Does anyone have comments on this? I can find the websites where I should donate, but I'd love to know what limits exist, and which donations are publicized. Thank you!

Palo Alto has no limits on individual campaign contributions or total campaign expenditures for council elections. The former can be mandated, the latter would need to be voluntary. I wrote about in a sum up of Palo Alto's 2016 election.

and the link is ...
Web Link

Fred, thank you, and great article on limits, we absolutely need them. Crazy that there is an expenditure limit on the books that we just didn't re-enable.

How much would it cost to win a PACC election without actually promising or endorsing anything? In other words, just to have a seat on the council with no strings attached.

Would a personal expenditure of $25-40K cover it?

@Amrit, cost would depend heavily on your other attributes. Many biographic details can work for you or against you. Any skeletons in the closet can be very expensive to overcome. Past activity on commissions or in volunteer work must be presented in a positive light. The biggest variable may be the electorate's attitude toward the competing candidates. The right person can be elected with zero expenditure, while the wrong person couldn't get in with a million dollars.

^ As I said, "... the electorate's attitude toward the competing candidate ..."

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On a smaller scale, you have various Palo Alto neighborhoods which are essentially voting blocks each with their own localized concerns.

Based on your platform, just campaign in the neighborhoods where you feel you can procure the most votes & don't waste your time, energy & resources on the others.

That's how it's done. Good luck.

I would imagine that any prospective PACC candidate who actively ridiculed or questioned the motives/actions of current council members would have a pretty good chance at landing some serious votes.

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