Schools

Wachtel Outspends Rivals 3-to-1 in School Board Race

Two of the three candidates weren't required to file campaign finance reports because they hadn't raised or spent $1,000.

The vying for two seats on the board in the Nov. 8 election have gone about raising and spending money in decidedly different ways.

While longtime local education advocate Leslie Wachtel has run a traditional campaign, raising nearly $7,400 over the past three months from a broad range of individual donors, neither former Mill Valley Mayor Clifford Waldeck nor longtime Mill Valley teacher Bob Jacobs raised or spent $1,000 and therefore did not have to file financial reports with the Marin County Registrar of Voters.

According to campaign finance reports filed (attached at right) late last week, Wachtel raised $7,400 through Oct. 25, with approximately $5,800 of that money coming in September, primarily from individuals who contributed in amounts smaller than $100.

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Wachtel spent that money on photo and printing services, while the bulk of her $3,100 in expenditures went to Indie Politics, Dan Mullen’s political consulting firm in Novato. Evidence of Wachtel’s organization has been evident from the outset, as she racked up dozens of individual endorsements. Mill Valley City Councilman Andy Berman and his wife Sabra are hosting an open house for Wachtel and Waldeck at their home Wednesday evening.

Waldeck has taken a less traditional approach but has tried to match Wachtel’s seemingly ubiquitous campaign sign distribution. Waldeck said his campaign has been largely self-funded, though a half-dozen individuals contributed as well.

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Waldeck’s expenses consisted of $125 to for “Mill Valley School Board” decals that allowed him to reuse signs from his 1995 Mill Valley City Council and 2004 Marin County Board of Supervisor campaigns. Those signs were designed by Jim Rivaldo, the late San Francisco political consultant who worked closely with the famed Supervisor Harvey Milk and was depicted in the film Milk, which came out a year after Rivaldo’s death.

Waldeck, who spent $225 on “Waldeck for Mill Valley School Board" pencils, also credits fellow parent Elise Paisley for designing his website and running his email marketing efforts.

For Jacobs, his campaign was entirely self-funded, and he spent nearly all of his $955 in expenses on campaign signs and postage for a mailer that went to district residents.

 


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