Arizona Agency 'Kicked the Hornet's Nest' With Ethics Code, Commissioner Says

As directed by the code, commissioners last month opened a lobbyist registration system (see 1806210040). Arizona elects commissioners, but ethics codes are also important for appointed commissioners, Burns said. A code alone may not stop bad behavior, he cautioned. “The code is important” as guidance for people who genuinely want to understand agency procedures, “but if you’re not ethical, it won’t serve the purpose,” Burns said. The commissioner took back earlier criticism the code would be more cover than real document: “It’s a good thing to have something in writing that people can refer to.” The lobbyist registration system will provide “good information,” even if it might duplicate work of the Arizona secretary of state, Burns said.

The ACC is to name an interim executive director Thursday to replace Ted Vogt, who resigned earlier this month after disclosing a possible conflict of interest (see 1807100036). Burns doesn’t think the ethics code brought about the departure: “It was a conflict and the commission has some pretty rigorous standards when it comes to a conflict.” Burns hopes all commissioners will be involved in selecting the next permanent executive director, though Chairman Tom Forese will determine the process, he said.

It’s too soon to say if the code has stopped bad behavior by a few commissioners who tested agency ethics in the past, Burns said. He sued other commissioners and electric utility Arizona Public Service to learn the source of $3.2 million in anonymous contributions to the 2014 election campaigns of Forese and ex-Commissioner Doug Little, who's now with the federal Department of Energy (see 1712010034). Burns awaits a court ruling he hopes will establish that a commissioner may subpoena records from a utility. That would give commissioners a strong tool for ethics enforcement, making it more difficult for a utility to capture an agency and hurt ratepayers, he said.

The Arizona commission is “a tremendous institution,” despite recent ethics controversies, stressed Burns, saying he’s troubled when people say it's corrupt. “Some people in it might be, but the commission itself is not corrupt,” he said. “It’s an institution to protect the ratepayers.” Electing ethical commissioners is important, and negative publicity about the agency could bring strong candidates to the agency in November when two commissioners -- Forese and Justin Olson -- are up for re-election. “I’m concerned about the image of the commission,” said Burns, nonetheless optimistic it will improve: “We’ve sort of kicked the hornet’s nest, so people are out there wanting to make things better.”

NARUC Notebook

CenturyLink probably won’t oppose one-touch, make-ready or overlashing proposals from an FCC draft order set for an Aug. 2 vote (see 1807130045), said Director-Regulatory Compliance Tom Freeberg on a Monday pole-attachments panel. “I didn’t see anything troubling” in the draft, though it’s too soon to say how the final version will look, he said. Pennsylvania’s recent interest in reverse pre-empting the FCC to take pole attachments authority (see 1807160047) surprised CTIA Director-State Regulatory Affairs Benjamin Aron, but the wireless association is “excited to engage” the Public Utility Commission, Aron said. He praised several states that earlier claimed authority for recently updating or now revising attachment rules, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington state. Industry seeks consistent pole attachment policies across the states, ensuring no state is disadvantaged compared with another for getting wireless services, he said. The joint appearance of Comcast, CenturyLink and CenturyLink officials on NARUC’s pole attachments panel shows convergence, said Comcast Vice President-Regulatory Policy David Don. Their three industries sell broadband, “but we’re all under vastly different regulatory regimes,” said Don, an FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee member. It’s because regulators wrote attachment rules for ILECs 100 years ago, for cable companies 50 years ago and for wireless companies about two years ago, but today’s rules shouldn’t discriminate, he said. Not one of the industries can keep up with consumer demand, added Freeberg.

States should follow the Mississippi Public Service Commission in prosecuting robocallers, said South Dakota Public Utilities Commission member Chris Nelson on a panel Tuesday. The Mississippi agency is bringing charges against many telemarketers (see 1807100052), and expanding that fight to other states might achieve a “critical mass” for stopping robocalls, Nelson said. “Robocalls are the bane of telecommunications.” Despite efforts to hit telemarketers with violations of the Mississippi no-call law, robocalls are intensifying, said PSC investigator Jimmy Taylor. Spoofing of local numbers is the state’s biggest problem, he said. The PSC found that often the leader of one bad company has multiple companies doing the same thing, he said. Progress may be slow, and not everyone charged pays fines, but doing nothing isn’t an option, said Taylor. "We're going to bring what wrath we can in the state." The FCC has no shortage of robocalling complaints to investigate, said Enforcement Bureau Telecom Consumers Division Deputy Director Parul Desai. “It's just a matter of how we allocate our resources.” The FCC chooses what to probe based on several factors, including vulnerability of the targeted population, she said. Common obstacles to enforcement include the robocaller not being a domestic entity, one- to two-year time limits to act, and VoIP providers sometimes lacking call records that extend far enough back, she said. Carriers also want to fight robocalls and are cooperative with subpoenas, she said.