Both sides of proposed soda tax hit with complaint
Former city councilor alleges groups broke campaign rule
Heldmeyer, a former city councilor who has remained active in monitoring city government, says she is trying to draw attention to campaign rules designed to encourage more transparency in local politics. But the city Ethics and Campaign Review Board will have to decide whether groups involved with an upcoming tax election are violating any ordinances.
Heldmeyer filed a formal complaint with the board last week after members of a coalition promoting a proposed municipal tax on sugary beverages left a flier at her home that didn’t disclose who was responsible for the printed material. A spokeswoman for the organization, Pre-K for Santa Fe, acknowledged the omission, calling it an oversight.
On Monday, Heldmeyer filed another complaint that said political committees on both sides of the tax issue failed to check a box on financial statements filed last week with the city clerk.
The city code says a political committee or candidate who receives contributions from an entity that legally does not have to disclose donors’ names, such as a union or a trade association, must check a box on campaign finance reports to indicate the contributor doesn’t have to be identified.
When the campaign code was adopted, Heldmeyer wrote in her complaint, “these were exactly the type of organizations that were supposed to be forthcoming about their lack of donor transparency. This alone would appear to be a violation of the code.”
Heldmeyer said she also is concerned because the law states that “any person or entity” that receives such contributions is supposed to disclose on fliers and mailings that the campaign materials are “supported in part by donations from an organization that is not required to disclose its contributors to the Santa Fe city clerk.”
“I have received multiple mailings,
and one hand-delivered flier, from both these political committees,” she wrote in her complaint. “This disclaimer was not on any of them.”
The Pre-K for Santa Fe committee and the anti-tax Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K committee are both trying to sway voters in a May 2 special election on a proposed 2-cents-an-ounce tax on sodas and other sugarsweetened beverages to generate funds for early childhood education programs.
Representatives for both political committees denied Heldmeyer’s latest allegations about meeting city requirements.
“During our mandatory reporting training, the [city] clerk and city’s attorney instructed us not to check the box referenced in Ms. Heldmeyer’s complaint, and therefore, the additional disclaimer would be unnecessary,” Sandra Wechsler, campaign manager for Pre-K for Santa Fe, said in an email. “If upon further review, the city clerk and city’s attorney reverse this decision, we’ll be happy to comply.”
David Huynh, a spokesman for the coalition opposing the proposed tax, said in an email that his committee is “confident” the code sections cited in the complaint were handled correctly by the group.
“Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K carefully reviewed the city’s campaign finance provisions and worked hand-in-hand with the city to ensure that our recent filing satisfied Santa Fe’s campaign finance disclosure requirements,” he said.
Heldmeyer’s complaints will be considered by the Ethics and Campaign Review Board at a meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. April 4 in the council chamber at City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave. At that meeting, the board is expected to determine only whether the complaints were filed in good faith and weren’t “done purely to harass,” said Zachary Shandler, an assistant city attorney.