Here’s what candidates spent so far in election

Municipal candidate pre-election reports of contributions and spending for the November general election were due last Friday, October 24, and there was little to report in the Bloomfield Hills City Commission and the Baldwin Public Library Board contests but the race for Birmingham City Commission was another story, including the possible failure by one high-spending candidate to file campaign reports with the county clerk as required by state law.

All candidates running for local office on Tuesday, November 4, were required to file by last Friday reports detailing donations and spending through October 19, with the exception of those candidates who sought a report waiver when they first filed for office because they anticipated spending or receiving contributions of $1,000 or less.

The four candidates who filed for three four-year terms on the Baldwin Pubic Library Board all requested waivers on reports when they first filed paperwork to run for office.

In Bloomfield Hills, where six candidates are seeking five two-year terms on the city commission, four contenders applied for waivers when they first filed, while Alan Ackerman spent just over $979 but appeared to take in no contributions and Anjali Prasad spent $2,586 and appeared to loan her committee $3,700.

Of the five candidates in Birmingham, targeting one of the three four-year seats on the city commission, two candidates requested report waivers – Zachary Jennings and Bill Kolb. However, there is some question whether Kolb had exceeded by October 19 the $1,000 cap on expenses and donations which would mean his waiver would have automatically been suspended and a report would have been required. Kolb ran a full page ad in a local publication weeks ago although without knowing the ad rate, there is no way to know if the waiver still applied. This week he ran ads online and several ads with a newspaper, and many publications require candidates to pay in advance for ads when placed. Kolb also had a website for his campaign, created by a firm that promotes that the minimum cost of creating a website is in the $450-$500 range.

If Kolb failed to file a necessary report, fines from the county clerk’s office are usually minor, such as $25 per violation. A post election report from all candidates is due December 14. As of end of the day on Thursday, October 30, the county clerk’s website did not show a pre-election report for Kolb as having been filed.

Of the remaining candidates for city commission, incumbent Andrew Haig took in contributions totaling $5,825 and spent $1,421 through October 19.

Candidate Kevin Kozlowski took in $9,609 and spent $1,864, while Doug White took in a total of $1,200, which appeared to be mostly a loan from the candidate, and spent $991.