The primary election on May 17th was a low turnout event as was expected. Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez defeated Danny Savage for the Democratic party nomination for the 7th District City Council seat. Congratulations to them both for a hard fought contest.
I was curious about who was supporting which candidate. Sanchez raised over twice as much money as Savage did, so I took at look at the contribution reports. Both candidates got a lot of money from other politicians, businesses, unions, lawyers, PACs and such. There were also many small donors in the hundred dollar range.
There was only one surprise and I found it on the Sanchez contribution list. The 8th largest contributor gave $5,200 on April 4th. This contributor, COSAN LLC is the owner of the property where the Bridge has proposed to relocate on Adams Avenue.
A zoning variance is required before that can happen since the property is now zoned G2 heavy industrial. At present the Northwood and Juniata Civics have both indicated that they would write a letter of support to the zoning board for the change (past coverage here). Tony Payton, State Representative has also indicated support. Councilwoman Sanchez at last hearing said she was undecided.
Jason Dawkins Says:
April 14th, 2011 at 12:04 pm edit
Bob, Councilwoman Sánchez did not express any decision on the Bridge. She stated before that she was going wait until all community members voted, before making any public decision.
There is nothing wrong with giving to the candidates. Many of the donors gave to both candidates, I guess to cover all the bases. Many of the donors gave to other candidates for other offices in the election. The donors make their donations for various reasons. See the Inquirer story from Sunday about the donations from the soft drink folks.
Thanks to a commenter, I have another surprise. I did not know Terrence McSherry but he is the CEO of NET (Northeast Treatment Centers). He donated $100 to the Savage campaign and $100 to Sanchez. Thanks Kathleen. If anybody finds anything else, let me know.
Elections cost a lot of money. Money has to be raised and there is nothing inappropriate in taking any donation you can get. That is a fact of life. It’s politics.
You can see what the donations for Sanchez and Savage look like below. If nothing else, it’s interesting. Thanks to the Committee of Seventy for help in finding the information.
Sanchez donations here.
Savage donations here.
From the Northwood Civic Association:
