Campaign Finance in the 2021 Greenburgh Supervisor's Race

Here are the 2021 financial totals with "recent" campaigns listed for comparison.  

2021	RAISED	SPENT	PER VOTE	CLOSING BALANCE	PAUL'S HEADSTART
FEINER	$46,816	$84,142	$21.41	$49,937	$87,263
YOUNG	$49,517	$48,886	$19.86	$630
TOTAL	$96,333	$133,028	$20.81
2013
FEINER	$16,838	$67,760	$17.61	$82,055	$132,977
BERNSTEIN	$58,233	$53,724	$25.08	$4,509
2007
FEINER	$52,980	$71,416	$17.25	$120,064	$138,500
BERGER	$37,519	$76,177	$34.75

1.  FUNDS RAISED

A.  Paul

Paul "only" raised $46,816 but I'm sure Paul would concede that he didn't put much of an effort into raising new money.  For example, I'm aware of only one fundraising event held on his behalf.  Starting a campaign with $87,263 in the account can be very helpful.   

Of the $46,816 Paul did raise in the campaign,  $35,806 came from "itemized" donors (listed individually on the financial reports) and another $8,002 from "small" donors - generally those who gave under $100.   Among his 157 itemized donors (including partnerships and businesses), nine gave $1000 or more, led by Paul loyalist Don Cannon (member, Greenburgh Board of Assessment Review), who gave $4000, and the household of Peter Guggenheimer (member of the Greenburgh Conservation Advisory Council) and, presumably his partner Deborah Jerome, who together donated $4000 to Paul. Vikas Agrawal, a recent successful Ardsley school board candidate, also gave Paul $2000.  It is startling to see that 24 itemized donors from Edgemont gave Paul $10,550.   

Perhaps most significantly, of these 157 itemized donors, almost all (143) have Greenburgh addresses.   Among Paul's contributions from organizations, noteworthy donors included the Teamsters ($1500) and the Cricket Club of Westchester ($201). 

B. Tasha

Tasha actually outraised the multi-generational incumbent.   Unlike Paul's campaign, Tasha itemized all 308 of her donors (many of whom made multiple donations).   These included 166 $100+ donors (compared to 157  $100+ donors for Paul).  Tasha benefitted from 8 individuals giving $1000.  Tasha's only donors exceeding $2000 came from the household of Margaret Bradbury and Paul Slesinger of Larchmont who, together, gave Tasha $3,700.  

Tasha's overall success in attracting donors and donations, however, is belied by finding that among her big donors, only 76 - fewer than half - live within Greenburgh.  When we break out the major donations by geography, we see the strength of Paul's fundraising that was concealed by his mediocre total:  his dominance in raising money within Greenburgh from eligible primary voters.   

GREENBURGH ADDRESSS BIG ($100+) DONATIONS	TASHA	PAUL
WP	$3,922	$7,025
Tarrytown	$1,651	$1,450
Edgemont	$2,925	$10,550
Irvington	$2,854	$750
Hartsdale	$825	$4,600
Elmsford	$2,092	$2,901
Dobbs Ferry	$2,626	$2,200
Ardlsey	$2,614	$4,180
Hastings	$350	$1,150
Valhalla	$0	$400
IN DISTRICT BIGS	$19,859	$35,206
OUT OF DISTRICT BIGS	$23,924	$3,601
SMALL DONATIONS	$5,733	$8,002
TOTAL	$49,516	$46,809

Tasha Young did an impressive job of raising funds in her first campaign, even out-raising her opponent. The problem for Tasha, however, was that Paul was far more successful in raising money from the most important donors:  Greenburgh primary voters.  

II.  SPENDING

A. Paul

Paul's campaign spending reports are streamlined, transparent and a model for filings.  Paul spent $64,539 on campaign literature & mailing, $2,306 on lawn signs and $5,108 on internet and website related expenses.  Thus, Paul directly allocated $71,953 (86%) of his expenditures to materials (hardcopies and online)  to promote his campaign directly to voters.  (You know where I'm going with this.)  He also spent a very efficient $4,149 on campaign salaries and consultant fees.  His only "frill" was nearly $3800 spent on car related expenses.   Paul and Andy Laub deserve acknowledgement for running an efficient municipal campaign.  Of course, with nearly three times the financial resources available compared to Paul's challenger, they had room for error - but Paul and Andy didn't err.  Which leads us to....  

B.  Tasha

Considering Paul's $87K head start, for Tasha to be competitive it was absolutely crucial that she raise well and spend efficiently.  She came close to accomplishing the first goal (although she was ultimately undermined by her comparative lack of success among Greenburgh donors), but failed in the second part.   

Tasha spent $48,886 but looking at her campaign's confusing financial filings strongly suggests that this spending was inefficiently prioritized.  The most glaring spending category for Tasha's campaign was  $18,800 spent on nine individuals described as "campaign consultants" (led by Kehani Brea at $8,000 and Jovan Richards at $3,500) plus another $2,310 more on staff salaries.  (Contrast that with Paul whose staff/consultant costs were $4,169).  Tasha's campaign spent another  $3,762 on "fundraising" plus $2,500 for a fundraiser (Kevin Edgar), which together with personnel/consultant costs accounted for $27,262 - more than half of the campaign's revenue.   

From what I can figure out, reviewing the convoluted expenditure reports, the amounts spent on promotional campaign expenses were:  campaign mailings and literature at $7,350; lawn signs at $1504;  online ads: $275; tees, buttons, totes at $1444;  and television ads at $2457.   Despite fundraising success, Tasha's campaign spent only about $14,000 (I'm rounding up assuming I missed internet/website spending)  on the typical, publicity-oriented type expenses one would expect from a political campaign.  I may have undercounted somewhat as the expense filings are confusing, and I welcome being corrected.    

Most troubling, the campaign's filings report $57,425 in "outstanding liability" to the campaign consultants, led again by Kehani Brea ($36,300) and Jovan Richards, executive director of the Westchetser County Democratic Committee and president of the New York State Young Democrats ($14,000).  Has the campaign settled with the consultants and received releases from their billings? 

It's unfortunate for Tasha that her fundraising achievements were undermined by inefficient spending allocation.  Where Paul spent nearly $72,000 on direct campaign, publicity materials and ads, it appears that Tasha was able to spend no more than $14,000 on such expenses -  less than one-fifth.  What did those consultants accomplish to justify monopolizing so much of the campaign's hard-earned revenue, let alone the exorbitant billings that apparently remain outstanding?  They are welcome to respond below or email me to explain.