Archive for July 10th, 2013

$1m spent by candidates

(CNS): According to the submissions from the 46 candidates in the May general elections who complied with the law and submitted their accounts to the Elections Office by the 28 June deadline, they collectively spent close to $1 million on their respective campaigns. The PPM, which fielded 15 candidates, ran up a bill of $336,808, averaging $22,454 per candidate, well under the $30,000 limit per head for party members, and the UDP spent a more modest $225,326.37, an average of $18,777 per candidate. However, while both parties had a shortfall between the money they spent and the money they raised, the PPM came closest to raising the full revenue of its campaign, with just a $18,456 gap, compared to a difference in revenue raised and cash spent by the UDP of $39,224.

The spending by independent candidates, who were allowed to spend up to $35,000 each, varied greatly, with the losing candidate in North Side, Joey Ebanks, spending the least at only $5,119.02, while Bo Miller exceeded his spending allocation with an election campaign bill of over $35,568.

Ten candidates failed to reveal their expenses at all, but the new supervisor of elections said there were no sanctions in the law regarding candidates who do not submit returns if they do not win. All of the candidates who were returned submitted their expenses but none of the ten who missed the submission deadline were returned.

Supervisor of Elections Wesley Howell told CNS that the Elections office is writing to Miller, who ran in George Town, to clarify his expenses to see if there was an error in his accounts that led to him to exceed the legal limit on any an individual campaign.

The results, which were published by the Elections Office this week, also reveal some interesting differences in the amounts of money some candidates managed to raise for their campaigns and the ones which were left to pick up the costly bill themselves, despite not gaining a set in the LA.

Ebanks, who spent the lowest amount, submitted that he raise no money at all and therefore used his own finances to fund his controversial campaign, which was conducted online and on the airwaves of Vibe FM. Meanwhile, his opponent, who swept to victory in the district of North Side with over 75% of the vote, spent $29,143.06 from the $29,500 he raised.

The lowest spend by a candidate who was actually returned was Juliana O’Connor Connolly, who ran to return to office in the district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. She spent considerably less than her two PNA colleagues in Bodden Town, Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymore, who both spent just under $25,000 each, and her West Bay colleagues, Cline Glidden and Rolston anglin, who spent almost $29,000 each. O'Connor-Connolly, who joined the PPM after the elections and was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, laid out just $14,223.30 on her campaign, having raised some $14,195.00. Given that she now holds one of the top earning posts in government, O’Connor-Connolly achieved one of the best results for her campaign investment.

Shortfalls between revenue raised and money spent was common for several independents, including most of the C4C candidates. Jackie Haynes, who failed to win a seat in the capital, raised only $2,342.86 but spent $22,476.96, leaving her out of pocket more than $20k. Her colleague, Jude Scott, spent $25,342.76 on his campaign but received only $2,342.86 in revenue, leaving him with a personal bill of some $22,000. C4C candidate Sharon Roulstone managed to raise $9,194.29, but having spent almost $23k, she too faces a significant tab.

Meanwhile, Mervin Smith and Tara Rivers in West Bay both spent $24,399.49 each on their joint campaign, but having only raised $2,342, the bill for Smith is likely to be considerably more painful, since he failed to gain a seat. Both Winston Connolly and Roy McTaggart also had shortfalls in their revenue versus their expenditure, but having won their seats, the $19,000 shortfall for Connolly and the $10,000 for McTaggart, who raised the most money of all the C4C candidates, may feel like money well spent.

One of the most unusual expense returns was that of Stefan Baraud, who raised the most revenue of any candidate — a whopping $60,718.16 — but spent $34,375.52.

The campaign expense period only covers the eight weeks following Nomination Day, however, and expenses incurred before that date are not included in the expenses submitted.

Of the ten candidates who failed to submit their expenses, Matthew Leslie, who ran an almost entirely web-based campaign in George town, told CNS that he estimated having spent about $28,000. He said he had missed the submission deadline due to ill-health and intended to send in his expense account as soon as possible.

The other nine candidates who failed to reveal how much they raised and how much they spent were independents Frank McField in George Town, David Bodden and Maxine Moore in the Sister Islands, John McLean Jr in East End, Arnold Berry, Charles Clifford and Vincent Frederick in Bodden Town and both the independent candidates in West Bay, Dwene Ebanks and Andrea Christian.

Addition: Charles Clifford contacted CNS on Thursday to say that he had submitted his returns but had missed the deadline. He said that he spent $18,233 and raised $14,800 in contributions.

See details from elections office below.

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Tourism minister heads to Miami for cruise line meet

(CNS): The deputy premier and the PPM’s tourism councillor are headed for Miami to meet with cruise stakeholders for talks on Cayman’s port development. In the wake of the numerous controversies surrounding the proposed cruise berthing development in George Town during the UDP administration, DP Moses Kirkconnell, who is the new tourism minister, has picked up the process which was placed back on track by the interim PNA minister Cline Glidden. With the new government having presided over the selection of PricewaterhousCoopers to prepare the business plan, following a competitive bid, the deputy premier said government needed to maintain the momentum with the cruise lines.

Kirkconnell is set to meet with FCCA officials and cruise line executives in Miami to continue talks. He will be accompanied by government back-bencher Joey Hew, who is working as a tourism councillor, and Chief Officer Stran Bodden, who has been overseeing the return to a proper procurement process after some four years of failed talks with three different developers.

The new tourism minister is expected to meet with representatives from Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise lines, the three main companies cruising the Caribbean, for intensive discussions on the way forward regarding the cruise berthing project and to encourage the cruise lines to keep Cayman on the schedules until the project is complete, according to a release from the ministry Wednesday,

“The Cayman Islands is still a highly sought after destination by cruise passengers but our lack of facilities and inability to provide a top-quality and seamless disembarkation experience continues to place us at serious disadvantage with the cruise lines,” said Kirkconnell, adding that, as a consequence, cruise officials were increasingly excluding the Cayman Islands from their schedules.

“We have known for several years that existing infrastructure is grossly inadequate to service the changing needs of the industry and having a clear understanding of these important stakeholders’ views is vitally important,” he said. “While this government takes the appropriate steps which will lead to the construction of the piers, I am hopeful that discussions with the key players will lead to the identification and agreement of strategies which will increase the quota of passengers to the Cayman Islands in the short to medium term,” the minister added.

The latest statistics from the tourism department confirm that cruise arrival numbers are falling to record lows. Just over 76,000 people came to the Cayman Islands via cruise ship this May, one of the lowest ever monthly figures since records began.

However, the prospect of cruise berthing facilities was given a boost earlier this month when government signed the financial services consultancy contract with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) on 2 July, following a transparent bidding process. Following that important step forward, the deputy premier said meetings with the FCCA would also serve as the precursor to PwC subsequently meeting with the individual cruise lines to ascertain the specific needs and requirements of this important stakeholder group.

Critical to the growth and sustainability of the cruise industry, the piers are also expected to deliver significant commercial benefits, including employment opportunities and increased economic activity derived from higher visitor numbers.

“With cruise lines typically formalising their itinerary schedules up to two years in advance, it is imperative that plans move ahead swiftly so that our Islands can be included in the schedules for 2015,” Kirkconnell said.

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