The six candidates last week had to provide documentation indicating the amount they had raised and spent through Sept. 30 and detailing specific contributions and expenditures of $100 or more.

Andrew Barnes' treasurer, city finance commissioner Sam Ochi, reported that Barnes had contributed $16,732.45 to his own campaign and spent $15,558.34. Barnes said he is not accepting contributions and is prepared to spend upwards of $30,000 on his campaign.

"I won't take money from anybody," he said. "I don't want to be indebted to any individual or special interest group."

Barnes said he could need to spend that amount of money because he is running against a powerful slate of candidates, including Nick Streit, Kathleen King and Norman Kline, who have pooled their financial resources and thus can gain more exposure.

"For me to reach the same amount as they do, I have to spend almost three times as much as they do," Barnes said. "I'm really doing the same as they're doing."

Streit had raised $4,327 and spent $1,807, King had raised $3,555 and spent $2,835 and Kline had raised $2,995 and spent $2,439.88, according to their documents. Streit said their goal was to raise $5,000 each, and that he had already surpassed that amount just days after the end of the disclosure period. Kline said the same.

"We've gotten a lot more than that in," he said of the amounts reported through Sept. 30. "Between the three of us, we may spend between $14,000 and $15,000. If we spend more than that, I'll be shocked."

Streit added that he wasn't threatened by the amount that Barnes was prepared to spend.

"I don't think money's the issue here," Streit said. "I think the people of Saratoga are intelligent enough to look at the issues. We will be able to get the message out."

Barnes said he didn't see candidates Shelley Williams or Neil Malhotra to be as threatening challengers as those on the slate, which "is getting three times the value of their dollars."

Williams disclosed that he had raised $10,750 and spent $1,036.18. He had contributed $1,000 of his own money to his campaign as well as loaned it $9,000. The remaining $750 of his contributions have come from the Tri County Apartment Association and an individual living in Cupertino.

Malhotra filed documentation stating that he had not received any significant contributions or spent more than $1,000, which allowed him to not file a more detailed disclosure, City Clerk Cathleen Boyer said.

King had contributed $1,000 to her campaign as well as loaned the campaign another $1,000. Another $925 of her contributions were from individuals located outside Saratoga, some from as far away as Southern California. She had received $100 from Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith and $100 from the California League of Conservation Voters, according to the documents filed on her behalf by her campaign treasurer, Councilman John Mehaffey.

Kline had contributed $1,200 to his own campaign, but he said he has already raised enough money to pay himself back. Another $550 of his contributions came from individuals located outside Saratoga but within the South Bay area.

Among those were contributions from Cupertino City Councilwoman Dolly Sandoval and former San Jose City Councilman Jerry Estruth. He also received $100 from the California League of Conservation Voters and $100 from PRX Inc. Strategic Marketing Communications, as well as $100 each from Waltonsmith and Vice Mayor Evan Baker.

Streit made no contributions of his own, and $350 of his contributions are from individuals outside Saratoga, but all are located in the South Bay. He also received $100 from Waltonsmith, $200 from Baker and $250 from John Keenan, who had taken candidate-filing forms for this election but never filed them.

Streit had also received $796 worth of advertising non-monetary contributions from former Saratoga City Councilman Victor Monia and his wife, Karen.

"That's kind of a tradition for him to donate signs" to the candidate he supports, Streit said of Monia, adding that Monia did so for Waltonsmith and Councilman Stan Bogosian when they ran as a slate in 2000, and also for Mehaffey and Baker when they ran as a slate, along with Erna Jackman, in 1998.

Most of the candidates' expenditures were for the printing and mailing of campaign literature. Barnes also spent almost $7,000 on print advertising, as well as about $1,500 for a website designer.

Williams, however, contributed $400 total of his campaign funds to the campaigns of Greg Conlon, running for state treasurer, Ed Voss, running for San Jose's District 7 city council seat, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The rest of his expenditures were for campaign signs and office work.

The candidates will file updated campaign finance disclosures Oct. 24.