Judge rules 'Jay Baker'-related records lawsuit against city of Santa Fe may proceed
A state district judge Tuesday ruled a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe over public records tied to pseudonymous Facebook gossipmonger "Jay Baker" can move forward, despite the city's motion seeking dismissal of the case.
Attorney Ken Stalter — who had represented a plaintiff in a similar civil case — alleges the city failed to release all Baker-related records in response to his request.
Baker is known for stirring the pot with scathing social media assessments — some of them libelous — about local officials, candidates for public office and others. Posts on the character's popular Facebook account drew an ethics complaint in 2023 accusing him of buying digital ads during the municipal election criticizing City Council candidates in violation of campaign finance laws. This prompted the city to spend more than $5,000 on an investigation aimed at discovering the identity of the person or people behind the controversial posts.
A Santa Fe resident's request for public records related to the ethics complaint — and the fruitless search for Baker's true identity — led to a lawsuit alleging, like Stalter's complaint, the city hadn't turned over all documents tied to the request. The city agreed to a financial settlement with that plaintiff.
Assistant City Attorney Kevin Nault argued in court Tuesday that Stalter was acting in "bad faith" because he had filed multiple records complaints against the city, including some mirroring those of clients he has represented.
Stalter's complaint should be thrown out in part because he improperly named the city as the defendant instead of naming the records custodian, as required by law, Nault said.
He argued Stalter's request to amend the complaint to name the custodian as the defendant should be denied.
Stalter's attorney, David Demic, argued Tuesday it was "legal fiction" the records custodian was separate from the city, which would ultimately represent her. He also argued Stalter should be allowed to amend the complaint and have it decided on its merits rather than the technicality.
"It does not matter if Mr. Stalter brings one claim, 15 claims or 100 claims," Demic said, adding what matters was the merits of each case.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled in favor of Stalter, denying the city's motion to dismiss the suit, and granted Stalter's motion to amend the complaint.
Other issues raised by the parties could be explored as the case moves forward, the judge said.
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