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Wednesday, April 11, 2007 · Page 2 Spending not always tied to campaign success CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 For council candidates in Essex Ward 1, Randy Voakes reported the highest campaign expenses at $3,064. Morley Bowman reported the lowest at $0. In Ward 2, incumbent Richard Meloche spent $1,097, while his challenger, Randy McCloskey, spent $2,334. Meloche was declared the winner in that contest. Some incumbent candidates saved money by reusing election signs from the 2003 election. A total of $37,381 in campaign spending was reported in Essex, a fraction of the $175,703 that was allowed by the According to campaign finance forms filed with the town, Essex Mayor Ron McDermott spent almost $3,000 less than his challenger in the Nov. 13 municipal elections, but retained his seat. province under the Municipal Act. In neighbouring Kingsville, council candidate spending varied from a low of $190 to a high of $9,782. The spending limit was $16,324. The high figure belonged to Katherine Gunning, winner in the contest for deputy mayor. Of the elected Kingsville councillors, Tamara Stomp won a seat with election spending of only $647 compared to a high of $4,284 for Brad Stevenson. Campaign finance figures for municipalities in the county were considerably lower than the City of Windsor, where Mayor Francis spent Eddie $77,950, well within the limit for mayoral candidates set at $112,248 plus 70 cents per elector. Francis spent over $18,000 just on election brochures, almost $10,000 more than Essex Mayor Ron McDermott's total election costs. Windsor council candidates had a limit of $20,000 to $34,000 for campaign financing, with Windsor Ward 4 Coun. Bill Mara running up a bill of $26,610. Signs becoming a problem, council warned Essex council agreed to look at the measures other municipalities are taking to control the amount of signage popping up on telephone polls after complaints were made by a representative of the Harrow Chamber of Commerce April 2. "With more traffic, more signs are coming up," said Robert Kehl, who warned council about signage becoming an eyesore in Harrow. "Let's see if we can clean that up." Kehl showed councillors photos of telephone and hydro polls in the Harrow area that were plastered with five or six signs on each. Ward 1 Coun. Randy Voakes asked if a by-law could be implemented to prohibit people from posting signs on town property. He added that election campaign signs should also be banned from town property. Ensuring that free speech will still be allowed, council agreed to look into the methods used by other municipalities to control the number of advertising signs found on hydro and telephone polls.