Palo Alto市议会选举进入冲刺：候选人 Yudy Deng 筹款18.2万美元居首，两候选人住房立场对立
位于加州圣克拉拉县的 Palo Alto 市，市议会选举进入最后冲刺。10月23日公布的选前最后一份竞选财务申报显示，这场争夺7人市议会中3个开放席位的选战，已成为近年来该市最昂贵的一次选举。在8名候选人中，Bryna Chang 与 Yudy Deng 筹款遥遥领先，成为选战焦点。
根据申报数据，现任市长 Vicki Veenker 在本申报周期（9月20日以来）筹得略超2.3万美元，50名捐款人中有72%居住在 Palo Alto，其本轮选举周期筹款总额接近7.5万美元。Bryna Chang 的筹款总额比 Veenker 多出约2万美元。Yudy Deng 以18.2万美元的总筹款额居首，是 Chang 的两倍，比历届刚过六位数的纪录保持者还要多出数万美元。
Chang 与 Deng 已在9月底先后宣布停止接受捐款。Chang 在宣布时曾批评 Deng 的捐款人中有不少不住在 Palo Alto；Deng 则回应称，其捐款主要来自家人、朋友，以及她在湾区非营利组织外展工作中结识的社区成员。
两人在 Palo Alto 最具争议的住房议题上立场对立：现任规划与交通委员会主席 Chang 倾向慢速增长政策，常对新开发项目提出质疑；Deng 则支持简化住房审批流程，并已获得 YIMBY Action 南湾分会的背书。两人也是仅有的两位拥有市政厅任职经历的非现任候选人，Deng 过去几年一直在公园与休闲委员会任职。
除 Veenker 外，另一位寻求连任的现任议员 Ed Lauing 本周期筹得约1.3万美元，96%捐款人来自本地，筹款总额5.1万美元。其余候选人筹款均在数千美元以下。11月3日选举日，选民还将就 Cubberley 社区中心公投案（Measure J）投票，该公投案截至10月17日已筹款超过12万美元。
来源：GSM·美国
Palo Alto Council Race Enters Final Stretch: Yudy Deng Leads Fundraising With $182,000 as Two Candidates Split on Housing
PALO ALTO, California — In Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, the city council race has entered its final stretch. The last campaign finance filings before Election Day, reported on October 23, show the contest for three open seats on the seven-member council has become one of the most expensive in recent city history. Among eight candidates, Bryna Chang and Yudy Deng have outraised the field by wide margins.
Mayor Vicki Veenker raised a little over $23,000 in the current filing period (since September 20) from 50 donors, 72% of whom live in Palo Alto, bringing her total for the cycle to just shy of $75,000. Bryna Chang's total is about $20,000 ahead of Veenker's. Yudy Deng leads the field with $182,000 — double Chang's total and tens of thousands more than previous record-holders who barely crossed six figures.
Both Chang and Deng announced at the end of September that they would stop accepting donations. Chang's announcement criticized the number of Deng's donors who live outside Palo Alto; Deng responded that her donations came mostly from family, friends and community members she met through nonprofit outreach across the Bay Area.
The two stand on opposite sides of Palo Alto's fiercest housing debate: Chang, who chairs the Planning and Transportation Commission, favors slow-growth policies and often challenges new developments, while Deng supports streamlining the housing approval process and has been endorsed by the South Bay chapter of YIMBY Action. They are also the only non-incumbent candidates with City Hall experience; Deng has served for the past few years on the Parks and Recreation Commission.
The only other incumbent, Councilmember Ed Lauing, raised about $13,000 this period, with 96% of his donors from Palo Alto, for a $51,000 total. Fundraising drops off sharply after that. On Election Day, November 3, voters will also decide the Cubberley Community Center ballot measure (Measure J), which had raised more than $120,000 as of October 17.
Source: GSM·America
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：Palo Alto 市政厅。摄影：Tomwsulcer，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Palo Alto City Hall, by Tomwsulcer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
