It's an expensive campaign It's an expensive campaign (October 22, 2003)
Developer Doug Ross has opened up his checkbook to ensure Measure C wins on Nov. 4, a fact that makes some in town uneasy.

Through the Sept. 20 reporting period, Ross had spent $115,000 on the Yes on C campaign, compared to $12,000 spent by the No on C campaign.

With six weeks between the Sept. 20 financial reporting date and the election, it's anyone's guess how much Ross will eventually spend on the election.

It already is one of the most expensive campaigns in the city's history, topping the No on Measure G campaign that spent $90,000 in 2000 to defeat a proposed historic preservation ordinance.

Ross will have to go a long way to set a spending record, though, since Stanford University spent $400,880 in the 1997 Sand Hill Road election.

Still, the amount of money Ross is willing to spend in the campaign is raising some eyebrows. "That's an obscene amount of money to spend in a Palo Alto campaign," said former Mayor Gary Fazzino, who hasn't endorsed either side.

Ross' money has bought the services of professional campaign consultants and pollsters, and will likely result in a lot of mailed election pieces. But Ross also notes the support his project has garnered, nearly all of the surrounding small businesses in the SOFA area -- 39 businesses for Measure C versus two opposed.

--Don Kazak

It's an expensive campaign It's an expensive campaign (October 22, 2003)Developer Doug Ross has opened up his checkbook to ensure Measure C wins on Nov. 4, a fact that makes some in town uneasy.

It's an expensive campaign It's an expensive campaign (October 22, 2003)
Developer Doug Ross has opened up his checkbook to ensure Measure C wins on Nov. 4, a fact that makes some in town uneasy.