Los Altos Town Crier - Huttlinger Alliance reports election expenses

1Comment
at Thursday, 01 November 2012 21:25by David Jaques

How interesting that Amanda Burke-Aaronson was so heavily criticized for her fundraising, while the Huttlinger Alliance quietly raises almost double that amount, which it uses it to support her opponents, and that apparently is perfectly acceptable. Did contributors know that their money was really being used for political campaigning?

2Comment
at Friday, 09 November 2012 08:11by RR

It was only after Amanda's robust campaign efforts and failure to consistently disclose her relationship with BCS, that the Hutlinger Alliance reacted with flyers, mailers and print ads. I donated to Huttlinger during the summer. Whether my money is used for attorney's fees or election campaigns, is of no concern to me. What I care about is that the money be used to protect LASD's high-performing traditional schools. In the case of this election, it was money very well spent.

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Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
Wednesday, 31 October 2012

The Huttlinger Alliance for Education, a local parent group that supports public education, has been active during campaign season, mounting a fundraising effort and endorsing candidates for the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees, the Los Altos City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Education. Many community members have received mailers from the group and read their advertisements in the Town Crier, prompting some to question just how much the nonprofit organization has spent on Tuesday’s election. Huttlinger Alliance officials filed their Campaign Disclosure Statement last week, reporting that they have raised and spent approximately $15,000 on the local elections this year. The Alliance endorsed Pablo Luther and incumbent Steve Taglio for the school district board; Jeannie Bruins, Jan Pepper and Jerry Sorensen for the Los Altos City Council; and Los Altos resident David Cortright for the county board of education. The group spent $8,312 on print advertising and printing and postal expenses for mailers. The group also contributed $1,000 each to the Taglio and Luther campaigns. Huttlinger Alliance President Elena Shea said the group raised an additional $5,000 that was not reported during the current filing period. Local parents founded the Huttlinger Alliance earlier this year to protect and promote their neighborhood public schools. The group has a 501(c)(6) designation, which is nonprofit without a tax-exempt status. The Alliance has filed arguments in the ongoing legal battle between the Los Altos School District and Bullis Charter School, an effort to promote parents’ rights in the fight for school facilities. Shea attributed the group’s fundraising success to personal donations from community members. She stressed that the Alliance developed its advertising and mailers separate from the candidates’ individual campaigns, and that the candidates had no input on the materials. Shea added that the Huttlinger Alliance took a conservative approach to fundraising, recognizing that fall is an important time for the Los Altos Educational Foundation and local PTAs to solicit a large portion of their funds for the year. “A contribution to the Alliance is a ‘third check’ donation, prioritized after support for PTA and/or the Los Altos Educational Foundation,” the Huttlinger Alliance website states. For more information, visit www.huttlingeralliance.org. <p>For streaming Los Altos election news, tidbits, photos and results, <a href="http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44720&Itemid=109" target="_blank">follow our live reporting</a>. We've also <a href="http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44724&Itemid=46" target="_blank">created a photo album</a> of Election Day moments from around Los Altos. And you can <a href="http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_banners&task=click&bid=84" target="_blank">explore our full coverage</a> for background information on candidates and races as well as a digest of recent election news.</p> 2 Comments 1Comment at Thursday, 01 November 2012 21:25by David Jaques How interesting that Amanda Burke-Aaronson was so heavily criticized for her fundraising, while the Huttlinger Alliance quietly raises almost double that amount, which it uses it to support her opponents, and that apparently is perfectly acceptable. Did contributors know that their money was really being used for political campaigning? 2Comment at Friday, 09 November 2012 08:11by RR It was only after Amanda's robust campaign efforts and failure to consistently disclose her relationship with BCS, that the Hutlinger Alliance reacted with flyers, mailers and print ads. I donated to Huttlinger during the summer. Whether my money is used for attorney's fees or election campaigns, is of no concern to me. What I care about is that the money be used to protect LASD's high-performing traditional schools. In the case of this election, it was money very well spent. Post Comment Email (will not be published) Name Title Comment remaining characters Post We reserve the right to use comments submitted on our site in whole or in part. We will not publish comments that contain inappropriate content, advertising or website links to inappropriate content.

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