This afternoon in a hearing, the Albuquerque Board of Ethics (BOE) unanimously dismissed a complaint filed by Daymon Ely for the Tim Keller campaign that was made against Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing. The complaint arose out of the Foundation’s reporting over the purchase and delivery of yellow hoodie sweatshirts to members of Albuquerque’s homeless population emblazoned with “I ♥ Tim Keller” in the weeks before the runoff election, which ultimately saw Tim Keller win a third term as Mayor.
Gessing stated repeatedly that he had nothing to do with the sweatshirts besides having information on who procured them and his own reporting at ErrorsofEnchantment.com, the Foundation’s blog site.
Said Gessing in response, “We are pleased that the Ethics Board did the right thing in dismissing this complaint. The Rio Grande Foundation is many things, a think tank, an advocate for sound policy, and we also report on the news through our websites and podcast. The idea that the Keller campaign could coerce me or anyone else into disclosing information on a source simply because we reported on it is counter to the First Amendment.
“While the Board may attempt to come up with a way to close this so-called ‘loophole’ in the future, we believe that this case highlights numerous ways in which the Board flies in the face of the First Amendment.”
Gessing’s attorney, A. Blair Dunn said, “While I’m glad to see some wisdom from the BOE, I am disappointed that we may not get the opportunity to explain the importance of the First Amendment going forward for BOE in court.”
