A local union is spending big to oust Menlo Park City Council candidates Lee Duboc and Mickie Winkler, as the two candidates and their ally, John Boyle, cumulatively received another $9,000 from developers, real estate interests and a retired auto dealership president.
The San Mateo Central Labor Council has poured $22,180 into the council election as of Nov. 3, according to independent expenditure reports filed Nov. 3 with the Secretary of State’s office.
Of those costs, $13,382 has gone toward ousting incumbents Duboc and Winkler, and $8,298 has been spent campaigning in favor of candidates Richard Cline and Heyward Robinson, according to the reports.
The labor council has paid for three fliers that denounce incumbents Duboc and Winkler for supporting the privatization of city services. Two of the fliers also endorses candidates Cline and Robinson.
Developer contributions
Candidates Boyle, Duboc and Winkler each took in another $3,000 in donations since Oct. 30, according to late campaign finance reports.The three candidates each received three donations of $1,000 — one from the Redwood City-based DES Architects and Engineers, and another from the Palo Alto-based real estate company Menlo Business Park LLC, according to the reports.
The third listed donation is from Bernard Magnussen of Palo Alto, the former president of the Magnussen Buick Pontiac GMC auto dealership.
The three candidates are running as a slate, and have now raised about $87,500, combined, from Jan. 1 to the Almanac’s press deadline on Nov. 6, according to the reports.
All six candidates also reported accepting a $2,000 donation from developer David Bohannon. Mr. Bohannon’s company, the David D. Bohannon Organization, reported Oct. 27 giving $2,000 to each of the six candidate campaigns, and, according to the reports, none of the candidates turned down the offer.
Menlo Park on Track, a political action committee that has campaigned in behalf of candidates Vincent Bressler, Cline and Robinson, received a contribution of $1,050 from its own treasurer, former council candidate David Speer.
The group paid for a flier recently mailed to residents that says incumbents Duboc and Winkler “did nothing to save” the Park Theatre.
Candidate Robinson leads the other three candidates in monetary donations, with $22,400, followed by Mr. Cline with $13,885 and Mr. Bressler with $10,919.
Mr. Bressler has also loaned another $2,000 to his own campaign.
