School board hopefuls spent most as Marblehead election looms

MARBLEHEAD – With the town election scheduled for Monday from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., most candidates in the town’s contested races had their campaign finance reports at the office of Town Clerk Robin Michaud – and the candidates in the hotly-contested School Committee race spent the most money.Incumbent Jonathan Lederman and challengers Jennifer Schaeffner and Kathy Leonardson spent a total of $3,747 on their campaigns.Schaeffner spent $1,585 on a Web site, signs, stickers and campaign materials (including ballpoint pens with her campaign information on them).Leonardson received $1,040 in donations, $900 from eight major donors and $140 in small donations, and spent $1,639 on signs, handouts, postage and an advertisement, leaving her campaign temporarily $599 in the hole.Lederman had a balance of $385. He received $523 in contributions and spent that on signs, leaving him with a $385 balance, and he noted that his campaigns over the past nine years owe him a total of $5,630.In the race for the five seats on the Board of Selectmen, challenger Michael Rockett reported spending $1,507 of his own money on signs and stickers, and challenger Christopher Hartley said he spent $292 of his money on signs.Incumbent Jackie Belf-Becker reported a starting campaign balance of $345 and a closing balance of $341, with one $4 expense. Contacted for comment about the $4 expense, Belf-Becker explained that the $4 referred to a $1 monthly bank charge for maintaining the campaign account, not a purchase.Selectman Judy Jacobi reported a balance of $3,373 and no expenses or contributions.Selectman William Woodfin and challenger Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy reported no contributions and no expenses. Selectman James Nye filed his report Thursday – “I’ve been busy with other things,” he told a reporter – and reported no contributions or expenses.In the race for a two-year seat on the Water and Sewer Commission, candidates John Belanger and R. Thomas Hamond reported no contributions or expenses.