Americana at Brand -- Dave Weaver's $17,500 patron
If you're into following the money, the latest round of Form 460 campaign disclosure statments covering March 18 - June 30 have hit the Web, at least in Glendale.
(In case you're wondering, the Burbank forms were not too exciting...check this space -- the City Clerk may have it up soon.)
According to latest campaign finance disclosures due last week, Rafi Manoukian, the incumbent councilman who lost despite spending nearly $222,000, was the top fundraiser in the April council election with $150,382 from the first half of 2007.
First-place finisher John Drayman collected $73,740, while reelected Councilman Dave Weaver received $68,771.
In comparison, Gray Bric, who won a seat on the Burbank City Council in earlier this year and was the race’s top fundraiser, received just over $21,000 in contributions in the same period. Burbank has a $250 per donor contribution limit, unlike Glendale, where the sky's the limit.
But Bric and candidate-turn-Councilwoman Anja Reinke, who raised nearly $13,000, both enjoyed support from an independent political committee. Working Californians, spent more than $18,000 campaigning for Bric and about $5,000 for Reinke.
Among the biggest donors in the Glendale race — Weaver received a total $17,500 from developer Rick Caruso’s Americana at Brand LLC, the company behind its namesake downtown retail and residential project.
The Glendale Management Association — a City Hall union — gave Manoukian $11,000.
CREPAC/BORPAC, the political arm of the California Association of Realtors, gave $4,000 to both Weaver and Drayman. Local contractor Alen Builders Inc. also gave Drayman $5,000.