Measure J’s opposition has brought its donation total to nearly $1.9 million through the latest reporting period, while the committee supporting the initiative raised a total of about $108,000 through the same date, according to campaign finance documents.
The documents, filed with the San Benito County Elections Office, detail donations and spending for the two sides from Oct. 1 through Oct. 18. Measure J aims to ban enhanced oil extraction practices such as fracking, cyclic steaming and well acidizing throughout the county while barring all petroleum activities in residential zones near the two cities.
The opposition has far out-raised and out-spent the yes side, with $1,863,102 in year-to-date donations through Oct. 18 compared with $107,770 on the yes side through the same date. The San Benito Rising group that later became the Coalition to Protect San Benito – representing the supportive side of the initiative – also raised $10,717 through Oct. 18.
The total for the No on Measure J side amounts to more than a 16-to-1 advantage in donations, according to the records.
Those records, the last campaign finance documents filed before the Nov. 4 election, detail where the money has come from and gone in the latest period from Oct. 1 through Oct. 18.
In that period, the no side raised $121,813. The yes side raised $32,530 during the same time frame, according to records.
For the no side, Californians for Energy Independence Including Energy Producers has contributed the entire amount for the campaign to date. Oil companies such as Chevron Corp. and Aera Energy fund the committee’s efforts.
For the yes side, individual donations from local residents made up the vast majority of contributions. Top contributions on the yes side included $3,500 from Paicines Ranch owner Sallie Calhoun and $!0,000 from Michael Finkelstein at the Center for Biological Diversity.
On the spending side, the opposition has put most of its money into a massive media campaign. Some of the details from the no side’s campaign finance reports include:
•       The campaign had doled out more than $500,000 a piece to San Francisco-based Whitehurst/Mosher Campaign Strategy and Media – which ran the campaign – and Redondo Beach-based Fortune Media as well.
•       As for local TV stations, the campaign had paid $178,786 to KSBW and another $50,419 to KION, according to the latest figures.
•       New SV Media, the company that owns the Free Lance, had received $13,800 through the latest period, according to the records.
•       The opposition’s campaign had paid a variety of production companies. It paid two talent-casting companies for campaign work, including $6,977 to International Talent Casting and $3,750 to Look Talent.
On the spending side for the yes side, most of the money went toward supplies from places such as Lowe’s and Staples in Gilroy, Office Max in Salinas and consulting services. Some of the details from the yes side’s campaign finance reports include:
•       The yes side had spent $21,445 through the latest period on services from Sacramento-based Ross Bates Consulting.
•       The campaign had spent $2,000 in monthly rent for both September and October for its campaign headquarters at 221 Fifth St.
