Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, who was the first
candidate for lieutenant governor
to release an ethics plan, today breached one of the common-sense rules of public office: Don't use your official letterhead for campaign purposes.
Members of the press received a news release titled "
Sheriff Solano Endorses Undersheriff Garcia
," in which the term-limited sheriff does exactly that. The problem is that the release came from his county-paid executive assistant's official email address and then the release was promoted through the official Santa Fe County
set up by the sheriff's office to communicate important public safety issues to the public.
Using Twitter, SFR pointed out to the sheriff that seemed like a violation of ethics principles, if not ethics laws.
Here's an excerpt from the dialogue that followed:
We're all a bit shocked that Solano couldn't see the issue behind it. He doesn't have to take just SFR' word for it. There's also the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act:
Now, technically, that doesn't apply to folks running for or currently in county office. However, seeing that Solano's running for statewide office, he may want to familiarize himself with the law, as vague as it is. The argument could be made that endorsing his undersheriff is in the public interest.
But that's still a pretty weak defense.
"Obviously, as a general rule, it's inappropriate to make an endorsement using any sort of official letterhead or as part of his official duties," Steve Allen, executive director for the pro-ethics reform nonprofit
, tells SFR. "But I can't say there's anything illegal about it or that's there's a law preventing this."
Most states have legislation specifically banning this behavior, as
National Conference of Legislatures State Legislatures' Center for Ethics in Government
Director Peggy Kerns tells SFR
.
"It's a pretty strong standard on the Congressional, state and local levels that you can't use [government property and position] for campaign purposes," Kerns says. "It has nothing to do with the qualifications of the deputy sheriff or the sheriff's right to endorse him. You just can't do it on the public dollar."
Solano, via Twitter, points out that sending the press release only took minutes of his assistant's time and that the Nixle service doesn't cost the county a dime.
