Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

Amount	Name	Address	Employer1	Employer2	City
$100.00	Bandar, Dany	2 Warren Drive Middleton, MA 01949			Middleton
$500.00	Gilmore, Marvin	26 Mount Vernon Street Cambridge, MA 02140			Cambridge
$100.00	Glodis Committee	39 Old Cart Road Auburn, MA 01501			Auburn
$500.00	Keegan, William	197 Old Colony Avenue South Boston, MA 02127	Bridge & Structural Workers Union Local 7		Boston
$500.00	McKinnon, Rich	1 Leighton Street, Unit 1905 Cambridge, MA 02140			Cambridge
$500.00	Melonie, Jr., James	7 Laborers Way Hopkinton, MA 01748	Mass Laborers District Council		Hopkinton
$100.00	Pedi, Richard	35 Salem Street Medford, MA 02155	Carpenters Local Union No. 218		Medford
$100.00	Bandar, Stephen	6 Azalea Road Winchester, MA 01890			Winchester
$250.00	Barbosa, Valdir	2531 N Talman Avenue, Apt. 3W Chicago, IL 60647	Attorney	Latham & Watkins	Chicago, IL
$100.00	Boland, Robert	8 Riverview Terrace Dover, MA 02030			Dover
$100.00	Braccia, Richard	21 Mazzeo Drive Randolph, MA 02368	Carpenters Local Union No. 424		Randolph
$400.00	Clancy, John	295 Devonshire Street, 5th Floor Boston, MA 02110	Boston Carmen's Union Local 589		Boston
$100.00	Clancy, John	295 Devonshire Street, 5th Floor Boston, MA 02110	Boston Carmen's Union Local 589		Boston
$250.00	Coyle, James	213 N Street South Boston, MA 02127	Secretary Treasurer	Building & Construction Trades Council	Boston
$500.00	DiGiovanni, Anne	19 Hilliard Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Real Estate	Trinity Property	Cambridge
$500.00	DiGiovanni, John	19 Hillard Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Real Estate	Trinity Property	Cambridge
$100.00	Entine, Jean	259 Upland Road Cambridge, MA 02138			Cambridge
$100.00	Epstein, Gail	43 Linnean Street, Apt. 8 Cambridge, MA 02138			Cambridge
$100.00	Friedman, Richard	20 University Road Cambridge, MA 02138	Principal	Carpenter & Company, Inc.	Cambridge
$100.00	Jackson, Bud	206 N. Washington St, No. 10 Alexandria, VA 22314	Business Owner	The Jackson Group	Alexandria, VA
$200.00	Joslin, Alan	36 Banks Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Information Requested		Cambridge
$500.00	Keshishian, Vartan	17 Morningside Lane Lincoln, MA 01773	Engineer	Self-employed	Lincoln
$500.00	Levin, Marc	45 Clearwater Road Newton, MA 02462	Information Requested		Newton
$200.00	Maher, John	8 Dunstable Road Cambridge, MA 02138	Retired		Cambridge
$500.00	McGettigan, Kevin	50 Park Street Dorchester, MA 02122	Elevator Constructors Local 4		Dorchester
$500.00	McLean, Thomas	10 Drydock Avenue Boston, MA 02210	Carpenters Local Union No. 33		Boston
$500.00	Morat, Catherine	159 Red Acre Road Stow, MA 01775	Information Requested		Stow
$100.00	Narinian, Aram	316 Mt. Auburn Street Watertown, MA 02472			Watertown
$200.00	Neer, Jr., Robert	100 Morningside Drive , Apt. 3c New York, NY 10027	President	Zaps, Inc.	New York, NY
$500.00	Poras, Patti	121 Park Avenue Newton, MA 02458	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	Poras, Peter	121 Park Avenue Newton, MA 02458	President, Investment Division	Chestnut Hill Realty	Newton
$250.00	Rafferty, James	187 Concord Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138	Attorney	James J. Rafferty, Attorney at Law	Cambridge
$300.00	Roberts, Gail	9 Washington Avenue Cambridge, MA 02140	Information Requested		Cambridge
$500.00	Rodgers III, C.R.P.	84 Bigelow Drive Sudbury, MA 01776	Information Requested		Sudbury
$500.00	Rodgers, Danyel	84 Bigelow Drive Sudbury, MA 01776	Information Requested		Sudbury
$100.00	Sacco, Louis	1 Carson Road Woburn, MA 01801			Woburn
$100.00	Straus, Robert	22 Berkeley Street Cambridge, MA 02140			Cambridge
$250.00	Tenney, Bradford	163 Wright Street Arlington, MA 02474	Firefighter	City of Cambridge	Arlington
$250.00	Vigeant, Richard	13 Branch Street, Unit 215 Methuen, MA 01844	Carpenters Local Union No. 111		Methuen
$100.00	Vrotsos, Lynda	57 Summer Street Arlington, MA 02474			Arlington
$250.00	Wolfman, Toni	229 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Lawyer	Bentley College Institute of Women in Le	Cambridge
$100.00	Wortis, Rochelle	106 Berkshire Street Cambridge, MA 02141			Cambridge
$100.00	Zahr, Nadia	21145 Helmsman Drive, Apt. N13 Aventura, FL 33180			Aventura, FL
$500.00	Zuker, Edward	128 Baldpate Hill Road Newton Centre, MA	Owner/ceo	Chestnut Hill Realty	Newton
$500.00	Zuker, Judi	128 Baldpate Hill Road Newton, MA 02459	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	Zuker, Molly	22 Griggs Terrace Brookline, MA 02446	Information Requested		Brookline
$500.00	Zuker, Robert	22 Griggs Terrace Brookline, MA 02446	Information Requested		Brookline
$500.00	Abuzahra, Jehad	29 Mackenzie Lane Wakefield, MA 01880	Information Requested		Wakefield
$500.00	Abuzahra, Sheriff	331 Salem Street Lynnfield, MA 01940	Information Requested		Lynnfield
$200.00	Fry, Shanti	4 Berkeley Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Homemaker		Cambridge
$500.00	Gim, Meehn	581 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116	Kaya Restaurant	Owner	Boston
$500.00	Gladstone, Melissa	94 Woodbine Circle Needham, MA 02494	Information Requested		Needham
$500.00	Gladstone, Stephan	94 Woodbine Circle Needham, MA 02494	Information Requested		Needham
$500.00	Goodman, Abigail	78 Lake View Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138	Information Requested		Cambridge
$500.00	Goodman, Mark	78 Lake View Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138	Information Requested		Cambridge
$500.00	Higgins, Kelly	133 Claflin Street Belmont, MA 02478	Homemaker		Belmont
$500.00	McHugh, George	286 Independence Drive Chestnut Hill, MA 02467	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	McHugh, Laurie	238 North Street Stoneham, MA 02180	Information Requested		Stoneham
$500.00	Professional Firefighters of MA People's Cttee (80374)	130 Bowdoin St #710 Boston, MA 02108			Boston
$500.00	Siff, Eden	185 Baldpate Hill Road Newton, MA 02459	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	Siff, Lauren	185 Baldpate Hill Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02467	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	Zuker, Matthew	39 Glenland Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02467	Information Requested		Newton
$500.00	Andrews, Thomas	7 Brickyard Lane Westborough, MA 01581	Information Requested		Westborough
$250.00	Bachman, Katharine	23 Circuit Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02467	Attorney	Wilmer Hale LLP	Newton
$100.00	Barboza, Robert	12 Massasoit Way Mendon, MA 01756			Mendon
$100.00	Carbonneau, Steve	68 Frankland Road Hopkinton, MA 01748			Hopkinton
$100.00	Gibbons, Bernard	65 Shawmut Street Quincy, MA 02169			Quincy
$500.00	Joseph Powers	803 Summer Street South Boston, MA 02127	New England Regional Council of Carpenters		Boston
$500.00	Kazlauskas, Joseph	P.O. Box 88 Bridgewater, MA 02324	Information Requested		Bridgewater
$250.00	Kennedy, Sean	29 Sparhawk Street Brighton, MA 02135	Grafton Street Pub & Grill	Restaurant	Brighton
$250.00	Lee, Patrick	141 Arlington Street, Unit 2 Boston, MA 02118	Grafton Street Pub & Grill	Restaurant	Boston
$250.00	Lee, Peter	49 Century Lane Canton, MA 02021	Information Requested		Canton
$500.00	Maguire, Joseph	309 Hall Street Dunstable, MA 01827	Information Requested		Dunstable
$300.00	Mahoney, Robert	113 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138	Cambridge Firefighters Federal Credit Union		Cambridge
$500.00	Manfredi, David	90 Pembroke Street Boston, MA 02118	Information Requested		Boston
$500.00	Marcus, Joel	P.O. Box 2807 Beverly Hills, CA 90213	Information Requested		Beverly Hills, CA
$100.00	Mello, David	1 St. Lawrence Way North Attleborough, MA 02760			N. Attleborough
$500.00	O'Reilly, Jr., William	133 Abbott Road Wellesley, MA 02481	Information Requested		Wellesley
$100.00	Queen, Kerrie	5 Abbott Road Natick, MA 01760			Natick
$500.00	Richardson, James	1525 Escondido Way Belmont, CA 94002	Information Requested		Belmont
$250.00	Sheerin, Gerald	49 North Crescent Circle Brighton, MA 02135	Information Requested		Brighton
$100.00	Southwell, Donna	43 Locke Street Cambridge, MA 02140			Cambridge
$100.00	Wright, Charles	39b Park Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138			Cambridge

Click to column heading to sort. Click again to sort in reverse order.

Table updated October 19.
Total itemized receipts for September: $27,450
Total unitemized receipts: $765
Total Receipts: $28,215

Cambridge City Council 2009 Campaign Finance Report Summaries (PDF) – updated Oct 19, 2009

While some people enjoy reading novels, I get my reading pleasure from things like meeting minutes and campaign finance reports. For extra fun, I’ll analyze ballot data and voter history records or maybe write a little piece on proportional representation. I hope someone other than me finds this stuff interesting.

Here are a few items from past and present that get my attention:

1. Henrietta Davis’ recent reports show three different people paid as campaign staff (though two of them were only for a few hours). This contrasts with, say, Denise Simmons whose reports show no paid campaign staff. Some new candidates have hired campaign managers while others rely entirely on friends and family. [Aug 30 Note: Lest anyone misinterpret the intent of this note, the only point is that some candidates have paid staff and others do not.]
2. Marjorie Decker’s 2006 Annual Report showed a debt of $13,808.85 to Cambridge Offset Printing left over from her 2005 campaign. It makes you wonder why a business allows such substantial debts to remain unpaid for so long, yet additional unpaid bills for $1833.75 appeared on the 2007 report for a total liability of $15,642.60. This same report showed the illegal in-kind contribution of $2500 from the John Buonomo campaign paid to Cambridge Offset Printing which apparently covered what would have been an even greater debt. [Note: This story has been somewhat covered recently by the Cambridge Chronicle.] The report was later amended to bring the unpaid debt to Cambridge Offset Printing to $17,424.08. The 2008 Annual Report continued to show a $15,642.60 debt to this vendor with no indication yet of this debt being paid. At some point it’s fair to ask whether this is an unpaid debt or a very large in-kind donation of services.
3. Craig Kelley continues to personally fund a substantial portion of his campaigns, though his periodic reports show very little activity so far this year. So far, the campaigns of new candidates Cheung, Glick, Leavitt, Marquardt, Stohlman, and vanBeuzekom are primarily or entirely self-funded, but this will likely soon change as they attract more voters and supporters.
4. David Maher pulled in $14,465 in donations last December. Other incumbent city councillors will have similar major fundraising months. This illustrates one of the primary advantages of incumbency.
5. Gregg Moree’s 2007 Report showed an entirely self-funded $22,390 campaign, yet no details whatsoever appear about his expenditures.
6. Ken Reeves’ 2005 Report shows $12,170 in liabilities but absolutely no details are provided. In that year, he maintained a headquarters for perhaps four months in a prominent Central Square storefront, yet there is no record of any expenditure for rent or any record of an in-kind donation for what is far in excess of the campaign finance legal limits. Candidates are required to report the fair market value for any such donation of space and the name(s) of those who provide the space. Reeves also maintained a headquarters on Mass. Ave. for several months in the 2007 campaign and this also never appears in any reports. His 2007 reports show an outstanding debt of $14,875.83 primarily for campaign staff but with no mention of the headquarters. A very low estimate for the unreported donation of office space would be at least $6000 – far in excess of anything Mr. Buonomo improperly contributed to Ms. Decker’s campaign.
7. Two of the biggest funders of political campaigns (primarily in 2007) were Timothy and Amy Rowe (he’s the CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square). The recipients were Galluccio ($1250), Kelley ($1000), Davis ($1000), Toomey ($1000), M. Sullivan ($500), Decker ($1000), Maher ($1000), Reeves ($1000), Simmons ($1000), Seidel ($1000), and Murphy ($1000). The other king donors are John DiGiovanni (Trinity Management, Harvard Square) and his family. Since 2007, they gave to Reeves ($1500), M. Sullivan ($1000), Murphy ($2000), Galluccio ($3000), Decker ($1000), Maher ($2000), Simmons ($2000), E. Sullivan ($500), and Toomey ($1000). Surely, all this money flows from the kindness of their very large hearts.
8. Tim Toomey continues to pay Jason Alves (his City-funded personal aide) every month out of his campaign account as staff for his state representative district office. It’s apparently legal, but it highlights the clearly political nature of these City-funded aides.
9. As of Oct 19, the campaign treasure chests in decreasing order were (to the nearest dollar):
   

   Candidate	Balance		Candidate	Balance		Candidate	Balance
   Decker, Marjorie	$29,547		Seidel, Sam	$10,402		Ward, Larry	$1,144
   Simmons, Denise	$20,073		Glick, Silvia	$9,344		Reeves, Ken	$491
   Maher, David	$18,040		Cheung, Leland	$9,212		Adkins, Lawrence	$244
   Davis, Henrietta	$13,766		Sullivan, Edward J.	$7,469		Flanagan, Mark	$100
   Kelley, Craig	$13,748		vanBeuzekom, Minka	$5,348		Moree, Gregg J.	$0
   Toomey, Tim	$13,539		Stohlman, Tom	$3,920		Podgers, Kathy	$0
   Marquardt, Charles J.	$10,826		Leavitt, Neal	$1,726		Williamson, James	$0

10. [addendum] Marjorie Decker’s campaign receipts for September 2009 are something to behold. It seems like Billy Walsh must be her chief campaign fundraiser. It’s all about the real estate.

One observation worth noting is the trend over the years toward paid campaign managers. There was a day when managing the campaign of an Independent candidate would be entirely the work of friends and family. Paid staff was typically seen only with CCA type candidates. Nowadays, many candidates (other than the usual suspects) will hire campaign staff, though not all. Some incumbents have several paid staff (in addition to the City-funded personal staff who handle all their Council business while they’re out on the campaign trail).

Anyone can search the campaign finance reports at the OCPF website. Knock yourself out. – RW