Big money spent at campaign end

Several candidates for City Council earlier this year spent about $20,000 in the final 2 1/2 weeks before the April 13 election. That money did not have to be reported till months later. A recent check by ArcadiasBest.com found that 33-year-old losing candidate Paul Cheng’s final tally rose to a staggering $132,000 from $112,000 on March 31, more than double the next closest and nearly ten times what top vote-getter Bob Harbicht spent — less than $15,000. Harbicht’s campaign reported an extra $3,000 in funding in April. Now-Mayor Peter Amundson also had a surge of contributions and spending of nearly $20,000 in the final days of the campaign to push his final total to more than $61,000, which also ranks as one of the highest tallies of all-time. Councilman Mickey Segal’s final report shows more than $5,000 in additional funds in April that resulted in a total spend of nearly $24,000. Final paperwork for the other two losing candidates, Sho Tay and Jason Lee, was not immediately available. They had spent nearly $31,000 and more than $28,000, respectively, through March 31.

— By Scott Hettrick