Some campaign finance committees closed, candidate election expenses revealed for 2012

A glimpse into Yorba Linda's current political scene is provided by the dozens of pages of campaign finance reports filed by candidates and committees to meet a Jan. 31 deadline.

In the month's final days, Mayor Tom Lindsey, City Council members John Anderson and Mark Schwing and former member Jan Horton closed committees they had used to raise funds for election campaigns.

The closures don't necessarily mean the four aren't considering future runs for office, but the usual practice is for committees to remain operating to collect cash for upcoming campaigns.

And the closings do mean they've “forgiven” some of the loans they made to their own committees, loans they once hoped would be repaid by future contributions from other donors, often a sign politicians are winding down affairs.

Anderson was able to repay himself $11,249 in self-made loans from donations, leaving him with $2,250 in forgiven debt, while Horton, his political adversary, left $17,300 in loans and a $349 balance on the books.

Schwing closed his 2008 committee, forgiving $14,000 in self-made loans, but left his 2012 committee, with a $17,011 debt, intact. The Lindsey committee had no debt when closed. A state regulation implemented Feb. 1 applies a $50 annual fee on open committees.

Council members are notoriously shy about too-early electoral announcements, and Lindsey says he hasn't decided on a 2014 run for a second term, labeling it “a tough personal issue.” Anderson and Schwing are each eligible for another term under the city's three-term limit law.

The reports also show the 2012 campaign was the most expensive council race in city history, with expenditures by and for the top five candidates totaling $264,315.

Biggest spender in the election was the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, which paid out $78,839 in support of Ken Peterson, Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing. The business-oriented Orange County Jobs Coalition spent $21,047 supporting Gene Hernandez.

Expenditures by candidates and the apportioned expenses by four independent committees were $73,723 for Hernandez; $52,611 for Peterson; $49,952 for Rikel; $49,554 for Schwing; and $35,759 for Craig Young.

The per-vote spending for winners Hernandez, Schwing and Young was $5.40, $3.22 and $2.42, respectively, and $5.39 and $3.66 for runners-up Peterson and Rikel.