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The Art of Badassery
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For the past week.
Murder victim identified.
Arrest Log
Wisdom of the dojo.
Crime Watch
WEEKEND EDITION
Volume 21 Issue 235
08.20.22 - 08.21.22
Two council candidates off to a fast start for campaign cash EMILY SAWICKI SMDP Staff Writer
Although 13 Santa Monica City Council hopefuls and eight prospective Santa MonicaMalibu Unified School District Board of Education members have submitted paperwork to run in the November election, only five council and two school board candidates had launched their fundraising campaigns by the most recent campaign finance report deadline last month. Those candidates were city council incumbent Lana Negrete, first-time candidates Ellis Raskin, Caroline Torosis, Troy Harris and Jesse Zwick, and school board incumbents Laurie Lieberman and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein. The current data encompasses the period from Jan. 1, 2022, through July 15, 2022. WHO HAS RAISED THE MOST MONEY? Of the seven candidates who have submitted the Ellis Raskin first wave of campaign City council $4,120 finance information, a clear fundraising frontrunner has Caroline Torosis Troy Harris emerged: Caroline Torosis. City council City council $36,090 $6,857.15* From Jan. 1-July 15, TOROSIS FOR CIT Y COUNCIL 2022 raked in $36,090 from 162 donations. Lana Negrete The campaign has been City council supported by 132 unique $6,920 individual donors, plus two political campaigns. Laurie Lieberman The second-highest School board Richard Tahvildaran $24,400 campaign earner so far has Jesswein School board been incumbent school board $13,651 member Laurie Lieberman, whose campaign Re-Elect Jesse Zwick Laurie Lieberman for City council $19,793.25 Schoolboard 2022 has earned $24,400 from 78 individuals, *Troy Harris’ campaign reporting shows a discrepancy that may render this number unreliable plus two campaigns. The standing tallies for total fundraising are: Caroline Torosis - City council - $36,090 Laurie Lieberman - School board - $24,400 Jesse Zwick - City council - $19,793.25 Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein - School board - $13,651 Lana Negrete - City council - $6,920 Troy Harris - City council - $6,857.15* Ellis Raskin - City council - $4,120 *In Troy Harris’ campaign reporting personal loans are listed as donations. WHO IS GETTING THE LARGEST AVERAGE DONATIONS? While individual donations to city council candidates are capped at $410 per donor per candidate by the municipal code, those rules do not apply to what an individual can pledge
to a school board campaign, so it goes to show that the campaigns with the highest average donation per donor are Lieberman’s and Tahvildaran-Jesswein’s. Tahvildaran-Jesswein has received donations from 42 donors and one campaign, with an average donation amount of $317.47 — the highest per-donor average among the seven candidates who have reported data through mid-July. Four of his donors gave $1,000, including state Senator Ben Allen. Lieberman received eight donations of $1,000 each, earning an average donation amount of $305 per individual donor, including two donations totaling $2,000 from Allen, plus another $2,000 from Bloom for Supervisor 2022, the now-defunct campaign Assemblymember Richard Bloom ran to take over as LA County Third District Supervisor. The standing tallies for average donation total, largest to smallest, are: Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein - School board - $317.47 Laurie Lieberman - School board - $305 Caroline Torosis - City council - $269.33 Jesse Zwick - City council - $263.91 Ellis Raskin - City council - $257.50 Lana Negrete - City council - $256.30 WHO IS DONATING TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS? By far, the most common occupation listed among campaign donors was “retired,” with about 19% of donors listed as retirees — 64 total. Business-related occupations including small business owners, CEOs, vice presidents and accountants made up the next-mostcommon subset of occupations donating to campaigns in Santa Monica, with 38 business-related jobs listed among donors. The next most common occupation was law professionals, with 36 lawyers/attorneys donating from that category. Educators and education advocates made up 30 of the donors who gave to campaigns in the first part of the year, followed by health and wellness professionals, who numbered 24 among the roughly 342 total unique donors. In total, 78 donors listed themselves as public employees across various agencies, departments and levels of SEE CASH PAGE 7
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