Council candidates forego campaign funding

Three candidates for Sisters City Council - Sharlene Weed, Wendy Holzman and Jacki Shepardson - are pledging to keep their campaign expenditures to a minimum and they don't want any campaign contributions.

Instead, they are asking for those who support them to make a donation to the Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank "in honor" of their campaigns.

The candidates, while aligned in their views, say they are not running as a slate.

At a campaign kickoff party at Angeline's Bakery & Café on Friday, Weed and Holzman said they would keep their campaign expenditures below the $350 limit beyond which they must report to the Oregon Secretary of State. The move is in reaction to an unprecedented level of spending in the 2008 city council campaign, in which the political action committee Citizens for Sisters raised over $11,000 in support of a slate consisting of Lon Kellstrom, Pat Thompson and Jerry Bogart.

A countering PAC, Friends of Sisters, raised almost $3,000 in support of then-mayor Brad Boyd and candidate Wendy Holzman.

The Kellstrom/ Thomp-son/Bogart slate prevailed. Kellstrom was named mayor and the three councilors have consistently voted as a bloc. The bloc on the council has been characterized by a strong emphasis on economic development, seeking to create an economic development manager position in Sisters and attract businesses that could provide "family-wage" jobs.

Weed has consistently raised concerns about what she perceives as lack of transparency and openness on the part of Mayor Kellstrom and his allies on the council. She believes the council has avoided or disregarded public opinion on important issues. She and her allies argue that economic development should be focused on preserving and enhancing the viability of the downtown core.

Bogart is seeking reelection after the expiration of his two-year term. He is one of two current council candidates listed as members of a reactivated Citizens for Sisters PAC. The other candidate is Virginia Lindsey.

Bogart said he plans to continue to raise funds through Citizens for Sisters.

"The only way I know to get someone's name out there is through advertising and signs," he said. "When it gets down to the issues, that's what people are going to believe about us - what we stand for."

The PAC has currently raised $350 - $250 from out-of-state contributor Gary T. Baker and $100 in miscellaneous contributions.

Bogart said he hadn't set any specific fundraising goals.

"I don't know if we have a goal," he said. "I think we need between $5,000 and $8,000."

David Asson was listed as PAC treasurer last week, but he told The Nugget on Sunday that he had decided to run independent of Citizens for Sisters. (See a profile of Asson on page 1.)

"I have opted out of the PAC," he said. "As of Friday at 4:30 p.m. I wrote a letter to the PAC... opting out of the PAC and I'm going to run independently."

Asson said running on his own will allow him a "more flexible way to present my ideas," some of which, he said, are similar to those supported by Citizens for Sisters.

"There's a feeling that's continuing on (from 2008) with that PAC, that is lingering on, that I want to be independent of," Asson said. "I don't think they did anything improper - I just want to do it my way."

Bogart said he was not concerned about Asson's departure from the PAC.

"I hope David gets on no matter what," he said. "I think he'll be great for the council. I wish he'd stayed with the PAC, but I respect his decision. If he can get it done on his own, that's great."

Virginia Lindsey was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Both Holzman and Weed said they were alarmed by the level of spending in the 2008 campaign and the implication that anyone who wanted to run for election would have to raise significant funds to be viable.

"That bothers me that that's the way it has to be now in Sisters," Holzman told The Nugget. "I'm hoping not."

Asked if the request for food bank donations amounted to a political stunt, Weed bristled.

"I never thought of it that way," she said.

Weed said the idea of spending heavily on yard signs and the like for a campaign when people in Sisters are feeling the pinch of economic hard times is abhorrent to her.

"It made me sick to my stomach, to be honest," she said. "I couldn't do it. Is it politically a good move? I hope so."

Asked whether he feels pressure from the other candidates' pledge, Asson said, "I don't feel any pressure... I think it's an idealistic point of view. We're a small town, but after four years, I may know only 200 people. I don't think the approach is practical for someone of my visibility."

Asson is starting his own election committee.

"I will be spending more than $350, so I need my own committee, but it will be just myself," he said. "I probably won't spend the same as the PAC would allow me to do. I don't think I need to spend that much money. I want to use my little bit of funds to say what I want to do (and) work for."

Both Holzman and Weed (Shepardson did not attend Friday's event) acknowledged that they might be handicapping themselves by abjuring traditional means of campaigning.

"I'm hoping the citizens of Sisters are ready to go in a new direction," Holzman said.

Weed reported on Monday that attendees at her campaign event contributed $490 to the food bank.