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PSC officials want ethics complaints dropped

By LOUIS HAU
Published May 27, 2005

Three Florida Public Service Commission members and a former commissioner have asked the state Commission on Ethics to dismiss ethics complaints against them. They cited amended ethics rules recently passed by the state Legislature.

Commissioners Braulio Baez, Rudy Bradley and Terry Deason and former commissioner Lila Jaber are seeking the dismissal of ethics complaints regarding their hosting of the 2002 annual conference of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in Miami Beach.

The complaints were filed in December 2003 by retired school administrator Lloyd Brumfield of Stuart, who complained that the regulatory conference, which was heavily subsidized by regulated utilities, violated state ethics rules banning PSC commissioners from receiving gifts from utility companies.

In July, the Ethics Commission found probable cause that the four commissioners may have violated state law and forwarded the case in February to the Division of Administrative Hearings. The next month, administrative law judge Don Davis scheduled a hearing on the matter for Aug. 16-19.

But this month, the state Legislature passed amended ethics rules that explicitly allow commissioners to attend regulatory conferences and associated meals and events generally available to all conference participants. The rules also allow commissioners to attend conferences attended by utility officials paying a higher registration fee. Gov. Jeb Bush hasn't signed the legislation.

The new rules appeared to permit the behavior cited in the ethics complaints against the four commissioners. Indeed, the commissioners cited the recent rule changes in their requests to the Ethics Commission seeking dismissal of the complaints.

"It would be appropriate for the Commission to exercise its discretion to determine that the public interest would not be served by proceeding further in this cause and to dismiss the complaint," the filings stated.

Ethics Commission advocate Linzie Bogan recommended Wednesday that the commission reject the requests for dismissal, arguing that it had temporarily relinquished jurisdiction on the matter when it referred the case to the Division of Administrative Hearings.

Consumer attorney Mike Twomey said he wasn't surprised by the requests to dismiss the complaints.

"It's predictable," Twomey said Thursday. "To me, it's clear that the legislation was being passed for this specific purpose."

He said the complaints against the commissioners were less a sign of individual wrongdoing than a symptom of a faulty regulatory system that allows utility companies to become too cozy with those charged with regulating them.

"It's the culture that expects that regulated companies can feed and entertain judges in their cases," he said.

Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 27, 2005, 00:39:13]