Inside Hesperia

Your mailbox has been bombarded with shiny, colorful fliers.

You’ve heard the voices making their cases on local radio and over your phone.

And you can’t drive down Main St. without catching a glimpse of a few dozen signs trying to brand their names into your memory by Tuesday.

Six days away from the election, Hesperia registered voters probably have encountered a message or two — or dozens — from local campaigns hounding you for your vote.

Hesperia City Council candidates, Hesperia Unified School District governing board candidates and political action committees have raised nearly $300,000 combined in signs, mailers, advertisements and whatever means deemed necessary to get their message out to you, the voter.

But some candidates have far outspent others.

City Council candidate Mark Kirk has raised at least $140,242 and spent $131,269, according to campaign statement forms released on Oct. 23. Kirk is nearing the city’s all-time spending record, set by Councilman Ed Pack in 2006 at $151,616.

Kirk’s biggest monetary competition has not even raised half as much as Kirk; candidate Russ Blewett has raised $61,170 and spent $60,388. The other candidates, Scott Bennett, Paul Bosacki, Mayor Mike Leonard, Dennis Arquette and Rochelle Garner, have not raised more than $12,000 each.

In the school board race, Anthony Riley’s campaign bank is larger than all five of his opponents combined. Riley raised $57,088 and spent $56,227 as of Oct. 23, reported The Hesperia Star.

School board candidates Chris Bentley, Bruce Henson, Chris Lindsay, Frank Rich and Eric Swanson have raised no more than $14,000 each.

Meanwhile, candidates from both races have turned in 470 forms, which declare they will not spend more than $1,000.

Some candidates — especially the ones spending less on their campaigns — have accused Kirk and Riley of trying to “buy the election.”

Others, such as Kirk, say they have worked hard to earn the support of their contributors and are exercising every resource available to get their message out to the voters. They argue that getting their viewpoints out to you, the voter, is downright expensive.

What do you think? Has the money paid off? Do the names Kirk and Riley strike a familiar chord that may sway your vote?

Which forms of campaign advertising do you find most effective — large signs by the side of the road or those flashy pamphlets invading your mail space?

Just what role will money have played in Hesperia’s local election 2008?

Be sure to stop in again next week to find out.

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