Governor’s campaign, not his office spokesman, should handle re-election issues

Gov. Bill Richardson’s government press office is under fire for issuing a campaign statement about the Republican’s selection of John Dendahl to run against him in November.

On Saturday, Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley, whose salary is paid by taxpayers, sent out an official governor’s office news release calling Dendahl “a candidate who embraces division and negativity, and who is completely out of touch with what matters most to New Mexicans.”

The release was sent from Shipley’s state government e-mail address, with a subject line that read “Governor’s Office issues statement regarding John Dendahl.” It was in the same format as other news releases from that office, which is funded by tax dollars.

Dendahl responded Tuesday by sending a letter to Richardson questioning Shipley’s actions, according to the Albuquerque Journal. He said Shipley acted improperly and asked Richardson to clarify the role of state workers in his campaign.

Shipley told the Journal his actions were “completely appropriate,” and said the news release was done on his own time and computer.

State personnel guidelines prohibit state workers from engaging in political activity while on duty.

I don’t believe Shipley had bad intentions. He may not have thought he was on duty, but in practice, he was. He sent out an official news release of the governor’s office. He was doing official work for the state of New Mexico and its taxpayers, but used his position to attack the governor’s challenger in the upcoming election.

It’s that darned appearance of impropriety I’ve written about in the past.

Last week I criticized lame duck Public Regulation Commissioner E. Shirley Baca for having a PRC staffer create an official meeting attendance record, on PRC letterhead, so Baca could respond to a campaign attack.

Richardson’s re-election organization has many staffers and several million dollars. I think it can afford to hire its own press people. Future campaign statements should be sent out by the campaign, not public employees.