Less than a month before election day, Marathon City Council candidate Richard Keating has maintained his lead in campaign fundraising.

Reports from the latest filing period, which ended on Sept. 25, show that Keating has raised more than $7,300 so far, with $2,250 raised in the latest two week period. Keating also has far outpaced his competitors in campaign expenditures, spending about $7,000 so far.

Keating, a charter fishing guide, has seen a lot of his donations come from out of town in both this and the previous campaign finance filing report. In the latest period, Keating received $500 donations from two residents of Maryland, a $250 donation from an Ameila Island resident and a $200 donation from a Winter Park resident.

Keating said the out of town donations are from clients of his charter fishing businesses.

"I did not solicit their donations," Keating said. "They found out I was running and asked how they could help."

Local donations include $100 from insurance agent Jerry Bessemer, Realtor Lindsay Rabito, the Ranch House Motel and commercial fishing business Sport Model Inc.

According to reports from this latest filing period, Keating has spent the bulk of his funds on campaign signs and magnets, including $1,600 at Collector's Corner in Marathon and $1,273 at the Pompano Beach-based Graphic Images. Collector's Corner also gave Keating an in-kind donation of $361 for campaign materials.

Incumbent candidate Marathon Mayor Mike Cinque has raised the second most funds with $4,350. In the latest filing period he received $750 in contributions and loaned himself $1,500. His latest batch of funds came from a $250 donation from Marathon resident John Grouten and a $500 donation from Marathon Auto Air.

Cinque spent more than $1,000 in the latest filing period on campaign signs and materials from Keys Grafix, Gemini Printing and Collector's Corner and $550 on local newspaper advertisements.

Fellow incumbent candidate Vice Mayor Don Vasil has raised $3,250 to date, with $800 in donations coming in during the latest filing period.

Marathon resident Peter Snow gave Vasil $500 and resident Ray Brown gave him $150. The Law Offices of Thomas Wright gave Vasil $100 and Kelly Electric chipped in $50. Vasil Spent $376 on campaign signs with Gemini Printing.

Challenger John Bartus, who previously served on the council, has raised $1,850 so far, with $1,000 in donations coming in during the latest filing period. Bartus' single largest donation during this period came from Marathon resident Matthew Falk, who gave $500.

The Gratton family also gave Bartus a combined $150. Laura Gratton is the daughter of current City Councilman Dick Ramsay.

Bartus has spent most of his campaign funds on local newspaper advertising and promotional material from Collector's Corner.

Candidate Kevin Kenney did not raise any additional funds during this period, although he did receive a $500 in-kind donation of advertising space from a local online newspaper. Kenney's only expenditure to date has been his $720 filing fee.

Candidate Joan "Bicycle Joanie" Nelson filed a waiver of no activity during this period.

Signs of the times

Like proverbial swallows flying back to Capistrano, political signs have returned to Marathon's streets and buildings. The three designated areas where candidates can place political signs on city property have quickly filled.

City Manager Clyde Burnett said early this week that he had not yet heard any complaints about political signs, but did notice some were encroaching on public right-of-way property where they are not allowed. Burnett said he planned on sending someone from the city's code department out to keep it under control.

One sign that perhaps drew more attention than was intended was one for Cinque. A sign near Coco Plum Drive had two lamps sitting below it for illumination. Illuminated political signs are not allowed without a permit in the City of Marathon. Cinque told the Free Press on Tuesday that the property owner had put the lights up without being aware of the rule. Cinque said he told him to take it down.

The great debate

There appears to be only one public debate left for Marathon City Council candidates. It is slated to take place on Oct. 15 starting at 6 p.m. in the Marathon Government Center.

This is somewhat of a change over last year's campaign season where the candidates participated in three public debates, two at the government center and one at the Marathon Yacht Club.

The current batch of candidates have already met once at a luncheon for the Florida Keys Contractors Association, where they laid out their stance on several building related issues. The candidates also met individually with the Marathon and Lower Keys Association of Realtors.

That association released its endorsements last week, saying they felt Cinque and Vasil were the top two choices in the race.

Crunch time

Although election day is Nov. 3, and early voting does not start until Oct. 19, several of the candidates have already been hitting the streets due to the more than 600 absentee ballots that were sent out earlier this month. Officials at the local elections office say they have already begun receiving some of those ballots.

This election will also be the first true test of whether moving the city's local election date from spring to November will bring out a larger turnout. Last year was the first time local elections in Marathon were held in November, but it coincided with a presidential race that typically inflates turnout. More than 50 percent of Keys voters came out last year.

City council seats in Marathon are elected at large, and there are no vote percentage minimums to take office. As a result, the top two vote getters will take the two seats barring a tie.

rbusweiler@keysnews.com