Despite ending her fundraising efforts, Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commissioner Yudy Deng raised $16,000 in two weeks, according to finance forms released Thursday.
That brings Deng’s fundraising total to $182,131, by far the most a hopeful for Palo Alto City Council has raised.
Deng shut down her fundraising efforts on Oct. 2, shortly after her opponent, Planning and Transportation Commissioner Bryna Chang announced that she would stop fundraising.
For her part, Chang raised $1,977 from nine donors before deciding to stop raising money.
Of Chang’s nine donors between Sept. 20 to Sept. 25, eight are from Palo Alto. Her one out of town donor is listed as the “Business and Housing Network” in Los Gatos. Deng has caught attention during the campaign for her many out-of-town donors. This time around, she had 14 Palo Alto donors who pitched in $7,374 and eight out of town donors who gave her $8,628, according to her finance forms.
Deng has collected 55 of 157 donations come from Palo Alto.
Deng previously said she she asked for donations from friends from college, the nonprofit sector and her old home in Bellevue, Wash. She said most of her friends are tech engineers, attorneys or people she knows from nonprofit work. Deng is the chief development officer for the Society for Heart’s Delight, a nonprofit focused on engaging Chinese immigrants in the South Bay.
“Nothing suspicious,” she said in an interview on Sept. 9.
Chang and Deng are competing for one of the three seats up for grabs this election.
Other contenders
Also running are Mayor Vicki Veenker, Councilman Ed Lauing, Dr. Gary Gelchik, software engineer Brian Hamachek and Democratic Socialist Raymond Goins. Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims opted not to seek reelection.
Lauing has raised a total of $51,506, according to his finance forms.
Goins has raised a total of $4,428 during his campaign. Veenker’s latest campaign forms were not immediately available yesterday, but as of Sept. 25 had raised $50,119.
Dr. Gary Gechlik and software engineer Brian Hamachek reported no fundraising.
Only a politically clueless fool would ignore the Arcadia scandal and fail to ask who’s really bankrolling $182,000 in campaign money—and what they expect in return.
All this money won’t change the public’s impression of Deng.
$182,000 for a city council race in a city of just 70,000 people is ridiculous. We should seriously consider voluntary campaign spending limits. The amount of money being poured into our local elections continues to grow with each election cycle, and it’s getting out of hand. I don’t even know what I would spend $182,000 on in this election.
Brian is right , I think that we need to sit back and ask the fundamental question of. If people can raise this for a position of leadership, why can’t they raise that same amount to change others lives without having a label attached ? Leadership should not be something that can be bought . The right for representation didn’t have the highest bidder in mind .
CCP keeping Deng’s cashflow going.
Relax there is nothing to worry here. This money is exclusively to be used for organizing mahjong get together
The bingo night at PA ELKS is done for now!!!
Yudy, Beijing is on the phone. They want to know where to park the truck with all the cash in it.
I agree with Brian!
Yudy apparently did not end her fundraising and continues to be funded by out of town interests.
No way she will be representing the interests of PaloAlto residents and voters !!!
Racists will say that there are too many asians in power in California.
Is that you Eileen Wang or is it Yaoning “Mike” Sun, or Wanying “Heather” Zhang? Which one of you are posting behind the Big House? Calling people racist for demanding transparency is a cheap deflection. Demanding answers is not racism. Accountability is not racism. Stop attacking the public and start answering legitimate questions.
The comment section is full of incendiary, baseless accusations. I hate to use the word, but a lot of these remarks are just straight-up racist. Besides, she’s running for local city council, and even if she did have a ‘China bias’ – which there is zero evidence of – local political offices have no authority over foreign policy. It’s completely irrelevant.
[Portion removed — Terms of Service violation, No. 3.]
Eileen Wang, Arcadia’s former mayor, pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government\. So claiming foreign influence is irrelevant simply because an office is local is an extremely poor argument. Local officials may not set foreign policy, but they do wield public power. The distinction is simple: ethnicity and baseless accusations are not evidence, but credible evidence of foreign influence is a legitimate concern. Think and apply that standard consistently.
Nobody likes anyone named Alvin.
I had my doubts, but I’m now voting for Bryna Chang a Chinese American. I don’t know her personally, but I know of her as a mother and a volunteer going back to the days when Hoover Elementary was little more than a few trailers connected to one main building. She’s transparent about her campaign finances, comes across as credible and capable, and seems like someone who could finally get Ed Shikada to put in an honest day’s work—or get rid of him altogether.
As for the endless accusations of racism, there is a fundamental difference between legitimate concerns about foreign influence and racism. Raising questions about Chinese influence in American politics is not inherently racist, particularly given cases involving politicians like Eric Swalwell and his relationship with alleged Chinese spy Fang Fang, disgraced Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang and her lover, and of course the latest Wanying “Heather” Zhang. Dismissing every such concern as racism is not rational reasoning; it’s a way to shut down legitimate discussion rather than address the substance of the issue.