By Dominic Abassi

Spending varied widely among top vote-getters in Nanaimo civic election

Feb 6, 2019 | 10:00 AM

NANAIMO — A seasoned political veteran raised and spent big bucks leading up to last October’s civic election in Nanaimo, while an incumbent councillor’s campaign was as grassroots as it gets.

Mayor Leonard Krog raised nearly $53,000 to support his campaign, according to financial disclosure documents released by Elections BC Tuesday. The longtime MLA spent all but roughly $9,000 of that on typical election items, the most expensive being signs.

Krog’s campaign was propped up by 113 individual donations, with 22 of them being at or near the total allowable limit of $1,200.

Several notable local and Lower Mainland developers are on the list, including a maximum donation from Andre Molnar of the Vancouver-based Molnar Group. The company intends to build up to 160 strata units on the site of the old Nanaimo Hospital. The project requires rezoning and re-designation of the land, both of which will eventually come to the Council table for approval.

Krog also received $1,200 from Arnold Silber, the president of Vancouver-based Value Property Group, a privately owned real estate holding group which is “actively involved in the acquisition, development and management of commercial properties,” according to its website.

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Greg Constable, president of Island West Coast Developments, supported Krog’s campaign to the tune of $1,000. Constable also donated another nearly $3,000, spread out among other council and mayoral candidates.

Former MP Sheila Malcolmson, who took over Krog’s vacated MLA seat, donated $600.

David Marshall and Stew Vinnels, the two men leading the longstanding effort to start a passenger ferry between Nanaimo and Vancouver, also gave Krog a nearly $1,000 donation combined.

Krog’s main competition in the mayoral race, Don Hubbard, spent a little more than $40,000 on his campaign, but was dominated at the polls, with Krog garnering 73 per cent of the votes.

On the other end of the spectrum, incumbent coun. Sheryl Armstrong self-funded her modest $557 campaign. Despite claiming no money spent on advertising in her disclosure forms, Armstrong finished second in voting among councillors with nearly 16,000 people marking her name on the ballot.

The top vote-getter, coun. Erin Hemmens, spent the most among successful council candidates at over $11,000. Her largest individual donor was Dennis McMahon, who in 2016 presented to Council, calling for the City to create an arts centre for local artists to display their work.

Although new Elections BC rules banned corporate and union donations for the 2018 election, that did not stop the president of Nanaimo’s firefighters union from funneling nearly $5,000 of his own money into the campaign.

Chad Porter donated $1,200 to Krog, as well as seven contributions of $500 each to Hemmens, coun. Ian Thorpe, coun. Ben Geselbracht, coun. Don Bonner, coun. Tyler Brown, and unsuccessful candidates Jeet Manhas and Wendy Pratt.

Financial disclosure documents of Nanaimo’s elected Council:

Leonard Krog

Erin Hemmens

Sheryl Armstrong

Don Bonner

Ben Geselbracht

Tyler Brown

Zeni Maartman

Ian Thorpe

Jim Turley

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi