PSC commissioners face chief’s retirement

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Mar 21, 2009 - Page: 12A

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State utility regulators are putting together some procedures to follow in replacing their longtime secretary, said state Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III, of New Orleans, on Friday.

None of the five elected commissioners was on the panel in January 1995 when Lawrence “Tubby” St. Blanc became the chief of PSC’s 96 employees. The PSC regulates utility companies and telecommunications businesses. The agency has a $9.8 million budget.

Other than winning three of five of the commissioners’ votes, the PSC has no formal process for reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, judging qualifications and selecting the winner.

Also playing into PSC hiring plans is an April election to fill the District 4 seat that stretches from Pointe Coupee Parish across much of Acadiana to the Texas line. Commissioners are unsure what dynamic the soon-to-be elected commissioner should play in selecting the PSC secretary.

St. Blanc had been Kathleen Blanco’s executive assistant when the former governor served as a PSC commissioner. He plans to retire in April. The position is not covered by civil service and pays up to $120,000 though St. Blanc made $110,000 per year.

Eight candidates have applied for the job. They are:

• Brian Eddington, of Baton Rouge, practices law. He was the PSC general counsel and assistant secretary from 1993 to 1998.
• Vivian Broussard Guillory, of Baton Rouge, is general counsel for the state Division of Administrative Law.
• Madelon Kuchera, of Chicago, is managing director of Sterling Group Services LLC, a communications and energy consulting firm. She had been deputy executive director at the Illinois Commerce Commission and an adviser to Federal Communications Commissioner Andrew Barrett.
• Vanessa Caston LaFleur, of Baton Rouge, is general counsel for the Louisiana Tax Commission. She was a staff attorney for the PSC from 1995 to 2004.
• State Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Grosse Tete, chairs the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. He is the managing partner in the Baton Rouge law firm of Unglesby & Marionneaux.
• W. Alan Miller, of Baton Rouge, is an attorney with the state Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee.
• Bill Robertson, of Bossier City, has been the executive assistant to PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell since 2003. A former journalist, he also worked on Campbell’s campaign for governor in 2007.
• Robert Scheffel Wright, of Crawfordville, Fla., is a former staffer with the Florida Public Service Commission who now specializes in representing consumer groups and local governments on utility issues.