One is on city council, the other is not.
One spent $14,471 on his personal campaign to successfully get re-elected, the other shelled out $25,800 on his first run for a council seat and lost.
So goes the financial gamble of running for office.
As voters confirmed in the November civic election, Geoff Meggs gamble paid off in his re-election as a Vision Vancouver councillor, while Joe Carangi couldnt cash in on his campaign to represent the NPA on council.
Meggs, who finished sixth in the balloting, and Carangi, who placed 19th, are among the first council candidates from the 2011 campaign to file financial disclosure documents at city hall. All candidates, political parties and electoral organizations must file by March 19.
Though Meggs and Carangi already filed, their spending doesnt give an accurate picture of how much money they benefited from because, historically, its their respective parties central campaigns that raise and spend the big money.
Talk among organizers from both parties in the fall was that spending could reach $2 million each. In the 2008 campaign, Vision raised $1.7 million and spent roughly $1.9 million, the NPA raised and spent $1 million, while COPE raised $349,000 and spent $346,000, according to documents at city hall.
Of the $14,471 Meggs spent in his 2011 run, the biggest donation$2,000came from developer Robert Macdonald, who also happened to be the NPAs chief fundraiser in the 2011 election battle.
Macdonalds reason for the donation was simple.
Geoff Meggs is my friend, he said, noting the late Jim Green introduced the pair about four years ago. I like Geoff, I think hes a really good person.
Though some political watchers might scratch their heads at a senior NPA party official giving money to the very party the NPA wanted to bounce from office, Macdonald said he doesnt see it that way.
I dont think of things on that level, he said. If somebody is a good person and I think theyre doing a good job, theres room for everybody in politics.
Reliance Properties Ltd., which donated $1,600 to Meggs, was the only other donor to give more than $1,000. All others gave $500 or less, including the Vancouver Police Union ($500), United Steel Workers ($500), former United Food and Commercial Workers boss Brooke Sundin ($500), B.C. Federation of Labour boss Jim Sinclair ($200) and architect Bing Thom ($193.90).
Carangis biggest donation was $5,000 from Jing Yuan Liu, whom Carangi described as a friend and contractor. Concord Pacific, which has historically given thousands of dollars to the citys mainstream parties, gave Carangi $2,000. Savary Management, the law firm of Watson Goepel Maledy (where Carangi works as a lawyer) and friend Francis George Duke all donated $1,000 each. The Ahwaz Hookah House gave $200.
Carangi, who estimated he spent $10,000 of his own money on meetings and get-togethers to raise support for his nomination, was philosophical when asked to rationalize spending $25,800 to finish nine spots out of a council seat.
Was it worth it in the sense of the experience? Yes it was because I met a lot of very amazing people and I actually helped a few people, he said. Was the experience with the NPAwas that a worthwhile experience? It was very tough for me, it was very challenging at times.
Carangi said he didnt consistently connect ideologically with the NPA, adding that he didnt always agree with NPA mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton. He wouldnt elaborate, saying he didnt want to mud sling.
He said the NPA faltered because it didnt have a message that resonated with people and the campaign was mired in negative attacks against Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver.
Just being negative doesnt win electionsand I was part of that, he said. But that said, you have to have a vision and you have to be able to express that vision in a sense that people say, You know what, I understand what these guys are all about.
Carangi characterized his politics as more like a federal Liberal with NDP leanings, adding that hes not pro-development but hes not anti-development either. He is, as he said, a person who is for the collective and not an advocate of big tax cuts for developers, or allowing them to build with no amenities for the community.
If I run again, Im going to be a hell of a lot pickier, he added.
In other documents filed at city hall, the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association disclosed that it spent $100,869 in the 2011 campaign mainly to support COPE, which elected only one person, trustee Allan Wong. The organization gave $10,000 to Vision.
Recently, the current council, which is dominated by Vision Vancouver and includes members of the NPA and Green Party, unanimously agreed again to appeal to the provincial government to impose spending limits on election campaigns and ban union and corporate donations.
Twitter: @Howellings
