Kelowna Mountain developer made a massive contribution to Taxpayers First

KELOWNA — Taxpayers First—the City of Kelowna’s first slate of candidates—spent more than $50,000 trying to get elected in the November municipal election, nearly all of it coming from the five candidates themselves except for the nearly $19,000 from the man behind Kelowna Mountain.

Mark Consiglio contributed $18,960 in two separate donations, according to campaign disclosure forms released today. It makes him by far, the single largest contributing donor to any campaign in Kelowna. The candidates—Dale Olson, Carol Gran, Billie Aaltonen, Michael Gorman and Graeme James, or their spouses, each contributed roughly $5,000 each.

The Taxpayers First campaign was also unusual in its spending. Most candidates spent the majority of their budgets on advertising. According to its filing, the Taxpayers First spent less than $28,000 on advertising and just over $24,000 on campaign administration, including $16,259 on “professional services."

Taxpayers First came out of the gate promising no increases in taxes, then made millions of dollars in promises. Candidates said if elected they would buy the defunct CN Rail line to Vernon for $50 million, would seek to disband the Central Okanagan Regional District and would flood most of downtown to make canals.

None of the group were elected. Graeme James was their top vote-getter, placing 13th on a long list of candidates.

Mike McLoughlin, one of two candidates under Prosper Kelowna, spent $26,545 on the campaign with partner Sean Upshaw.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones at mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.