Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Vote-getter Gambord dug deep into own pockets

By Clarence Cromwell

Anybody wondering how so many "Vote for Joel Gambord" signs got spread around Monte Sereno?

Gambord ran a $6,000 campaign--a colossal event in small-town Monte Sereno politics--and it all came out of his pocket. He was the only Monte Sereno candidate who spent enough money to require campaign financial disclosure statements this election.

Candidates rarely spend more than a few hundred on a Monte Sereno campaign, current councilmembers have said. Instead, most of them print a few flyers to hand out as they knock on virtually every door in the city.

Incumbent Mayor Nancy Hobbs, who was defeated in last Tuesday's election, said she's tried to keep her campaign under $100 this year.

But Gambord didn't want to run a low-budget campaign, he said.

"I have to do mailing, and that's what it costs," Gambord said. "I want to get to all the people. When you're an unknown quantity, you have to get your message out."

Gambord also visited some 15 percent of the houses in Monte Sereno while walking precincts, he said.

Not only is it rare for candidates to spend so much in Monte Sereno, but it's unusual for a candidate anywhere to spend so much of his own money.

"I've had people offer it to me, and I've said 'No, thank you.' I'd rather do it myself," Gambord said.

The closest another local politician came to Gambord in self-funding was thousands behind; Jan Hutchins and his wife, Teri Hope, put $1,184 into his Los Gatos council campaign. Most others in Los Gatos and Saratoga used $400 to $700 of their own money, if any.

Gambord dug into his pocket three times, for a total of $6,000, as of Oct. 19. The first filing period, up to Sept. 30, he put $3,000 into play: $1,000 on July 30 and $2,000 more on Sept. 11.

Then, he pumped another $3,000 into the campaign Oct. 7.

Gambord spent most of the money to produce mailers and buy yard signs for supporters.

He paid $312 for a list of registered voters from the county registrar's office. He paid The Portrait Gallery of Los Gatos $275 for campaign photos. He paid $75 to the California Voter Guide. Another $770 went to the Edward Horn Co. of Glenside, Pa., for signs and door-hangers. Another promotional item, from Style Awards & Promotions cost the Gambord campaign $1,786.

None of the other candidates were required to report their expenditures, because they filed declarations with the city clerk that they will spend less than $1,000 during the campaign.