04172015 - News Article - Portage Mayor Snyder tops fundraising in race for City Hall

Portage Mayor Snyder tops fundraising 
in race for City Hall
NWI Times
April 17, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/portage-mayor-snyder-tops-fundraising-in-race-for-city-hall/article_fc462b7d-44e1-51d2-8aaa-cf9a64555ea9.html

VALPARAISO | Portage Mayor James Snyder has no primary election opponent, but the first-term Republican has already raised $37,285 this year, according to campaign finance reports due Friday.

This compares to $27,920 raised by Brendan Clancy and $7,211 raised by Leo Hatch, who are seeking the Democratic mayoral nomination and the chance to unseat Snyder.

As was the case when Snyder filed his 2014 year-end financial report, he used some of the funds ($5,200) to pay rent for a campaign office at his business, SRC, at 3173 Willowcreek Road; paid his wife, Deborah, $2,844 for consulting work; and paid himself $1,629 for various reimbursements, according to his report. Another $395 was spent on babysitting and Snyder's campaign owes $2,953 in outstanding debt, primarily to himself.

Snyder's campaign treasurer Kenard Taylor, of Valparaiso, said the money paid to SRC was to cover various campaign-related costs.

Snyder's wife was compensated for event planning and coordination, volunteer coordination, maintaining a contact list and handling mailings, Taylor said.

Only one of the 10 individuals contributing a total of $8,120 to Snyder's campaign is from the city, according to his report.

"Most of the people who have given us money at this point in the campaign are people who have been supporters for several years and knew we would need additional help this year and stepped up early in our campaign," Taylor said. "Also while many of them have out of town addresses they have business connections in Portage. We will have local fundraisers as soon as the primary is over."

Clancy reported that $2,510 of the $6,432 he collected from individual donors came from outside the city.

He said this percentage reflects the local flavor of his campaign, with much of the balance coming from family and friends outside the city.

Clancy paid $433 to his business, Clancy's of Portage, to cover food costs for a volunteer envelope-stuffing gathering, he said. He said he has not paid any rent costs to his business because he has not really used the site for much other campaigning yet.

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, who is unopposed in the primary and thus far for the general election, posted contributions since the first of the year of $18,550.

Portage Clerk-Treasurer Christopher Stidham has raised $6,845 this year to fend off a Democrat primary challenge from former Clerk-Treasurer Donna Pappas, whose only contribution was a $3,000 loan from herself, according to finance reports.

Stidham loaned $2,295 of his own money to his campaign.