Heath Haussamen
A news release sent out Thursday by the New Mexico Senate office was blatantly inappropriate because it promoted the charitable giving of a state senator’s insurance agency.
The release, sent via government e-mail by a Senate staffer, announced that Sen. John Sapien’s insurance agency, along with other business partners, is giving turkeys and other food to about 175 families in Bernalillo next week.
Let me get this out of the way right now: Sapien should be commended for having his business spend money in these tough economic times to help struggling people enjoy a filling meal. That’s not in question.
The problem is his use of government e-mail, an official Senate news release, and the time of the government staffer who drafted and sent out the news release to promote the generosity of his business.
Yes, Sapien’s kindness will benefit the community of Bernalillo. But it will also benefit his insurance agency.
And that’s the problem.
I’ve written twice recently (here and here) about how it’s not appropriate to use government e-mail for political purposes. It’s not appropriate to use government e-mail and other resources to promote your own private business for a similar reason.
Public money is to be spent for the benefit of the public. And while Sapien’s intentions in promoting the giveaway of turkeys might have been noble, the reality is he didn’t need to send out a government-funded news release to find 175 families who need food on Thanksgiving.
What the news release did accomplish was letting people know how generous Sapien’s insurance agency is being this Thanksgiving. That bolsters its image as an active community partner.
Which is good for business.
Inadvertently or not, Sapien is using government resources to help his personal money-making venture. That’s never appropriate. Government officials should flee from such conflicts, not embrace them. With all the ethical problems that plague government, people have every reason to look at such actions with every ounce of pessimism they can muster.
This needs to stop. It needs to stop now.