Tom Cline has garnered the most cash for his Gilroy City Council bid among the six candidates, campaign finance documents show.
Cline, the owner of Cline Glass Contractors and a Gilroy Garlic Festival board member, has raised $27,345 since March, according to forms filed with the City Clerk’s office on Sept. 29. That number also includes $4,500 he loaned to his campaign.
The Form 460 filings—which are required by the California Fair Political Practices Commission—list individual contributions and expenses.
According to the most recent forms available, incumbent Dion Bracco raised $24,799, $15,000 of which came from a loan from himself on Sept. 2. Appointed incumbent Carol Marques garnered $18,142, while Jan Bernstein Chargin raised $4,830, Ronald Robinson Jr. received $1,760.66 and Joseph Robinson $1,150.
Documents show that Cline got at least a month head start in fundraising compared to the other candidates.
Among the contributions, the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors donated $750 to Cline’s campaign, which is the maximum amount an individual donor can give to a candidate, according to Gilroy City Code. Also chipping in $750 were business owners Ryan Dinsmore, John McCranie and Greg Bozzo.
Cline also received $500 from the Gilroy Police Officers Association and Jeff Speno, the president of Mission Valley Ford who also serves with Cline on the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association.
He also got a combined $1,000 from Tim and Andrea Fortino, as well as retirees Paul and Eileen Giacalone.
Bracco has self-funded a majority of his campaign, with a $15,000 loan. His largest donations include $750 from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, business owner Hi Tran and Joe McCarthy of a Los Gatos-based real estate firm.
Trans Valley Transport General Manager Jim Calvino contributed $500 to Bracco’s campaign, as did Alpine Landscapes, Gurries Enterprises and a handful of others.
Marques’ largest campaign contributors include $750 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee—Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, farmer Edwin Tognetti and real estate manager Michelle Conrotto.
Retirees E.G. Comerford Jr., Joan Lewis, Richard Perino and Robert Weaver donated $500 each.
Bernstein Chargin’s largest donations were $750 from Ann McCauley, owner of Lazy Suzan Designs, and a combined total of $750 from Thomas Chargin and Tom Chargin Construction. The Plumbers, Steamfitters and Refrigeration Fitters Local 393 Political Action Fund chipped in $500.
Ronald Robinson Jr.’s largest contributor was Tara Sreekrishnan, a staff member for Senator Dave Cortese, with $250. He also received various contributions from electricians and other workers.
The Union Local 393 Political Action Fund gave Joseph Robinson’s campaign its largest donation at $500. The Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters donated $250.
Expenditures
Bracco has spent the most money among all the candidates, totaling $23,670.90 in expenditures, forms show.
Most of those funds—$17,342—have gone to Hollister-based Paramount Communications, headed up by Republican political consultant Andrew Russo, for consulting and printing services.
Marques has also been using Paramount Communications for consulting and other services, documents show. Of her $17,413.86 in expenditures, $7,061.81 have gone to Paramount.
She also paid $4,543 to PrintPapa of Santa Clara for mailing services, and $3,202.82 to Legacy Print of Santa Clara for lawn signs, banners and envelopes.
Cline has spent $16,220.26 so far for his campaign, with most—$13,247.79—going to Roland Velasco for website services, printing and signs.
Nearly all of Bernstein Chargin’s $2,178.13 in expenditures were to Sacramento-based Firefighters Print & Design.
Ronald Robinson Jr. spent $1,232.76 for his campaign so far, with $1,070.78 used for door hanger flyers printed by Pacific Printing in San Jose.
Joseph Robinson did not have any expenditures, according to the documents.
Endorsements
Bernstein Chargin, Joseph Robinson and Ronald Robinson Jr. have garnered endorsements from various Democratic elected officials and organizations, including Assemblymember Robert Rivas, Rep. Zoe Lofgren and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
Gilroy City Councilmembers Rebeca Armendariz and Zach Hilton have also endorsed the three candidates.
Mayor Marie Blankley endorsed Bracco, Cline and Marques. Cline also received a nod from Kelly Ramirez and former Gilroy City Councilmember Cat Tucker, who have been active in a recall effort against Armendariz.
Marques was also endorsed by downtown leaders Gary Walton and Jeff Orth, while Bracco was endorsed by outgoing Gilroy Chamber of Commerce CEO and Morgan Hill mayoral candidate Mark Turner and retiring County Supervisor Mike Wasserman.
FPPC: Marques is ‘elected,’ despite complaint from fellow councilmember
A representative of the Fair Political Practices Commission confirmed that Carol Marques is an “elected” official, after receiving a complaint from her fellow councilmember Zach Hilton that argued she was only appointed to her seat.
After the November 2020 election, Marques lost her bid for re-election, finishing fourth when there were only three seats open.
However, Marie Blankley, who was then a councilmember, was elected as mayor, leaving her seat vacant with two years remaining. In December 2020, the council agreed to appoint Marques to fill the seat.
In his complaint to the FPPC, filed in July, Hilton contended that Marques was not elected in November 2020, and therefore her remaining campaign funds of $4,550 had to be considered surplus, among other rules that apply to defeated candidates.
The FPPC’s Enforcement Division sent Marques a letter notifying her of the complaints and the opened case, requesting her to respond to the allegations. The letter noted that the opening of a case was not a determination one way or the other on the matter.
In an email to Marques, Ginny Brown, a political reform consultant with the FPPC, pointed to the California Government Code, which, among other things, states that an elected officer can be “a person who is appointed to fill a vacant elective office.”
“Please note that under Section 82020 you are considered ‘elected’ even though you were appointed to the position,” Brown wrote. “I also explained this to the complainant.”
On Aug. 1, the FPPC informed Hilton that it would notify him when it has made a final disposition of the case.
As of Oct. 25, the case is listed as “opened and pending” on the FPPC website. A FPPC spokesperson said all cases remain open until their “final adjudication.”
“Hilton’s crusade of slander and misdirection cannot stop my campaign of working towards a better Gilroy for everyone,” Marques said. “Instead of coming together on issues, he would rather double down on his unfounded and proven false FPPC allegations.”
Hilton said he objected to Marques using the word “reelection” in her original campaign filings. She has since amended the document to say she is an “appointed Gilroy City Council Member.”
“When a City Council appoints a member of the public to fill a vacancy, that bypasses the election system that rests with the people,” he said. “Using the words ‘incumbent’ and ‘re-elect’ are powerful words in any campaign. It’s a disadvantage to new candidates when an appointed uses those words, and doesn’t create an even playing field.”
Hilton added that he would like to work on modernizing the Political Reform Act “so it doesn’t allow appointed members of elected bodies to use the wording ‘re-elect.’”
“Campaigning and getting elected by the people is the hardest and most rewarding experience,” he said.
