CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016, OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“PIOUS-TALKING POLS MAY KILL EX PARTE REFORM”
Strong evidence shows several arms of
California government are in urgent need of major ethical fixes, beginning with
the Public Utilities Commission, the Energy Commission and the Coastal
Commission, to name just three powerful agencies.
But even the smallest and most obvious
reforms are consistently met with vetos, legislative detours and other
obfuscation despite the pious rhetoric of powerful politicians from Gov. Jerry
Brown down to backbenchers in the Legislature.
The pattern began last year, when
Brown vetoed a batch of proposed changes for the PUC, including creating an
inspector general for the almost untouchable agency that oversees electric and
natural gas safety and prices. Brown nixed a ban on private contacts between
PUC commissioners and executives of the big utility companies they regulate,
while often acting like rubber stamps. These are known as “ex parte
communications.”
The drive for a ban on ex parte’s for
the PUC followed revelations of a secret deal between a former PUC president
(now under criminal investigation) and officials of the Southern California
Edison Co. that stuck consumers with the bulk of costs for shutting down the
San Onofre Nuclear Power Station. There were also private contacts between PUC
commissioners and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on both rates and the
consequences of the fatal 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.
This year, legislators proposed a
similar ban on ex parte communications by the Coastal Commission, which rules
on virtually all development along the state’s scenic coastline. This came
after several commissioners admitted having secret meetings, emails and phone
calls with developers on whose projects they were to vote.
For months, passage of a ban seemed
assured; it easily cleared the state Senate. If passed, the bill by Democratic
state Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara would prohibit ex parte
communications between commissioners and anyone else with a financial stake in
agency business.
This would be a nice start, many
consumers believe, with similar bans also needed for many other state boards
and commissions. So far, not one such ban has been accepted by Brown, whose
signature is needed to make legislation into law.
Now the Coastal Commission ex parte
ban has now run afoul of an analysis by the state Natural Resources Agency that
found the commission would need six new employees at a yearly cost of about
$150,000 each. That department – under Brown’s direct authority – also backed
the contention by some commissioners that ex parte communications help greatly
in their work.
Two facts are relevant here: One is
that the expense ($900,000) for six new employees who would presumably police
their bosses is a fraction of the building cost for just one typical new
coastal home. It’s a pittance for keeping commissioners honest and fair. The
other fact is that wealthy coastal developers can hire lobbyists and other
spokesman whose fees are usually beyond the means of conservationists. That’s
why most Coastal Commission ex parte communications are one-sided renditions of
property owner interests.
Nevertheless, allegedly because of its
financial impact, Jackson’s bill has been sidetracked into the state Assembly’s
suspense file, which usually delays votes on proposed laws by about a year. If
this bill isn’t resurrected by Thursday evening, it can’t be reintroduced until
next year. Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lawndale, sponsor of
last year’s vetoed PUC reforms, refused to say whether he will try to break it
loose.
Meanwhile, there’s no prospect for an
ex parte communications ban for any other agency. A package of PUC changes
agreed to by Brown and key legislators would require commissioners to reveal
quickly the contents of any such contacts. But there are no significant
penalties for anyone who doesn’t comply.
There’s no effort to impose even that
much on the Energy Commission or other panels.
All of which means it will likely be
business as usual in California government for at least another year, despite
rhetoric from Rendon and other legislators who have advocated ex parte and
other reforms to prevent regulators from favoring the very interests they’re
supposed to rein in.
Coming almost two years after
revelations of the extent and consequences of PUC ex parte communications, this
raises major questions about politicians who talk a good game on this but may
not really mean it.
-30-
Email
Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough,
The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch
It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias
columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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