With city ethics review underway, critics try to unmask 'Jay Baker'

Apr. 27—It's been said one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The notion applies to executed Briton Guy Fawkes, who was accused of plotting to blow up the British Parliament and King James I in 1605.

It's also the kind of polarizing rhetoric that surrounds Jay Baker, Santa Fe's pseudonymous critic who posts on Facebook under a Guy Fawkes mask avatar.

Baker has a cult following among some residents of Santa Fe, to the extent that in 2021 someone started selling T-shirts with the phrase, "I am Jay Baker."

He's widely disliked by others, who argue Baker is a bully who slings baseless accusations against city officials and anyone else he dislikes.

"Anyone who has to hide behind a fake profile is a coward," City Councilor Pilar Faulkner said.

Faulkner has accused Baker of buying digital ads during the 2023 municipal election that lied about her and could have damaged her professional reputation as a lobbyist. Those ads are at the center of an ethics complaint she filed with the city's Ethics and Campaign Review Board, which most recently met April 19 to discuss a potential investigation into Baker's identity.

Baker, via Facebook Messenger, denied buying the ads and said Faulkner and Mayor Alan Webber "need to get their priorities straight."

"City infrastructure is falling apart. ... Finances are in disarray. ... The workforce is leaving due to the extremely poor management of Mayor Webber and his appointees ... and she wants to focus on the identity of an anonymous City employee?" Baker wrote, referring to Faulkner.

Many of Baker's allegations are either too profane or too libelous to be published. Over the past month, he has made posts on Facebook saying several city division directors should be in jail; accusing one city employee of being a "mentally unstable alcoholic" and another of being an embezzler; and repeatedly referring to a prominent Santa Fean with a nickname that includes a Spanish-language expletive.

Baker's allegations rankled several members of the ethics board, who said he had written a post the morning of the meeting questioning whether board members who are state employees were committing time fraud by attending the meeting while on the clock. That's false, they said.

"I don't appreciate the intimidation tactics," said board member Jose Puentes, who works for the New Mexico Department of Justice. "At first when I joined this board I was wondering whether I was going to stay, but now I've decided that I'm definitely going to stay."

Baker's criticisms of city government include allegations of corruption and mismanagement across many departments. His harshest criticisms are reserved for Webber and City Manager John Blair, whom he holds responsible for a litany of shortcomings in the City Different.

Webber criticized Baker publicly during the 2021 mayoral election and called on his opponent, JoAnne Vigil Coppler, to publicly denounce the Facebook page. Vigil Coppler, who comments occasionally on Baker's posts criticizing Webber, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Webber declined last week to speak about Baker beyond the scope of the ethics complaint and did not answer a question about whether Baker's posts would be grounds for termination if the author was found to be a city employee, as many people believe.

"There's nothing to discuss," Webber said.

Faulkner said she is prepared to sue Baker for libel if she finds out who he is. At the ethics board meeting, she said she was told the city administration wants to support her in uncovering Baker's identity.

"I think it's a common interest," she said in an interview.

Faulkner suggested a range of options at the meeting for determining Baker's identity, including drawing on the resources of the city's information technology and police departments, involving New Mexico State Police, subpoenaing "the most likely suspects" under oath to ask if they are Baker or know who Baker is, or filing records requests with Santa Fe County to see who has recently requested county documents that have shown up on Baker's Facebook page.

Board members were not entirely clear on the scope of their authority to investigate Baker's identity under Faulkner's complaint, which accused Baker of failing to name the person responsible for buying the ads and for failing to register as a political committee.

"I'm concerned about an investigation that is not grounded in this specific complaint," Assistant City Attorney Marcos Martinez said.

The board is trying to determine whether the political ads in question cost more than $500, which would give it the authority to pursue the complaint.

Board Chairman Paul Biderman said at the meeting he would attempt to subpoena KOB-TV, where some of the ads appeared, and would find out if the city's IT department can help determine the IP address used to buy the ads. The board unanimously voted to continue the investigation for another three months and to meet again in late July.

Baker's identity is the subject of debate in political circles, with many people saying they believe the Facebook profile is run by multiple people who work for the city. Faulkner said at the ethics board meeting it's "pretty common knowledge" the profile is run by someone in the city's wastewater treatment division, which is a frequent subject of posts on the page.

A post denying Baker was tied to the ad purchase said, "We are City employees that are underpaid ... we do not have money to purchase political ads." A later post said "at some point, I will make myself known."

Not everyone appears to believe Baker is a city employee, including Louis Demella, vice president of the union representing hundreds of city employees.

"It just seems they're throwing rocks," Demella said of Baker. "It's someone who's mad at city government writ large, and this is how they express their frustrations."

He said he thinks the city conducting an investigation into Baker's identity would be "a waste of resources" and wouldn't do anything to address the underlying issues Baker posts about.

If city officials wanted to investigate people criticizing them online, "they could spend their entire budget on that," Demella said.

In addition to city employees and elected officials, Baker criticizes various county officials, Santa Fe school board members and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who is running for a second term. Baker recently accused her of racism.

A representative from Carmack-Altwies' campaign did not respond to a request for comment last week but took umbrage with Baker's allegations in a prior interview with The New Mexican.

School board President Sascha Anderson is Baker's most frequent subject of criticism on the board, something Anderson said in a Monday text message she was not aware of because she does not read the Facebook page.

"I don't pay attention to Jay Baker because I'm focused on the work that needs to be done," she wrote.

Baker claimed in a post in March a federal tax lien had been placed on Santa Fe Public Schools property. Attached to the post was a document indicating the district owed more than $450,000 in unpaid taxes. Baker blamed Anderson for the lien — calling her "Mayor Alan M. Webber's political ally and close friend" — and called for Anderson to resign.

However, the lien resulted from an error, Superintendent Hilario "Larry" Chavez wrote in a message to The New Mexican. The error has since been cleared up, without any harm to the district.

"No penalties or fees are required or assessed against the district," Chavez wrote.

Spanish fraternal organization Union Protectiva de Santa Fe President Virgil Vigil — perhaps the only person in the city who can match Baker's criticism of Webber in tone and frequency — said he thinks Baker is doing "a wonderful job."

"I don't know nothing about him but whoever he is — male, female, group of people — is doing a wonderful job to expose the corruption in our beautiful city," Vigil said.

He questioned the motivations behind trying to determine Baker's identity.

"What he's saying must be true — because otherwise, why would they be trying to stifle him?" he said.

Staff writer Margaret O'Hara contributed to this report.