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Voters in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District are set to make decisions in three key races this Election Day – for two school board seats and a proposed parcel tax measure – with numerous donors already voicing their preferences in the form of hundreds of thousands in monetary contributions to the relevant campaigns.
As of Oct. 19, the three races had raised nearly $200,000 combined, according to campaign finance data from the county between the four candidates for two school board seats and the Yes campaign for Measure Q, the parcel tax measure aimed at replacing the previously approved parcel tax set to expire next year.
Of that funding, approximately $95,000 was raised in the most recent campaign finance reporting period for contributions received between Sept. 22 and Oct. 19, which was subject to an Oct. 24 deadline – the final deadline for comprehensive campaign finance reporting ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Among the three SRVUSD races on the November ballot, Measure Q has seen the most funding for the general election at $82,965 as of Oct. 19.
The committee reported $204,576 raised for the year by that point, but that total includes money generated by the same committee for the special election earlier this year in which the district was seeking to pass two parcel tax measures — Measure E and Measure F, the former of which was billed as a replacement of the current parcel tax akin to what would become Measure Q on November’s ballot, and the latter of which would have been an additional supplementary parcel tax. Both failed in a special election in May.
In addition to individual residents in the San Ramon Valley, SRV Citizens for Quality Schools – the campaign in favor of Measure Q – received major contributions this summer and fall from local school affiliated groups including PTA councils, education and learning funds, and unions.
Top contributors to the yes on Measure Q campaign include the Diablo Vista Middle School Foundation, the Rancho Romero, Creekside Comet, Pine Valley, John Baldwin Cougar, and Live Oak education funds, the Greenbrook Eagle Fund, the Twin Creeks School, Green Valley, and Quail Run learning funds, and the Charlotte Wood Charger Fund, amounting to approximately $17,000 total over the course of the campaign. Contributions from PTA groups throughout the district also accounted for more than $21,000 in campaign funding.
Labor groups providing financial support to the Yes on Measure Q campaign include the Political Action for Classified Employees (PACE) of California School Employees with a $3,000 contribution, the San Ramon Valley Education Association PAC with $6,000 and the California Teachers Association with $7,875 in contributions as of Oct. 19.
Since Oct. 19, a number of individual donations to the Yes campaign were also reported, including $1,000 from the Alamo Elementary PTA and $2,000 from the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation on Oct. 24, $2,500 from Los Angeles-based Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost LLP on Oct. 27, and $1,000 from Danville resident Nancy Petsuch on Oct. 30.
No contributions were reported for the campaign against Measure Q.
The campaign for first-time candidate Karin Shumway, who is competing for the Area 2 seat on the school board against incumbent Shelley Clark, has seen the most cash flow among the SRVUSD candidates, raising a total of $62,365 as of Oct. 19, $24,294 of which came during the most recent reporting period.
That’s nearly twice as much as Clark’s campaign, which had raised $31,982.99, and significantly more than the combined total of the two candidates in the Area 3 race – Laura Bratt and Sukriti Sehgal – who have raised a total of $8,200 and $4,060, respectively.
Shumway contributors for the most recent campaign finance reporting period consist primarily of San Ramon Valley residents ranging from $100 to $5,000. The top contributors for the most recent period are Alamo residents Rhonda Fuery and WB Fuery with $5,000 each, Concord resident Albert Seeno and Danville resident James Dillon with $2,500 each, Alamo resident Katherine Salisbury with $1,500.
Alamo residents Linda Reeve and Gabriel Arechaederra, and Danville residents Dauna Erickson, Lindsay Moore and Whitney Brinton made the other donations of $1,000 or more reported in the most recent campaign finance data.
Meanwhile, Clark’s campaign raised a total of $8,205 during the most recent reporting period, primarily in small donations from local residents ranging from $100 to $1,000.
The top contributors for the most recent reporting period were Arechaederra, who donated $1,000 to Clark’s campaign as well as to Shumway’s, and San Ramon resident Catherine Martin, who also donated $1,000. Danville resident Gary Lapp made the second highest contribution to Clark’s campaign with $750, followed by Danville residents Benjamin Lapp and Shirley Lapp, Josh Porter and San Ramon residents Kimberly Kalkbrenner and Dan Frank with $500 donations each.
While Clark did not receive any monetary contributions from SRVEA during the most recent reporting period, the teachers union provided $2,500 in digital advertising services, bringing their total contribution to Clark’s campaign up to $1,055.38 in both monetary and non-monetary contributions as of Oct. 19.
Following the Oct. 24 deadline for the most recent comprehensive campaign finance report, Clark’s campaign reported three additional contributions from SRVEA on Oct. 28 – for $125, $350, and $7,160.82.
Clark also received a $1,700 donation from PACE of California School Employees Association Sacramento outside of the Sept. 22 to Oct. 19 reporting period, which was reported on Oct. 23.
Of the $8,200 raised by incumbent Area 3 Trustee Bratt’s campaign, $2,990 was from the most recent reporting period, primarily in the form of $100 to $500 donations from local residents.
SRVEA is a top contributor to Bratt’s campaign with a $1,000 donation in the most recent reporting period and $10,573 in monetary and non-monetary contributions total as of Oct. 19. Danville residents David Gibbs, Walnut Creek resident Phyllis Bratt, and San Ramon resident Ravneet Julka were also among the top contributors during the most recent reporting period, with $500 donations each.
While the campaign for Bratt’s challenger has raised less than half of her total contributions as of Oct. 19, Sehgal’s campaign contributions – all $4,060 of which were made during the most recent reporting period – outpaced Bratt’s between Sept. 22 and Oct. 19 by more than $1,000.
Bratt also reported a $1,600 donation from the California School Employees Association on Nov. 1.
Sehgal’s contributors are also primarily local residents who made donations between $100 and $500. Alamo residents David Majeroni and Alex Meyer and San Ramon resident Anil Billapati donated $500 each, with San Ramon resident Shalini Sinha contributing $300, San Ramon residents Vikram Kulkarni and Manoj Pandey, and Alamo resident Lacie Hillesheim donating $250 each.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to provide clarity on the funds raised by the Yes on Measure Q campaign for the upcoming election compared with previous funds raised by the same campaign committee for the unsuccessful Measure E and Measure F ahead of May’s special election. Additional information on monetary and non-monetary contributions for school board races has also been included.
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