Bread and butter

City Council candidate Jessie Taliaferro received the overwhelming majority – 77 percent – of her campaign funds from developers and their allies in the real estate and building community, campaign filings with the Wake County Board of Elections reveal.

Moreover, in the most recent month of September, Taliaferro received 93.8% of her campaign funds from developers and the real estate industry.

Taliaferro’s filings with the Wake Board of Elections reveal that the vast majority of her contributions in the 2006-2007 campaign cycle came from developers, developers’ lawyers, spouses of developers, and others in the real estate and development industry.

Developer John Kane and his wife, Willa, contributed a total of $2000 to Taliaferro’s campaign. Taliaferro has been criticized for supporting Kane’s proposal to build a private parking deck for luxury condos using $75 million in taxpayer funds (Independent Weekly, August 15, 2007).

Developers’ attorneys Clyde Holt, Elizabeth Trahos, Mack Paul, and Isabel Mattox were among those who contributed at least $250 each to Taliaferro's campaign. They have appeared regularly before the Raleigh Planning Commission to advocate for rezonings and other development approvals on behalf of real estate interests.

The analysis, performed by the Rodger Koopman campaign, was based on public record filings for the current election cycle.

The campaign contributions that Taliaferro received from developers help to explain the incumbent’s position in favor of development interests, such as the Kane parking deck subsidy.

Taliaferro also opposed the mayor’s proposal to increase impact fees so that development would pay more of its own way, leaving Raleigh taxpayers paying 75% of the costs of growth according to an independent study performed for the City of Raleigh by Duncan Associates (News & Observer, April 19, 2006).

The election is on October 9.