Monahan raises most in Costa Mesa

Deirdre Newman and June Casagrande

During the last weeks of the November election, former Costa Mesa

Mayor Linda Dixon spent more than three of her challengers combined.

But the last-minute spending spree did not secure her another spot on

the dais.

Allan Mansoor, who spent the least in the final weeks, and the

campaign as a whole, was able to parlay his participation as a

Westside improver into a seat on the Costa Mesa City Council.

The filing period, which covered Oct. 20 through Dec. 31, 2002,

showed that of the Costa Mesa candidates who filed, Linda Dixon

raised the most with about $11,000 and spent about $20,000.

In contrast, for the same period, Mansoor raised about $6,000 and

spent only $260 for the balance owed on his ballot statement.

Councilman Chris Steel was Mansoor’s biggest contributor, giving his

future colleague about $3,000 for mailers and about $1,400 for

fliers.

Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley raised about $6,000 for the

period and spent about $14,000. Her major expenditures were for

postcards and advertisements.

Foley said she doesn’t believe spending more would have altered

the results.

“There’s so many factors and I think it’s impossible to say that

one thing is what determined the outcome,” Foley said.

Councilman Gary Monahan, who raised $6,103 in the final period,

was the biggest spender in the homestretch at $21,143. He raised more

than $46,000 for the year.

Bill Perkins raised about $9,000 for the period and spent about

$10,000. His spending mostly went to advertisements and signs.

For the entire campaign, Dixon raised the most and spent the most

while Mansoor raised and spent the least.

For the previous filing period, Monahan had more than $40,000 in

the bank.

In Newport Beach, fund-raising in the November council campaign

showed typical patterns; except for Bernie Svalstad, top fund-raisers

won their seats.

District 1 incumbent Tod Ridgeway led the fund-raising pack for

the year with $57,652 in contributions. Challenger Marianne Zippi got

$5,807 and Greenlight challenger Madelene Arakelian raised $9,395.

In the District 4 race, winner Gary Adams raised $49,169 to Rick

Taylor’s $23,081. District 4 candidate Ron Winship did not accept any

contributions.

District 3 winner Don Webb reported bringing in $48,977 for his

campaign. Challenger Allan Beek had not filed his campaign finance

statement by a deadline on Friday.