Mark D. Melville, a deputy in the Sheriff's Office since 2008, has been running since August 2017 and has raised $38,427 in campaign funds as of May 19, according to reports filed with the county.
By contrast, Carlos G. Bolanos, the current sheriff who was appointed to the post in 2016, raised more than that in the first two months of his 31-month campaign. He registered as a candidate in October 2015 and began the 2016 calendar year with $39,099 in contributions.
Including the $83,568 raised in donations listed in his latest finance report covering April 22 through May 19, Bolanos has raised $402,892 in total.
The reports show that 108 employees of the Sheriff's Office, including captains, lieutenants, sergeants, deputies and corrections officers, gave Bolanos $38,307, or 9.5 percent of his total fundraising.
Bolanos was undersheriff under Greg Munks, who took early retirement mid-term. He was appointed sheriff by the county Board of Supervisors in July 2016 on a 3-2 vote — a controversial action that did not include an application period to allow other interested candidates to seek appointment and that gave Bolanos an incumbent's advantage.
The third person in the race this time around is write-in candidate Heinz Puschendorf, also a deputy and listed on the Sheriff's Office roster as a disabled employee.
Puschendorf announced his candidacy in late April and filed a form with the Elections Office on May 21 indicating that he doesn't expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 on his campaign during 2018.
Who gave to whom
The list of donors of $1,000 to the Bolanos campaign includes 27 people who listed their communities of residence as Woodside, Portola Valley, Menlo Park or Atherton.
The major donors from Woodside are Scott Bohannon, Ana Carney, Lloyd Carney, Toni Cupal, Farah Klein, Jason Klein and James Wickett, the report says.
Major donors from Portola Valley are James Kohlberg, Suzanne Kohlberg, Chong-Moon Lee, Reiko-Takahashi Lee and Imad Scott Kamran (who gave $999), the report says.
Major donors from Menlo Park are Emma Fuller, Kirsten Fuller, Maxym Polyakov, Dale Fuller, Jennifer Fuller and Brenda Lane Munks. Laura Thiele-Sardina and Roy Thiele-Sardina were listed for nonmonetary contributions of $1,000 each in connection with a fundraising event.
Major donors from Atherton are Mario Rosati, Scott Carter, Michael Cyrus, Glenn Nielsen, Gail Teymourian, Nariman Teymourian and Ben Bisconti (who gave $999), according to the finance reports.
Finance reports for the Melville campaign show five people giving his campaign $1,000 each.
Go to AlmanacNews.com for a revised version of this story that includes a complete listing of $1,000 donors.
This story contains 471 words.
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