BY LINDSAY VANHULLE
TRAVERSE CITY -- Two candidates for two Traverse City school board races spent more than $2,000 to woo voters, tops among board hopefuls.
Candidate Kelly Hall contributed $2,400 of her own money to her campaign for a four-year term on the board, and spent all but $11.38, a pre-election campaign finance statement shows.
Gary Appel, an incumbent seeking a partial term to expire in 2012, spent $2,115.30 of the $2,836 he raised for his campaign, according to a copy of his finance statement.
The candidates paid for promotional materials, including yard signs, postcards and mailings to absentee voters.
Appel mailed his statement to Secretary of State officials in Lansing by the Oct. 23 deadline, and it was forwarded to the Grand Traverse County clerk's office. The office had not received it as of Thursday.
Also filing pre-election statements were full-term board candidate Julie Puckett, who raised and spent $1,411.70, and incumbent Suzann Brooke, who spent all but $100 of the $1,110.98 she gave to her campaign.
Full-term candidates Mary Ufford Manner and Julie Davis filed reporting waivers, meaning they did not expect to spend more than $1,000, as did partial-term candidate Diane Viskochil, according to the county clerk's office.
The general election is Tuesday. Candidates also are required to file post-election statements by Dec. 3 if they raise additional money.
Hall financed her campaign on her own because, she said, she "felt awkward" asking for contributions. Her largest expense was for signs and stickers from a company in Illinois, at a cost of nearly $1,000.
"You can look back in history and you can see people elected who spent little or no money. But going into it, I did not know what endorsements I would get," she said. "I consider it to be public service, and I knew what kind of campaign I wanted to run."
Appel kicked in $100 of his own money and received the rest from 30 supporters -- including Hall, who gave $100 and is running in a separate board race.
He sent flyers to more than 5,000 absentee voters, spent about $620 on yard signs and set up a campaign Web site, which he said was donated by a neighbor.
Appel said past candidates advised him to raise at least $3,000.
"With resources, one should be able to reach more people," Appel said. "It's not easy to run in off-year elections because people don't necessarily pay attention. It takes an investment of time, energy and dollars."
That may be true, but spending more in an election could detract from the issues, said Puckett, who contributed $371.70 to her campaign and received donations from 16 backers.
She said she doesn't want voters to choose a candidate solely based on names they saw on yard signs, of which she has several.
"If you're economically advantaged enough to reach more people, your message gets out more," Puckett said. "I want people to vote because they think I'd do a good job."
Brooke, seeking her second full term, said she financed her campaign from her savings. She said she didn't seek donations because of the economic recession.
Her largest expenses included yard signs, at a cost of roughly $377, and postage for $392.
"I felt strongly that I really wanted to continue this job," Brooke said. "It was a very hard time to ask people to donate to a political campaign."
What about the city?
All but one candidate for Traverse City commission offices filed campaign finance statements. City commission incumbent Jody Bergman filed a reporting waiver, which means she didn't expect to spend more than $1,000, according to the Grand Traverse County clerk's office.
-Chris Bzdok, running unopposed for mayor, raised $2,510 and spent $1,248.50, according to his statement. He contributed $1,500 of his own money and returned donations to three supporters.
-Deni Scrudato, an incumbent running for city commission, raised $2,510 and spent $1,352.63. She contributed $500 of her own money and received a $100 donation from challenger Mary Ann Moore.
-Moore received $5,515 for her campaign and spent $3,416.28. She gave $2,550 of her own money.
-Mike Gillman, a city commission challenger, raised $1,845.30 and spent $1,696.75. He contributed $840.30 to his campaign.
