,487. Petersen spent $3,075 and ended up with $1,475 in leftover funds.
Gulec raised $8,393 in contributions plus non-monetary contributions totaling $375.71 as of the Nov. 1 filing. Andrea Parmenter, who served on the board before moving into a different district, beat Gulec with 69.9% of the vote, raised $2,990 and spent $2,951, leaving only $39 as of Nov. 1.
The Secretary of State Office’s campaign finance records up to Nov. 1 indicate that Gulec spent $3,330 and ended up with $5,064 in unspent contributions.
The final campaign period runs from Oct. 28 through Nov. 30, which will likely capture last-minute expenditures by the candidates.
cburney@durangoherald.com
