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PSC needs a tighter leash

The Public Service Commission's new code of ethics would be too vague for Boy Scouts much less for public officials who have such power over our pocketbooks. The new five-sentence code says, for example, that PSC commissioners "must not knowingly engage in prohibited ex parte (one-party) communications." The key word is "knowingly." That's like a Boy Scout saying he didn't "knowingly" push the old lady in front of a car, but was only helping her across the street.

PSC commissioners are always being surprised that their obviously improper behavior is viewed with alarm by Floridians. In the past, some commissioners have seen no harm in letting utility companies wine and dine them, or even ghostwrite the speeches they deliver during PSC meetings. This is a group that needs ethics rules that are as specific as possible.

Instead, the code gives such abstract advice as this: "A Commissioner must avoid improprieties...." Yet a bill passed earlier this year by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush says it's okay for commissioners to attend events, at reduced rates, sponsored by the utility industry. And what are commissioners likely to do at such events? Have ex parte communications with industry officials.

Bush insisted on the new code of ethics after acknowledging the bill "does not set the bar high enough for PSC commissioners." He is right, of course, but that leads to an obvious question: Why did Bush sign the bill into law if he believed the bar was set at limbo height?

Let's face it. PSC commissioners need more restraints put on them. They are political appointees, nominated and chosen by elected officials who are often cozy with the regulated industries and subject to constant ego-stroking by skilled lobbyists. It is no wonder they are led astray. They need better rules to live by than "act in a professional manner at all times ..." if consumers are to have a chance for fair treatment.

[Last modified December 2, 2005, 01:13:14]