As Santa Fe City Council candidate Russell Simon listens to his colleagues talk about the economy, he's noticed a common thread. Everyone on the ballot, it seems, says a sure way out of collective financial distress is to spend more money locally.

But are the candidates putting their money where their mouths are?

Simon, campaigning for the District 1 council seat, took some time last weekend to crunch the numbers from public documents that detail what city election candidates are buying and where. The New Mexican also conducted this analysis for all the contested races in the March 2 election.

Simon is proud to say that he is near the top, noting, "I have made a really conscious effort to spend locally. And I wanted to make sure I was living up to that."

With 95 percent of his $3,156 worth of purchases made from local stores, the only candidate with a higher local spending percentage is Stefanie Beninato, running for a seat in District 2. Beninato has spent all of her $431 locally.

On the other end of the spectrum, incumbents District 2 Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger and Mayor David Coss spent a lower percentage — 39 percent and 50 percent, respectively — of their campaign cash so far at local businesses. For the purpose of this analysis, "local" means a business based in Santa Fe that is not part of a chain. More campaign spending reports are due this week.

Mayoral candidate and City Councilor Miguel Chavez, who has said he will limit campaign spending during this election, spent 88 percent of his $6,788 in Santa Fe. Meanwhile, the third mayoral candidate, Asenath Kepler, has spent 63 percent of her $31,049 here.

Coss has also spent the most money of any candidate reporting — $61,428.

Big-ticket items purchased by the mayor's campaign outside of Santa Fe included an $8,000 opinion poll as well as marketing and design services. Additionally, thousands of his campaign contributions came from outside Santa Fe. Coss said Friday that he feels like 50 percent is a good local showing, and noted that there are other factors in his decision-making process.

"We've had this conversation several times that we are trying to do as much locally as possible. We are also insisting that we use union labor whenever possible," he said.

The choice to use Albuquerque-based Focus Ink instead of a local painter was because the Albuquerque company has a greater capacity for producing the quantity and size of signs he wanted, and because it has a unionized shop.

Kepler said she's also mindful of the importance of local spending, but she also made the decision to have some printing done at Focus because of its union support. Other choices to spend outside of Santa Fe were because services aren't offered here, she explained.

A $1,400 liability policy from the Philadelphia Insurance Company was purchased through Kepler's former employer, locally based Daniels Insurance.

"None of the big insurance companies that cover this kind of thing are located locally," she said. "So we went through Daniels ... and they earned some commission on that."

Sometimes candidates don't have a choice about where to spend their money. Stamps come from the United States Postal Service, and voter lists are purchased through an Albuquerque office. But other decisions could have gone differently.

Vickie Pozzebon, executive director of the Santa Fe Alliance for independent business, said she acknowledges sometimes the practicality of price differences or capacity of businesses keeps purchases from happening in Santa Fe.

"I know they all try to do the best they can. I had somebody from the mayor's team call me and ask where they could find something locally. They do use us as a resource, which I think is great, and whether or not they follow through, I can't hold their hands," she said.

When it comes to food, however, there are local stores that are often overlooked.

Documents show that none of the candidates so far have chosen to purchase food from member-held La Montanita Co-op. Instead, Sam's Club and Albertsons chains are popular choices. Simon did his food shopping at locally owned Kaune's. The Wurzburger campaign chose Whole Foods.

"A lot of people don't know that (the co-op) will cater an event and do a party platter. There are things available in the community. It's a matter of shifting the consciousness to where you can find it local first," said Pozzebon.

She said both local businesses and the business alliance need to do a better job of letting the community know what is available here.

"Both campaign managers and the candidates need to educate their entire staff about 'I want to do it as locally as possible and here are my options and here is my list of preferences,' " she said.

Last year's city support of a campaign called "Santa Fe: Buy Into It" was criticized by some for advertising any business located here as "local." Simon is among those who try to avoid franchises and big-box stores because those businesses don't always report income and pay taxes in each state in which they operate.

"It's a little more work and it was probably a bit more expensive for me to do things the way I have done them locally," Simon said "But it's important, not just for the actual dollars, but in terms of symbolism."

It's one thing, he said, to run "around the campaign trail saying, 'Support local business,' " and another to exercise your "absolute freedom to spend your money the way you want to."

Simon said he was particularly surprised with the numbers from the mayor, who has touted local spending. Before Christmas, Coss and a local state representative publicized a shopping spree at the Sanbusco Center to encourage local holiday shopping. Simon called that "a PR stunt," although the District 1 candidate said he does not have an alliance with any mayoral candidate.

Coss said the next campaign finance report, due Friday, is likely to show more local spending because he has recently purchased local advertising.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.