Brookhaven mayoral candidate John Ernst has raised nearly $56,000 for his war chest, while fellow mayoral candidate Dale Boone lags far behind at around $3,900, according to campaign finance reports.
Ernst’s contributors include many attorneys, Democratic Party-connected activists and local leaders, including Brookhaven City Councilmen Joe Gebbia and John Park. Gebbia also contributed to Boone’s campaign.
Other Ernst contributors include Clarkston Mayor Edward Terry, former Brookhaven City Councilman Jim Eyre, former Georgia Secretary of State David Pothyress, and the campaign committees of current House District 80 state Rep. Taylor Bennett and former state Rep. Mike Jacobs.
Boone had a handful of donors, including some restaurant ownership groups. His campaign also reports more than $5,000 in debt.
Ernst has raised roughly $14 for every $1 Boone has raised. Ernst is heavily outspending his opponent as well, with almost $23,000 already paid or donated to various consultants, researchers and events. Boone has spent under $625, with his mayoral filing fee as the biggest expenditure.
In Brookhaven’s District 1 City Council race, incumbent Linley Jones reported about $42,500 cash on hand, while challenger Eve Erdogan reported only about $8,200.
A campaign finance report for District 3 City Councilman Bates Mattison, who is running unopposed, was not yet available. Candidates have until Oct. 8 to file campaign finance reports under a “grace period,” according to Brookhaven City Clerk Susan Hiott.
Highest fundraisers are those who promise to funnel most of the city funds to their most generous donors in the form of city contracts/jobs. For a small city mayor election, even smaller district election, $40K-$50K cannot be just a result of generosity from the common man with common expectations. I really hope the real people will rally to vote on Nov 3rd, and slap these dollars with their votes.
People vote with their pocketbooks before they vote with their ballots!! Great showing, John and Linley!! Looking at Eve Erdogan’s amount of financial backing pales beside her eccentricities, her inconsistencies, and her priorities. Saying “show some love by liking my Facebook’ and saying how her opponent is a nice person with a good chance of winning contrasts sharply with ‘vote for me to save our city!” “The incumbent council member has never won an election”–Linley Jones was unanimously elected to both the Presidency of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and to the Brookhaven City Council as the mayor’s appointee!! “Eve=Ethics Vision, Experience” preceded a hornet’s nest of illegal campaign signs being placed along Johnson Ferry Road.
Get your facts right, Tom. Eve Erdogan was misquoted by the journalist, and it is corrected later on (see the bottom http://reporternewspapers-launch.newspackstaging.com/2015/09/01/attorney-joins-race-for-brookhavens-district-1-council-seat/). No wonder you are unable of making an informed decision to get it right. Linley never won an election comment referring only to our City elections, clearly about her appointed representative status at district one. Your comments regarding illegal yard-signs are simply untrue unless you are stealing disappearing signs to place on illegal spots yourself. I understand supporting another candidate for moving your personal agendas forward, but do not make up stuff at least.
Where’s my comment??
Ms. Lee,
You speak in generalitiies with zero knowledge of Candidate Ernst or his work as chair of the Dekalb Ethics Commission where he achived the first conviction on corruption charges in its history.
A lifelong resident of Brookhaven, I can tell you uniquvocally that John has no hidden agenda and only wants to make a better Brookhaven where he and Monica can raise their two sons and we can all live in a city with excellent services and beautiful parks and greenspace.
John is a man of his word, and I for one stand fully behind him.
My own vote is to Ernst and Erdogan. I wish to clarify here for other readers that I don’t target an individual candidate with my suspicions of such high fundraising. I would feel this way about any politician receiving too much money too fast, because odds are in favor of such suspicion. However I must say that we must remove Linley Jones even under no suspicion because it is just wrong to keep her along her appointing council members. I know she likes her seat terribly to leave, but ethics concern on such a situation doesn’t need us to question her integrity before asking her to leave the office. If she cared more about ethics than her own desires, she would do the right thing on her own already. I believe Mr Ernst will make a fine mayor, but he must keep his donor wishes/expectations in check. Ms Jones just has to go away, period.
Get your facts right, Tom. Eve Erdogan was misquoted by the journalist, and it is corrected later on (see the bottom http://reporternewspapers-launch.newspackstaging.com/2015/09/01/attorney-joins-race-for-brookhavens-district-1-council-seat/). No wonder you are unable of making an informed decision to get it right. Linley never won an election comment referring only to our City elections, clearly about her appointed representative status at district one. Your comments regarding illegal yard-signs are simply untrue unless you are stealing disappearing signs to place on illegal spots yourself. I understand supporting another candidate for moving your personal agendas forward, but do not make up stuff at least.
Hi, Ms. Lee!! I just reread the article you referred to in your e/mail, and all it does is back up what I said the first time. Speaking of “eccentricities and inconsistencies”, would you also mind translating some of your sentence structure??–Tom Reilly
Did you miss this quote from that link, or rather just turning a blind eye. “Clarification: Since the publication of this story, Erdogan clarified that her comments about another candidate’s chance of winning was a reference to Williams, not Jones.” I don’t think it is a matter of sentence structure for you Tom, you just don’t understand what you read. I did more than I should for you already. Have a good one.
ms. Lee!! just read the article once again–and you’re right about the reference being towards Williams, not Jones!! My bad, and my apologies!! Now about the rest of the situation…–Tom Reilly