$7,731.53
POTTSTOWN, PA – That’s the figure that Pottstown School Board member (and ring leader of the fringe Pottstown Citizens for Responsible Government political action committee) expensed in the five month period from January 1 – May 6 of this year, according to records recently filed with the Montgomery County Office of Voter Services.
2011 PCFRG Pre-Primary Expense Report
Another noteworthy item is the fact that Mr. Hylton personally contributed over $10,000 to his PAC during the same reporting period. So…spending $10,000 in a five month period to spin an election isn’t considered excessive?? If you don’t think so, we have a bridge crossing Keim Street that we’d like to sell you.
Now, bear in mind, that expensed figure of $7,731.53 does not include the glossy dirty marketing mailer and postcard that Mr. Hylton slapped together and mailed to Pottstown voters last week, as they were intentionally delayed until after the end of the reporting period.
The estimated cost for those two mailings are most likely in the neighborhood of $6,800-$7,500+ each. That estimate is based on the numbers Hylton paid in 2007 and 2009 when he engaged in similar political mailings for his “Neighborhood Schools Team” candidacy and his own candidacy.
The most curious expense we saw on the report was the cost of Mr. Hylton’s uber-controversial 32-page advertising supplement published by The Mercury in their March 30, 2011 print edition. Our research indicates that the figure he listed in his campaign expense report was much, much lower than the going rate.
We contacted the advertising department of The Times Herald, the Norristown-based Journal Register sister paper of The Mercury, and inquired how much a 32-page advertising supplement would cost. We were told that the printing and inserting costs of such a supplement would be $110 per 1,000 pieces. So, considering that The Mercury has a daily circulation of 27,500, the cost of a 32-page advertising supplement would run $3,025 – and that was for a camera-ready advertisement. The cost to design a supplement like that would run at least a couple grand…although Tom paid The Drawing Board, an out of town graphics design firm, $1,500 to design his supplement.
So just how much did Tom Hylton pay for his March 30, 2011 32-page advertising supplement? $3,025 like we were quoted from The Times Herald? Nope. Tom Hylton paid the bargain basement price of $1,847…39% less than the quoted price we received from another Journal Register-owned paper in the same market. Hmmm. We guess that if you throw enough money at The Mercury, you can pretty much get everything for less…including less critical news coverage and less investigative reporting.
BUSTED!
I’m curious as to how much of that money is contributed by silent “friends” too embarrassed to have their names attached with his.
I guess a better question is how much of it is really taxpayer money from his non-profit. You know, the one we funded to the tune of over a hundred grand that no one currently on Council seems to want to make him accountable for.
Great question Musty Elbow! Of the $52,361.24 that has been contributed to PCFRG since it’s inception in 2007, only ONE individual other than Mr. Hylton, has contributed money to the PAC. That individual was the former chair of the PAC, Charles Dasch, and the contribution he made on 5/10/07 was $100.
Since he created the PAC, Mr. Hylton has personally contributed $52,261.24. That figure is according to the campaign finance records on file with the Office of Voter Services of Montgomery County. You too can obtain this information by submitting an Open Records Request to the Montgomery County Open Records Office:
http://www2.montcopa.org/montco/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=68825
PCFRG is just another money funneling scheme devised by Mr. Hylton to move his non-profit monies around. Monies that came from Pottstown taxpayers through borough contributions to Mr. Hylton’s Trees, Inc. non-profit. Money that, to this day, remains unaccountable, as Mr. Hylton refuses to respond to the numerous Right to Know Requests submitted to him. While Mr. Hylton continues to file RTK requests to the Pottstown School District demanding responses, he himself continues to conveniently sidestep the RTK requests submitted to his own organization.
I attended a Shade Tree Commission meeting early last year, and that comment came up. Mr. Hylton made the statement” after money is donated to Trees Inc. I can spend it anyway I want. I was there, I wrote it down, and it did not appear in the minutes.
Maybe it’s time for a few good citizens to “lawyer up”. This is B.S. Hylton is a one man wrecking machine who thinks he is above apprehension. Bring him to his knees, the sooner the better, and the Borough needs to step up to the plate and demand answers about the taxpayer’s money.
I see that Tom Hylton was shamed into adding all his campaign finance reports to his Pottstown Citizens website.
Excellent job SP! Keep riding his butt like a pair of K-Mart underwear.
It’s good to see that he is still very afraid of your team. As well he should be – the scoundrel!
I wonder when he’ll repost Dennis Wausnock’s picture back onto his site? I guess after the election in November. Unless Dennis backs out of the race before then.