Group in soda-tax fight will file finance report
‘We shouldn’t be demonized for being against this tax,’ says one proposal opponent
The head of a group opposed to the city of Santa Fe’s proposed sugary-drink tax said Sunday that he will file a campaign finance report with the city on Monday — a day past the deadline for such actions.
Loveless Johnson III of Smart Progress New Mexico told a group of about 35 supporters Sunday evening that, despite an initial reluctance to reveal donors and donation amounts, he did not want to be accused of using “dark money” to influence the May 2 election.
“We were never trying to be sneaky about it,” he said at the gathering, held at Boxcar Bar and Grill on Guadalupe Street. “We were just protecting people from blowback … we didn’t want it to become a war with the mayor.”
Mayor Javier Gonzales first proposed a 2 cents per-ounce tax on sugary beverages to raise funds to expand early childhood education programs for needy children last November. Since then, advocates for and against the tax have waged a sometimes-contentious war of words and money to win over voters.
As of last Friday, two political committees on opposite sides of the tax fence have raised a total of $1.57 million in cash and in-kind services, according to campaign finance reports filed with the city.
Johnson said Smart Progress New Mexico has raised at least $11,000, but less than $15,000 — “small money,” he said — with $10,000 of that coming from the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Santa Fe and another $1,000 coming from Boxcar.
The rest of the donors, he said, are local business owners or citizens opposed to the tax. Not one penny came from out-of-state, he said.
Johnson and Tate Mruz, coowner of the restaurant, said they had come under attack from protax supporters who accuse them of being against children.
“We shouldn’t be demonized for being against this tax,” Mruz told the assembly, which included City Councilor Ron Trujillo, who has publicly voiced his opposition to the tax.
Trujillo said the issue has “divided our community.” He said the city should not be getting involved in issues that fall under state control, like public education.
Mruz and Johnson said the tax, which will be imposed upon distributors, will eventually be passed on to consumers.
Mruz said as a result, it will hurt tourism. If a family of four enters his restaurant and finds a $16 price tag for four sodas — “and no free refills” — next year that family will instead go to Taos, he said.
David Sandoval, a spokesman for the Wings For Hope nonprofit, a biker group that works to raise funds to help children, said that it’s unfair to suggest that anyone who is against the tax is not working for the welfare of children. The tax, he said, “will hurt businesses that give donations to groups like ours.”
Loveless said while he does not yet have an alternative idea for funding pre-K programs, as they are known, his group would work with the mayor to find a way once the election is over.
Johnson said his group will file by 5 p.m. Monday, April 10. He said city assistant attorney Zach Shandler told him there will be no penalty for being a day late. He said he expects Smart Progress New Mexico to raise more funds by May 2.
At least one other group involved in the campaign — the Rio Grande Foundation — has not yet filed campaign finance reports with the city.
The president of the foundation, Paul Gessing, said in an email last Sunday that he doesn’t think the group spent more than $250 by the April 7 filing. He added, “We are exploring our options and will have a more detailed response to the city … by next Friday.”