Campaign finance reports for the May 4 Woodway City Council election show several small-dollar donors and one local developer supporting a pair of aligned candidates, and one outspoken opponent to a recent development proposal supporting another pair of aligned candidates.
Ward 2 incumbent Storey Cook and Ward 3 challenger Ken Sury each received $2,500 from Woodway resident and Waco-area developer David Mercer, in addition to smaller individual contributions. Cook and Sury have shared campaign resources but emphasized that they are running their own races.
Ward 2 challenger Andrea Rossfeld and Ward 3 challenger Richard Hess, meanwhile, each reported a $1,300 in-kind contribution from Woodway resident Lori Whitsell, a retired teacher who joined neighbors in recent years speaking out against the proposed Starlight Estates subdivision. Rossfeld reported no other outside contributions. Hess reported one other, from Council Member David Russell, who recruited Hess and Rossfeld to run. Rossfeld and Hess have aligned their campaigns in a similar way as Cook and Sury.
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Ward 3 incumbent Gayle Avant filed a declaration that he would raise and spend less than $1,010 on his campaign, meaning he does not have to file other campaign finance reports unless his fundraising or spending unexpectedly exceeds the $1,010 threshold.
Whitsell said she supports Hess and Rossfeld because they stand for full transparency and against automatically acquiescing to developers and their projects. The Starlight Estates property near Whitsell’s home recently went up for sale without ever having a single home built in it.
Mercer, who lost a seat on the Woodway council in last year’s municipal elections, is more widely known as the developer who began the plan to extend Gateway Boulevard in Waco from Bagby Avenue to Interstate 35.
He said that when he served on the council alongside Cook, she sometimes voted against him, but he was impressed by how she did her own due diligence and research and voted in what she believed was the best interest of Woodway residents. Mercer said he has had several conversations with Sury and believes he will take a similar approach. He said believes they both love their community and will do their own work to support it.
Campaign finance laws in Texas require candidates and office-holders to file semi-annual financial disclosures in January and July, with pre-election reports due 30 days before and eight days before the election. The disclosures list political donors and how much they give, along with all political spending and what the candidates buy.
Cook
In her 30-day report, 21 of Cook’s 24 donors gave $250 or less. Her total monetary donations were $4,760, with in-kind contributions of $408.25. She reported another $600 in contributions for the period covered by the eight-day report.
Cook’s top monetary donors were Kaitlyn and David Mercer of Woodway, who donated $2,500 on March 1; and Carla and Van Gary, who gave $400 on Feb. 22.
Barbara Grandy made Cook’s only in-kind donation, being food and beverage for an event.
Donors of $250 were Whitney McHenry and Kary Lalani, each of Woodway.
Only David Mercer’s employment is listed. None of Cook’s other donors listed their employers or occupations.
Most of Cook’s donors are Woodway residents, in addition to two donors from Hewitt, one from Waco and one each from San Antonio, Plano, Frisco, Tyler, Childress, El Paso, Belton.
In out of the area spending Cook recorded around $366 with Squarespace of New York City in fees for their services in collecting online donations.
Cook spent a total of about $4,669 with Hole in the Roof, of Waco, for yard signs, large campaign signs, campaign buttons, door hangers and postcards; and $1,000 with Silas Nacita, of Waco, for campaign videos. She also spent $$352 on postage and mailing labels, and $366 with Squarespace, of New York City, for service fees to collect online donations.
Cook spent another $196 of her own money at Slow Rise Slice House in Woodway for lunch and sodas at a voter registration drive, and reported $195 in unitemized political expenses.
Her spending at Hole in the Wall included $347 in door hangers for Sury, and $500 of her spending on campaign videos was for Sury.
Rossfeld
Rossfeld, Cook’s opponent, reported $1,801.65 in total contributions and no spending for the report of finances required 30 days before the election. Rossfeld’s report included $500 of her own money and $1,301.65 of in-kind donations from Whitsell. Whitsell’s donations were yard signs and banners.
Rossfeld said Tuesday that she had spent some money on mailers sent out after the 30-day report and would file the eight-day report later on Tuesday.
Hess
Hess, one of Avant’s opponents, filed $2,344 in contributions on his 30-day report. Whitesell donated $1,301 in signs and banners, and Russell donated $473 worth of printed materials.
Hess spent $569 by credit card with a printer in Massachusetts for hats and other campaign materials. He reported this as his contribution of his own money to his campaign.
Also, Hess reported no funds donated but not spent and no contributions of less than $250. Hess said by phone on Tuesday that he would file his eight-day report later Tuesday.
Sury
Sury, Avant’s other opponent, in his 30-day disclosure reported itemized contributions $3,450, and spending of $3,850. Sury’s top contributor was Mercer, who gave $2,500. Sury had 4 other donors from Waco and Woodway who each gave $250 or less.
Sury spent $3,450 with Hole in the Roof for yard signs. He spend $419 by credit card with Wix Inc. for his campagin website.
In his eight-day disclosure, Sury reported another $2,147 in contributions, including the $847 of in-kind contributions from Cook, and spending of $751.
Sury received $125 from two out-of-town contributors in Austin and Colorado Springs. His top donor was William Swartz, of Woodway, who gave a total $550. Sury received eight other donations from contributors in Waco and Woodway, each of less than $250.
He spent $733 on signs and buttons with Hole in the Roof, $6.48 on mailing labels, and $12.25 on transaction fees for donations through his campaign website with Wix.