`Run, Jim, Run' PAC ran mostly on business cash.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Business, development and timber executives, including some who don't live in Eugene, were the biggest financial backers of the "Run, Jim, Run" effort that unsuccessfully urged Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey to embark on a write-in campaign against mayoral primary winner Kitty Piercy in November.

And the contributors' giving may not be over yet, as the campaign is $16,248 in the red and plans to hold a fund-raiser.

The effort's political action committee, officially called "Write-In Jim Torrey," raised $11,785 in late August and early September, according to a campaign report it filed with the city recorder on Monday.

Of the PAC's cash receipts, only $1,365 came as small donations of $50 and less, the report showed. The PAC also received a number of $100 contributions.

But most of its money came in the form of large payments from a handful of the Eugene-Springfield area's best-known developers and business people. Some of those large checks came from people who live outside the Eugene city limits.

Creswell-based McDougal Brothers Investment, for example, contributed $1,000 to the PAC, with Norman McDougal, one of the company's executives, chipping in another $1,000. The McDougals own land in Eugene, including property in the Santa Clara area of north Eugene, that they want to develop.

Greg Demers, a Veneta-based developer, gave the "Run, Jim, Run" recruitment drive $2,000. Kay Toolson, who lives outside the Eugene city limits and is the chief executive officer of Coburg-based Monaco Coach Corp., gave $1,000.

The "Run, Jim, Run" effort was the idea of conservative-leaning residents who pushed for the candidacy of Torrey - a Republican - in the officially nonpartisan mayor's race. Torrey previously had decided not to run for a third term.

Torrey supporters said they were concerned that a council led by Piercy - a Democrat - would be unfriendly to business and would slow growth. Piercy has responded that she wants to be a mayor for all Eugene, including business and environmental interests.

While the PAC raised nearly $12,000 in a short time, it finished the reporting period on Sept. 16 with a $16,248 deficit, according to the campaign report. The report on Monday had yet to be checked for accuracy by City Recorder Mary Feldman.

But if the numbers hold up, Torrey backers spent $28,033 in their failed attempt to persuade Torrey to launch a write-in.

"Run, Jim, Run" organizer Jeff Miller said that he has taken out a bank loan to pay off advertising agencies and other creditors that are owed the $16,248 by the PAC. Supporters will have fund-raising events to pay off the bank loan, he said.

Meanwhile, Piercy, who spent a record $122,000 in the May primary to defeat City Councilor Nancy Nathanson, raised another $18,725 in the reporting period, from June 8 to Sept. 16, new filings show.

Even though Piercy ended the reporting period with a cash balance of $12,490, she had $17,000 in loans on the books, giving her campaign a deficit of $4,509. Piercy's husband, David, loaned her campaign the $17,000.

Piercy's largest contributors in the latest reporting period included McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, $1,000, and David Van Wie, a venture capitalist and investor, $1,000. Much of her campaign's cash contributions came in the form of small payments of $50 or less.