PSC and Governor's Aide Discussed Personnel Changes at Agency

By Ray Rivera and Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 12, 2006

The independent agency charged with regulating utilities in Maryland drew fire yesterday for consulting with the governor's office before dismissing a senior employee and for meeting privately with the governor's aides amid negotiations over electricity rate increases.

A special legislative committee investigating Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s hiring and firing practices released e-mails that show that a top aide at the Public Service Commission discussed a planned dismissal with the governor's appointments office.

Also yesterday, a state board found that PSC Chairman Kenneth D. Schisler and three other commissioners violated the state open meetings law when they met privately with Ehrlich's chief of staff in March to discuss the pending rate increases.

Democrats said both the e-mails and the legal opinion reinforced concerns about the independence of utility commissioners, already the target of public outrage over rising electricity prices.

A day earlier, a Baltimore judge delayed a rate relief plan approved by the PSC and will consider whether to send it back to the commission for changes.

The PSC is required by law to act impartially to protect utility customers from unfair or unsafe practices.

Schisler yesterday defended the independence of his agency and the personnel decisions made, including the ousters of five high-ranking employees, who were escorted out of the building by armed guards in April 2004.

At times, Schisler appeared so riled that his hands shook as he gulped down water and handled exhibits. Among them was an October 2003 e-mail from his chief of staff, Craig Chesek, to the governor's deputy appointments secretary, Diane Baker, stating that Schisler "would like" to terminate an employee, one of the five who were later fired.

"No problem . . . I will get Larry and SLK to sign off then you can do the termination," Baker responded, referring to Appointments Secretary Lawrence Hogan and former Ehrlich chief of staff Steven L. Kreseski.

Schisler said he was never told whom to hire and fire and that political affiliation was never considered. "I wasn't asking for permission," he said. "I was telling them what I planned to do."

Legislators, who are investigating whether state personnel practices are fair to at-will employees, zeroed in on memos written in early 2003 that declared that "all hires and dismissals should be cleared" through the governor's appointments office and that Ehrlich would assess progress "in hiring the individuals who will carry out the goals and responsibilities of this administration."

Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) said the memos and e-mails show the PSC was "clearly responding to the appointment's office."

Schisler said the memos predated his appointment, and he couldn't recall ever seeing them. Besides, he said, he's not a secretary.

Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director, said it was only natural that the first Republican governor in a generation would want to reshape state government. "Darn right the governor insisted on hiring competent, experienced people who were loyal to his agenda. Duh!" he said.

Schisler defended Chesek, whom he said had been attacked "savagely" and "unfairly" by lawmakers and former employees. Those workers testified last week that Chesek referred to himself as "al-Qaeda" and described his role as eliminating employees to make room for Ehrlich loyalists. Chesek, who refused to answer many of the committee's questions on advice of his attorney, said he played no role in hirings or firings. He said he only acted as a confidant for Schisler. Both men disputed the al-Qaeda remark.

Schisler said those who characterized Chesek as a "trench coat" man hired to "clean house" belong to the "Elvis lives" crowd. "ET phone home, senator, you and your wild conspiracy theories," he told Frosh.

Even before Schisler testified yesterday, there was unwelcome news for the commission. The state's Open Meetings Compliance Board found that the four commissioners should have met publicly with the governor's aides because the meeting was "intended to shape the outcome of the legislative process."

At the time of the meeting, General Assembly leaders were negotiating a rate-relief deal with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., whose customers face a 72 percent increase in July.

"The commission's role in approving BGE's plan for increased rates was at the heart of the political furor," according to the opinion.

The board's decision is meant as an advisory opinion and does not carry a penalty.

Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver called it a "disappointing opinion" because the "so-called meeting stemmed from a chance encounter."

Democrats said the meeting fueled the impression that the commission lacked independence. "They weren't meeting with the Ehrlich administration, they were getting their instructions from the Ehrlich administration," said Del. Curtis S. Anderson (D-Baltimore). "There was a script and they basically did what they were told to do."

DeLeaver refuted that notion, calling it "a baseless accusation."