Records show disparity in election fundraising

Less than a week before the Nov. 8 election, official campaign finance records have been released for Columbia’s two dueling organizations, Columbia on the Move, a committee appointed by Mayor Darwin Hindman to promote six ballot initiatives, and Citizens for Timely and Responsible Road and Infrastructure, which is opposed to Propositions 4 and 5.

Columbia on the Move raised $13,985, roughly half of which came from developers, construction companies and banks, while TARRIF raised $3,786, most from its members.

TARRIF member Traci Wilson-Kleekamp said she was not surprised by the campaign finance numbers.

“It should send the message to the voters that these folks have a lot to gain with the passage of these issues,” TARRIF member Ben Londeree said.

Proposition 4 would generate an estimated $35 million by extending an existing quarter-cent capital improvements sales tax for seven years. Proposition 5 would increase the sales tax for streets and sidewalks by an eighth of a cent, generating about $25 million over 10 years.

The city believes it has done well in drafting the measures, though TARRIF members said the plan places too much of a burden on taxpayers for road construction. Columbia on the Move co-chairman Dale Whitman cautioned against raising development fees.

“I think that it is politically unrealistic,” Whitman said. “If it was raised as high as (TARRIF) wants it, we’d have a real battle on our hands.”

Whitman rejected the idea that the large monetary support behind Columbia on the Move from developers and contractors lends credence to TARRIF’s argument.

“They see the need for better streets,” Whitman said, “It makes their projects more marketable.”

Columbia on the Move met Monday night to discuss its strategy to push ballot issues and the ways that the money might be used. The committee expressed significant success in promoting the ballot issues among local business and organizations, but felt the general public still remained largely in the dark. Co-chairwoman Pat Hostetler outlined an aggressive campaign strategy involving mass e-mails, letters to newspapers and flyers. She said both the Columbia Daily Tribune and the Columbia Missourian will carry opinion pieces from the committee.

Of the $13,498 in contributions, Columbia on the Move spent $2,000 for advertising in the Tribune, including a full-page ad for the Nov. 7 edition. The organization will spend an additional $4,000 for radio spot ads with Cumulus Broadcasting, which owns KSSZ/93.9 FM and KFRU/1400 AM. Whitman and other members have already appeared on local radio shows, and Whitman will push the ballot issues on the Amy Miller Show on 93.9 FM tonight.

Wilson-Kleekamp likened the fight between the two groups to the one between David and Goliath.

“I think the money can be a distraction. The city still must answer who will pay and now much,” Wilson-Kleekamp said.