Did PSC commissioner leave on heels of senator's comments?

By LOUIS HAU
Published August 29, 2005

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Did some idle Web surfing by state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, contribute to the resignation of a Florida Public Service commissioner?

On May 5, Argenziano fired off a letter to Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, expressing concerns about what she found during "a little Google search to see what the latest news was on our PSC."

In her letter, Argenziano told Lee she was troubled by press reports that commissioner Charles Davidson had been openly advocating national - not state - regulation of certain telecommunications services and that a regulators group he formed had borrowed $24,000 from a Washington think tank funded in part by utility companies.

She asked Lee to investigate.

Six days later, Davidson, who was appointed to the PSC by Gov. Jeb Bush, announced his resignation effective June 1, a year and a half before his four-year term at the commission was to expire. He said he wanted to return to a private-sector job.

"Sen. Argenziano's letter had nothing to do with my resignation. I was not even aware of it," he said in an e-mail response last week to a reporter's query, adding that no Florida legislators had expressed concerns to him about his views.

Lee, however, said he believed Davidson was aware of Argenziano's concerns and that it played a role in his departure, particularly given the recently heightened scrutiny over alleged ethics breaches at the PSC.

"When you start seeing a pattern developing, that's when people start to turn up the magnification of the microscope," Lee said, adding, "I got a sense that (Davidson) wasn't into living in the fish bowl all that much."