HOW much are candidates willing to pay to represent you on council on the North Shore? About $335,500, if the 2011 municipal election is the standard.
That's roughly how much the 51 candidates running for mayor and council in the District of West Vancouver, District of North Vancouver and City of North Vancouver spent, according to campaign finance disclosure statements. The amount is just slightly more than the 2008 election's $333,187.
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto led all candidates in both fundraising and spending in the North Shore's 2011 municipal elections.
Mussatto spent $51,686.43, after pulling the majority of his sizable donations from unions, developers and North Shore businesses including CUPE B.C., RPMG Holdings, and Seaspan.
By contrast, Mussatto's three rivals spent a combined $2,339.37
Craig Keating spent the most among city council candidates at $15,438, drawing donations from many of the same businesses and unions as Mussatto. The candidate who spent the least on a winning campaign was Rod Clark, whose $6,208 campaign was mostly financed by himself and a few individual donors.
The city's mayor and council spent a combined $166,826. One candidate, Yashar Khalighi, had not yet filed campaign finance documents by the March 19 deadline.
In the District of North Van, Coun. Alan Nixon spent $24,767 - almost a quarter of all the money spent in the entire council race. Nixon only raised $6,392 from individual donors and corporations, meaning the rest came out of his own pocket. Nixon won the last seat on council by just 550 votes.
Mayor Richard Walton spent slightly more than $6,000 in his campaign, financing about onethird of his campaign himself. Former West Vancouver mayor Mark Sager contributed $1,500 to Walton's campaign. Sager donated to a number of campaigns in the districts of North and West Vancouver.
In West Vancouver, Coun. Mary-Ann Booth topped the 11 other candidates in spending with $15,230.63, financed mostly by Booth and West Van real estate lawyer John Sampson.
By contrast, Coun. Bill Soprovich, who won more votes than any other West Van councillor, spent only $1,166.52.
Council candidates in West Vancouver spent a total of $65,560, down considerably from 2008's $145,000campaign. Mayor Michael Smith, who ran unopposed and won by acclamation, took no donations and spent nothing on his campaign.
Most campaign dollars were spent on advertising, signs, flyers and postage for mail-outs.
Financial disclosure documents are available for download on each local government's website.
