BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto’s youngest council candidates raised the most money in the first half of the year, boosted by donations from the pro-housing and pro-development crowd on the Peninsula.
Planning Commissioner George Lu raised $25,309 through June 30, while Human Relations Commissioner Katie Causey raised $22,665, campaign finance forms show.
That’s far more than anyone else, although Causey, 30, and Lu, 31, appear to have started fundraising before the other candidates.
“As a first-time candidate, I was apprehensive about raising money for a campaign, but have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the community,” Lu said in an email yesterday, noting that 65% of his donors live in Palo Alto.
Candidates this week are required to disclose their fundraising totals for the first six months of the year, so the numbers don’t include July fundraising. The next reporting deadline is on Sept. 26.
Councilman Pat Burt, 72, raised $5,869, including $2,000 from himself, campaign finance forms show.
Burt started fundraising on June 14 and collected donations from former Mayor Peter Drekmeier ($100), former Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto ($500), Stanford nurse Linda Lenoir ($100) and Architectural Review Board member David Hirsch ($250).
Planning Commissioner Keith Reckdahl, 59, brought in $1,899 from four Palo Alto residents: Drekmeier ($100), CharmaineFurman ($500), Neilson Buchanan ($250) and former Mayor Eric Filseth ($999). Reckdahl also loaned his campaign $2,000 on May 29, campaign finance forms show.
Doria Summa, 65, had one donation from resident Hamilton Hitchings ($309) on June 29, days before she announced her campaign, her filings show.
Mayor Greer Stone, 34, received donations on June 11 from retired Palo Alto residents Andie Reed and Thomas Sousa ($100 each).
Resident Henry Etzkowitz, 84, Planning Commissioner Cari Templeton, 48, and Parks Commissioner Anne Cribbs, 79, weren’t required to disclose their donations because they started their campaigns after July 1.
Lu received donations from school board member Jennifer DiBrienza ($500), former Councilwoman Alison Cormack ($500), Councilwoman Vicki Veenker ($100), former Mayor Larry Klein ($1,000), school board candidate Nicole Chiu-Wang ($1,000), Human Relations Commissioner Donald Barr ($100) and Canopy co-founder Susan Rosenberg ($1,000).
Causey received donations from former Redwood City Mayor Giselle Halle ($261), Mountain View Councilwoman Emily Ann Ramos ($104), Los Altos Vice Mayor Pete Dailey ($104), Palo Alto Forward Executive Director Amie Ashton ($423), East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio Lopez ($1,291), East Palo Alto Councilwoman Lisa Gauthier ($100) Chiu-Wang ($100), San Mateo Councilman Adam Loraine ($350), former San Carlos Mayor Laura Parmer-Lohan ($100), former Belmont Mayor Charles Stone ($100), Mountain View Councilman Lucas Ramirez ($200) and Human Relations Commissioners Adriana Eberle ($100) and Mary Kate Stimmler ($261).
