Features

In last November’s battle of Berkeley mayors, incumbent Tom Bates outspent former Mayor Shirley Dean more than 2 to 1 to win re-election to the post he had won from Dean six years earlier. 

Overall, Bates raised nearly 2.4 times as much cash as his challenger, but when it came to financial largess from people with an interest in getting things built, the mayor out-raised his opponent by 18 to 1. 

Bates raised $85,198.75 for the November election, spending $81,994.02 of it on the campaign in which he won with 34,208 votes—which works out to $2.37 a vote. 

Dean raised $36,186.99, spending all of it in a campaign which netted her 20,188 votes—or $1.79 a vote. 

Write-in candidates, including Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Zachary RunningWolf, received 1,774 votes. Neither of them had a financial statement. 

The mayor, clearly the favorite of development and property interests, maintained a solid lead in the final reports, filed last month with the city clerk’s office. 

Among the contributors listed in his final report, Bates lists an additional $4,750 in contributions from the development and land use interests sector, bringing his total identifiable contributions from the sector to at least $19,000, or 23 percent of his total campaign war chest. 

Donations in the final report included: 

• Fourth Street developer Denny Abrams, $250. 

• Bricklayers and Allied Craftsworkers Local No. 3 PAC, $150. 

• California Real Estate PAC, $200. 

• Architect Burton Edwards, $100. 

• Teamsters Union DRIVE Committee, $250. 

• John Stewart Company president Jack Gardner, $250. 

• Doug Herst, West Berkeley developer, $250. 

• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades PAC, $250. 

• Developer and architect Lyman Jee, $100. 

• Real estate investor Tony Kershaw, $250. 

• Contractor Young Kim, Arenbest Construction, $250. 

• Evan McDonald, developer, $250. 

• Michael McDowell, contractor, $250. 

• Soheyl Modaressi, developer, $250. 

• Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, $250. 

• Thomas Olson, attorney specializing in real estate and property law, $50. 

• Mark Polite, Seagate Properties, $250. 

• Stephen Portis, investment banker and funder of the city’s solar loans program, $250. 

• Bruce Riordan, transportation consultant whose clients include BART and the Association of Bay Area Governments, $100. 

• Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 PAC, $250. 

• Barclay Simpson, building hardware manufacturer and funder of UC Berkeley developments, $250. 

• Contractor Karen Springer, $100. 

• Sprinkler Fitters and Apprentices Local 483 PAC, $250. 

• Teamsters Local 853 PAC, $200. 

• Teamsters Joint Council No. 7, $250. 

• Developer David Teece, funder of major Berkeley projects for Patrick Kennedy and Hudson McDonald, $250. 

• Glenn Yasuda, Berkeley Bowl owner and developer of the new West Berkeley Bowl, $250. 

• Diane Yasuda, $250. 

Dean donors 

Former Mayor Dean’s final land use sector donations could be counted on the fingers of one hand. 

The $650 in donations, added to the $1,048 reported previously, yield a total of $1,698, or 4.7 percent of her final campaign contribution tally of $36,186.99. 

Unlike Bates, who ended the campaign with a surplus of $3,204.73, Dean spent every cent she raised. 

Her final report of land use sector donations include: 

• Northbrae property real estate broker Anita Thede, $50. 

• Real estate economist David Shiver, $250. 

• California Real Estate PAC, $200. 

• Real estate investor Richard Dishnica, $100. 

• Architect Edward Levitch, $20.