If they were buying the mayor's favor, they sure weren't doing it secretly.

But it is absurd to claim that those rolling Rocky II billboards were of no value and thus properly exempt from campaign reporting laws.

An ordinance that would list and limit such forms of campaigning was vetoed by the mayor Monday. That ordinance does need to go back to the shop. But the repairs might be easier if Anderson hadn't, in characteristic high dudgeon, decried a supposed assault on the First Amendment rights of poor cab drivers.

As promoted by Councilman Dave Buhler, the idea is to close a towncar-size loophole in city campaign finance rules exploited by the mayor's campaign.

Because the "taxi wraps" that covered the rear windows of many local cabs had not been sold for advertising before, no one had thought to regulate them or even had an easy way of listing their market value. Thus Anderson was not required to report them as in-kind contributions or apply their value to his overall campaign spending report.

Buhler thought that wasn't fair, and sent the city's lawyers off to write a law that brought such campaign advertising under the umbrella of local disclosure laws.

Buhler has since said he did not intend to limit the rules to taxis, but cabs and billboards were the only examples given of the kind of "coordinated expenditures" that the new law seeks to control. That allowed Anderson to base his veto message on the argument that taxis were being unfairly, even unconstitutionally, punished for their support of his campaign.

And it is a punishment that, while it would hurt the cabbies, won't hurt this mayor because, said Anderson, "I don't think I'm ever going to run for elective office again."

Whether Anderson runs again or not, rules that affect cabs are particularly sensitive. With the possible exception of sexually oriented businesses - which are not known to endorse candidates - taxis are the enterprise most affected by local regulations.

That's a reason why political advertising on taxis should be treated as something other than just big bumper stickers. But it is no reason to silence an industry that, more than most, has a reason to make its voice heard in local election campaigns.