PLEASE CHECK OUT THE VIDEO TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN!

It has been 18 years and 143 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

On May 10, 2016 it will be 2 months since I announced my decision to run for the Yucca district city council position. I’ve already discussed some of the stark differences between Sammy and I and will continue to discuss them further up until the Primary Election on August 30, 2016.

All of Sammy’s campaign financial filings from the time he began to run for the Yucca council seat up until December of 2015 (the last required filing) have been reviewed. If you ever want to  check out for yourself what money a candidate has received and from whom, try this link: http://www.glendaleaz.com/Clerk/PoliticalCommitteeCampaignFinanceReports.cfm . If this doesn’t work for you, go to www.glendaleaz.com, click on City Clerk from the left sidebar, then Political Committees on the left sidebar, then Campaign Finance Reports at the top of the page. Every political committee registered in Glendale must periodically file finance reports with the City Clerk’s office and all filings are public records.

As of January 1, 2016 Sammy had $16,671.14 cash on hand. $16, 250.00 of that total came from 3 sources:

UFCW99 (United Food Workers)         12/23/2015        $6250.00   maximum amount allowed

Arizona Pipe Trades 469                        12/28/2015        $5000.00

Mark Becker (Becker Billboards)         12/04/15             $5000.00

During the same span of time ( approximately 4 years) Sammy received contributions from a total of 12 Glendale residents. Only 2  contributions came from anyone in the Yucca district. That’s it. Make no mistake he received a lot of money from special interests…the unions, political consultants, attorneys, etc. But the support he received from people in the district he purports to represent has been virtually non existent.

Two of the contributions Sammy received (non-Glendale residents) were note worthy: Jacob Long (of the Long Trust) contributed $930. You might remember that the Long Trust successfully gained very recent city council approval for a Long Trust project, Stonehaven, within the Yucca district. Stonehaven is  a 1,161 home residential development with 43% of the lot sizes at 5, 500 square feet.  Yucca district residents from adjacent neighborhoods had asked the city council to table the project to allow for further opportunity to dialogue about the 5,500 square foot lots. Such an opportunity was not granted. During the city council meeting after Stonehaven’s approval Sammy extolled the virtues of this residential project. Hmmm…

The other interesting contribution is from Sammy’s buddy, Ruben Gallego, for $300. This just happens to be the same Ruben Gallego Sammy went to D.C. to see sworn in…on the taxpayers’ dime. Hmmm….I’m not an expert in campaign finance but it might have been possible that Sammy could have used some of the $16,000 in his campaign account for this trip as it seems there was clearly a political agenda for his trip. Or perhaps he could use some of this money to reimburse the city.

In contrast I have been accepting campaign contributions for a scant 2 months, since March 10, 2016.

thermometer w new numbers Ap 20 2016

$6000 raised…on our way to the goal of $20,000

In that brief span of time I have received 38 contributions totaling a little over $6,000;  29 of those contributions came from residents of Glendale and what is even more gratifying is that out of those 29 Glendale residents, 20 of them are Yucca district residents. My support is coming from residents of the Yucca district. They urged me to run and now they are contributing to my campaign.

Could the simple difference in Sammy’s and my sources of campaign funding be that I have a connection with the people of the Yucca district and had, over the years, represented them…their concerns on issues…solved their problems with local government…and gave them their voice with the city. If you wish to know who Sammy represents, just check out his campaign reports and look for the biggest donors.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

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