3 of 7 local candidates file final campaign-finance tallies on time
Those who complied gave a final glimpse at their spending in this year’s bruising campaign.
State law requires disclosures within 30 days of election day. The filings show fundraising and expenses over the final week of the campaign and capture any housekeeping as candidates shutter their operations.
As of May 8, only Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore and Paul Boehm in the Select Board race and Sandeep Pisharody in the School Committee race had submitted documents. Select Board candidates Mary Hartman and Joe Laurin were late, as were School Committee hopefuls Alexa Anderson and Michael Williams.
Hartman and Boehm won the two-seat Select Board race. Williams and Pisharody secured seats in the two-opening School Committee contest, edging incumbent Anderson off the panel.
Of the three candidates who made the filing deadline:
- Akehurst-Moore showed no new fundraising between April 1 and May 8 but emptied her campaign coffers into The Acton Market, which she owns. She paid Acton Market $1,815.03 on May 1 for “various campaign events” between February and April. She did not respond to a question from The Acton Bridge asking how she calculated the cost of events. Counting her pre-election disclosures, she raised and spent $6,625 during the campaign, ending with $0 in her account.
- Boehm reported $123.72 in eleventh-hour fundraising and loaned his campaign $40. His only expense after April 1 came when he paid $200 on April 20 for website support. Boehm raised $3,623.72 during the entire race, loaned his campaign $6,780, and spent $10,302.88. He did not repay himself for his loans and ended with $100.84 cash on hand.
- Pisharody collected a last-minute $150 donation and spent $137.25 on campaign materials on March 28. He had $111.41 in individual expenses under $50, which don’t need to be itemized. He reported a $300 in-kind contribution of yard signs on March 31. His campaign totals amounted to $2,716 in fundraising, $631.96 of in-kind contributions, and $2,685.19 in expenses. He finished with $30.81 in the bank.
Town clerk Kaari Mai Tari said Acton does not generally fine candidates for late filings. Staff were in touch with Hartman, Laurin, Anderson, and Williams as of May 8 to collect their disclosures.
In a May 9 email to The Bridge, Anderson said she was out of the country and would file her paperwork “next week.”
Hartman’s campaign treasurer, Susan Bates, said she would file on Monday. Williams filed on May 9, after The Bridge collected documents. Laurin did not answer a Bridge inquiry by press time.
