Half Moon Bay voters will decide on new city leadership on Nov. 3, selecting from a wide-ranging ballot of eight candidates, who are trying to forge strong independent platforms for themselves. But separating from the pack and gaining community support can be expensive. This may be the most expensive City Council election on record.
“Things have never been as expensive as they are this time around,” said Councilwoman Naomi Patridge, the only incumbent running for another council term. “I just spent $3,000 on mailings … over the last four years everything’s gone up in cost.”
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But Patridge, a veteran city politician, is being eclipsed in new donations. Her strongest critics in the race, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Sofia Freer and former Mayor Deborah Ruddock, each have raised exactly $3,691. The two candidates share an aligned platform of strong environmental preservation and a near-identical list of donors, many of whom are located in other parts of the Bay Area.
“People inside and outside the community see this as a critical race,” Ruddock said. “There’s concern that the Beachwood issue might be used as a motivation to go overboard with development.”
The two women both have received endorsements from powerful local Democratic politicians including state Assemblyman Jerry Hill – the state lawmaker who worked with the City Council to try and find a legislative solution to the city’s $18 million Beachwood obligation. Freer and Ruddock also have support from San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon and outgoing Councilman Jim Grady.
“We have things in common with these legislators,” Freer said. “They believe in my message, and they believe in my ability.”
All candidates point to Beachwood and its ongoing cost to the city as the central issue of this election. Freer, Ruddock and Dan Handler, a candidate Freer and Ruddock are supporting, all criticize the current council’s handling of Beachwood. Patridge and candidate George Muteff both firmly state the City Council did the best job possible given a desperate situation. The other three candidates, Allan Alifano, Rick Kowalczyk and Charles Hoelzel, have avoided criticism of recent Beachwood decisions and instead propose ways to alleviate the debt going forward.
Alifano’s campaign has comparatively strong local funding — $2,000, all of it from Half Moon Bay support. But his funding comes entirely from two separate $1,000 donations from a married couple, according to mandatory campaign records.
Candidates estimate the full expense of a campaign to November could cost tens of thousands of dollars, in part due to higher postage rates and steeper prices for materials than previous years. For candidates, that makes asking for donations a necessary evil, and particularly difficult given the tough economic times.
Ambitious 25-year-old candidate Hoelzel has the least funding of candidates on the ticket, having reportedly accumulated just $645. But Hoelzel says he isn’t deterred by the lackluster donations; it just means he’ll have to find cheaper ways to do things.
“If it takes $30,000 to win an election … that may be one of the leading problems with our system,” he said. “I’m doing signs by hand, printing flyers myself. Ultimately what I’m doing with my own life will translate to how I’d serve the city.”
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