This handy chart tells the story:
Developers Donations to Council Chart
I want to thank our DL Research Assistant for all their help on this. The assistant wishes to remain anonymous as they’re embarrassed to admit that they’re making as much as our contributors. AKA, nothing. After Dee Durham and Dave Carter, who collected no money from developers, and have made it a point to collect nothing from developers, Jea Street comes in a distant third, with ‘only’ 32% of his campaign contributions coming from developers and their, wait for it, ‘ilk’. The following have all collected over 50% of their campaign lucre from the development community: Hollins-52%, Tackett-53%, Kilpatrick-58%, Cartier-59%, Hartly-Nagle-60%, Smiley-61%, and, leading the pack when it comes to selling out to developers, Bell at 79%, and, wait for it, Valerie George with 87% (??!!).
Every single one of these sell-outs should be challenged the next time they’re up for election. Those up in 2024 include: Karen Hartly-Nagle, George Smiley, John Cartier, Tim Sheldon, Jea Street, David Tackett, and Bill Bell.
If you’re thinking of running, remember this: You can run on representing the people who live in your district, and you can use the fact that the incumbent has been bribed by the development community to contrast how you will be different. I think it’s a winning issue every time. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.