(This column is an open letter to Jeffrey Isbell, Pamela Wolfe, and their Recall-pushing associates requesting them to either substantiate or retract their apparently defamatory false statements.)
You have repeatedly stated in writing that three city councilors have "grievous conflicts of interest" in that "they continue to serve on the city council while also being employed by radical organizations . . ." You you are free to opine that these unidentified organizations are "radical"; but knowingly making false factual statements can constitute defamation.
Facts: Mr. Sorg is a 68-year-old retired rancher, employed only by the City. Ms. Pedroza, 72, is employed only by the City. She does not practice law, except for a very occasional pro bono service for a family member. She hasn't had a law office for a decade and never represented organizations. While Mr. Small is employed by the Wilderness Alliance, which supported the new National Monument, Small carefully recused himself from discussions and votes regarding the advisory resolution the City Council unanimously approved supporting the Monument.
Thus your statement is flatly untrue, as you knew or should have known when writing it. Certainly you are on knowledge now regarding the facts.
Similarly you accuse them of "lying" to their constituents. We know of no such "lies." We have repeatedly asked you to identify them. You have been unable to identify any.
You have also alleged that the three Councilors used public resources in their campaigns. You even claimed you'd seen actual documents suggesting so. Your failure to identify any such document(s) is strong evidence not only that you have no basis in fact for your allegation, but that you were aware all along that it was groundless.
As your lawyer will advise you, even a public figure can recover for defamation where the defamer either knows the factual allegations are untrue or shows reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.
Any court or jury would readily conclude that not one of these allegations is true. If a judge hesitated to conclude you acted with the requisite disregard for truth, the seemingly limitless mudballs you've tossed out are useful evidence concerning your state of mind and your disregard for truth.
For example, you state or imply that Nathan Small's street is better paved than some other streets because of his position; but in fact he moved to his present home AFTER the street was paved.
You state that Nathan Small spends most of his time in Albuquerque. While his wife is indeed finishing law school in Albuquerque, anyone around City Hall could tell you Nathan is in Las Cruces. (His heart may be in Albuquerque, but the rest of him is quite visible here.) You can cite no evidence that could reasonably have made you think otherwise.
The way you've conducted your recall campaign suggests that absurd lies are your basic modus operandi. Citizen complaints establish that your operatives have misrepresented the nature of the petition in various ways, notably as being about saving the PAL Boxing Gym and even as having nothing to do with recall. Such evidence would assist any trier of fact in determining whether you told an innocent falsehood or consciously lied. The City Attorney, through the City Clerk, has warned you that your reported misrepresentations could amount to election fraud.
This letter constitutes a formal request, on behalf of the three Councilors, that you publicly retract the cited statements. Simple decency mandates that if you can't factually support false accusations, you should withdraw them. Failure to retract the statements could be evidence at trial in a possible defamation claim.
[Full disclosure: the writer strongly opposes the Recall. Should the Councilors choose to file suit, the writer might very well represent them in the action.]
Peter Goodman is a local writer, photographer, and sometime lawyer. He initially moved to Las Cruces in 1969, holds two degrees from NMSU, and moved back here in 2011 with his wonderful wife. This is his most recent Sunday column in the Las Cruces Sun-News. His blog Views from Soledad Canyon contains further information on this subject, as well as other comments and photographs, and past newspaper columns.