Click here for the Campaign Funding Report For Ron Williams

Analysis of Williams' Campaign Funding Report

A detailed analysis of the contributions to Ron Williams' campaign has traced most of the funds (about 90%) to developers, attorneys, and banks. Over 90% of the funds, and 17 of 20 contributors, come from outside of Ward 6. Half of the contributors are not in Overland Park.

Williams' is running against Dan Carbery for the Ward 6 seat, Overland Park, KS, City Council seat. Carbery's campaign has no such funding: 9 out of 10 contributors and 94% of his funding is from residents of Ward 6. His report will be published on Neighborhoodnet shortly.

The reported information is only for the first part of the Primary and does not include funds deposited after February 17. The total for Ron Williams at that point was $5,100.

One way to quickly categorize the sources of the funds is through their ties to one of three development related interests: the Dean family and its businesses; the law firm of Polsinelli, Shalton, Welte, whose attorney's such as John Petersen often appear before the Overland Park City Council; and bankers.

Dean related funding	$2,500	49%
Polsinelli related funding	$800	16%
Bank related funding	$550	11%
Other developer related	$750	16%

The relationships are not always obvious: an officer or member of the board of directors; an attorney; an agent; a family member. Any of these have the right to contribute funds as individuals and without disclosing their relationships or even their occupations if the amounts going to any one candidate are small enough.

Outside Interests Funding Williams

Almost all of the Williams' money is coming from outside Ward 6: 17 out of 20 contributors, over 90% of the funds. In fact, 10 of the 20 are not even in Overland Park. You have to ask yourself why people and firms outside of Overland Park are trying so hard to shape the City Council. It is not the residents of Ward 6 who are supporting Ron Williams, it is financial interests outside of the Ward who are funding him.

The Las Vegas Connection

One of the largest contributions came from an apartment builder in Las Vegas, Nevada, who inadvertantly deposited $1,000 to another developer-supported candidate in Ward 5, Dina Fisk. The legal limit on a contribution is $500, so Fisk then transfered $500 to Williams' account. This money is not included in the above figures. A detailed report of Fisk's financing will also be published shortly.

The Campaign Funding Report is based largely on the Kansas Government Ethics Commission report filed on February 17 by Ron Williams and supplied by the Johnson County Election Office. However, contributers of $150 or less do not have to list their affiliations or occupations. A search of open records on corporations and their officers was used to match names, addresses, and occupations against the information in the Ethics Commission report. This helped to identify additional funds flowing from development interests.

Residents Provided This Analysis

Many thanks to the members of the Johnson County South Coalition and other interested citizens for their contributions to this analysis.

If you have any corrections or additional information on the listed contributors, please feel free to contact Bob Phillips at NeighborhoodNet at phillips@kcnet.com

NeighborhoodNet endorses Dan Carbery as the candidate who will best serve the interests of residents and neighborhoods, as opposed to a candidate like Ron Williams, who is clearly the choice of the developers.

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