Click here for the Campaign Funding Report For Dina Fisk

Analysis of Fisk's Campaign Funding Report

A detailed analysis of the contributions to Dean Fisk's campaign has traced most of the funds, about two thirds, to developers, attorneys, and banks. In addition, 2/3 of the funds come from outside of Ward 5. Of 41 contributors, 17 were not in Overland Park at all.

Fisk is running against John Thompson for the Ward 5, Overland Park, KS, City Council seat. To date, Thompson himself has provided all funding for his own campaign - approximately $300. He has pledged to self fund his campaign and to accept no outside money.

The reported information is only for the first part of the Primary and does not include funds deposited after February 17. The total for Dina Fisk at that point was $7,080.

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

Realtors/land planning/construction	$2,550	36%
Polsinelli related funding	$1175	17%
Bank/Investment related funding	$700	10%
Other attorneys	$330	5%

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 Fisk

Most of Fisk's money is coming from outside Ward 5: over 67% of the funds. In fact, 17 of the 41 contributors 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 5 who are primarily supporting Dina Fisk, it is financial interests outside of the Ward who are funding her.

The Las Vegas Connection

One of the largest contributions came from a real estate and construction firm in Las Vegas, Nevada, who inadvertantly deposited $1,000 to Dina Fisk. The legal limit on a contribution is $500 for each election, Primary and General. So Fisk then transfered $500 to the developer supported candidate in Ward 6, Ron Williams'. Fisk's $500 is included in the above figures. A detailed report of Williams' financing. is also available.

The Campaign Funding Report is derived from 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 John Thompson for Ward 5 as the candidate who will best serve the interests of residents and neighborhoods, as opposed to a candidate like Dina Fisk, who is clearly the choice of the developers.

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