Candidate Darren White alleges rebroadcast of Keller speech puts TV stations in legal trouble

Though the annual State of the City speech has run on broadcast airwaves for several years, it’s now come under fire as temperatures rise in the upcoming mayoral race.

Mayoral candidate and former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White alleged in a letter to local television stations that the planned airing of Mayor Tim Keller’s State of the City address within weeks of the election constitutes political speech and violates Federal Communications Commission guidelines.

The city began paying to air the annual speech on local stations during the pandemic to make it available to the public, city spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said Monday.

“We got great feedback as a result of the format and continued to invest in broader access since then,” Gallegos said. “The only criticism we’ve received is from political candidates who are trying their best to get media attention.”

In past years, airing the speech on multiple local channels has cost the city between $20,000 to $30,000 per year, Gallegos said. He did not state the cost for this year’s airtime.

The 30-minute speech is scheduled to run five times on five different stations, KRQE-TV, KRQE FOX, KASY-TV, KOAT-TV and KWBQ-TV, starting in mid-September. The latest rerun is set for Oct. 5 on KRQE, two weeks before the start of widespread early voting.

White’s latest allegation comes after he filed a complaint with Albuquerque’s Office of the Inspector General, calling on it to investigate the money spent on the event and Keller’s rhetoric.

To White, the State of the City address was a campaign event paid for by taxpayers.

“While cloaked as an official act, the language clearly enters the realm of electioneering, serving as a political appeal and rallying cry to his supporters to reelect him,” White wrote in his letter. “... Coupled with (the) timing of this broadcast so many weeks from the original speech and in such close proximity to the election, makes the political nature of this broadcast that much more transparent.”

In his original complaint, White asked the OIG to require Keller’s campaign to repay the city for the event’s cost if it’s found to be out of policy.

However, the fate of any such complaints remains in limbo without an Inspector General. After the city’s last Inspector General, Melissa Santistevan, was placed on paid leave and subsequently quit, her planned replacement William Hoffman also turned down the job offer due to pay issues.

In his letter, White also cites the Communication Act of 1943, the governing document of the FCC, which states that if a licensed broadcaster allows a candidate for public office to use its station, it must allow all candidates an equal opportunity to do so.

White concluded his letter by asking the television stations to provide equal airtime to each candidate. With seven qualified candidates in the mayoral race, running an equal airtime of 30 minutes each would take up a total of 17 hours and 30 minutes across the five stations.

“We understand that this year’s broadcast has generated a range of opinions and inquiries, including legal and political questions regarding the nature of the event,” wrote Jeff Miller, the general manager of KRQE and station manager of KWBQ and KASY, in a statement Tuesday. “As a media company, we are not in a position to adjudicate campaign finance issues or evaluate the content of candidate messaging.”

He wrote that, in compliance with the FCC, the stations are prepared to work with all candidates who would like to purchase airtime.

KOAT declined to comment.