“If guilt has been determined, then he should resign.”
The statement by then-Rep. Todd Hiett back in 2004 could haunt him as now Corporation Commission Chairman Todd Hiett faces allegations of public drunkenness and groping a man at a bar during a conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the time, 20 years ago, legislator Hiett was asked about the claims against then-Enid Rep. Mike O’Neal, who like Hiett in 2024, had been attending a conference. The event was at an Oklahoma City hotel where O’Neal was charged with groping a woman. It was a felony sexual battery charge but the felony was dropped as O’Neal agreed with prosecutors to spend 30 days in jail on a guilty plea to a misdemeanor— outraging public decency.
In Commissioner Hiett’s case, he claims he didn’t remember what he did at a hotel bar and has reportedly entered a rehabilitation facility for treatment of an alcohol affliction. While O’Neal faced an arrest and criminal charges, Hiett only faces the court of public opinion. So far, there has been no reported police investigation of the incident that occurred in June in a Minneapolis hotel where Hiett was attending a national convention.
In the Mike O’Neal incident, it led then-Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane to comment, “”What he did was not the act of a sexual predator. It was the act of a drunken fool.”
Hiett issued a statement Tuesday, vowing not to resign after fellow Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony said the incident was beyond inappropriate or offensive and no joke.
“ It is horrifying, disgusting and probably criminal. Alcohol is no excuse for it,’ stated Anthony in a filing made with the Commission.
“Hiett’s immediate departure is the only corrective action possible to restore any functional level of integrity and credibility to the business conducted by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.”
Hiett issued a response, suggesting Anthony’s call for resignation was no surprise. Tensions between the two have been high ever since Anthony supported a constitutional challenge in 2021 to the use of securitization bonds to allow utilities to cover their natural gas costs during Winter Storm Yuri.
At the time, Hiett claimed that “Bob Anthony is a sick man—he is a sick man.”
Just two weeks ago, Hiett lashed out again at Anthony when Anthony attempted to have a Certified Public Accountant give a 10-minute presentation showing that the Corporation Commission’s 2-page purported audit of the storm expenditures was not a legitimate audit.
Hiett accused Anthony at the July 22 meeting of trying to trick the public into believing he was helping ratepayers. His attack came a week after the first allegations of public drunkenness were revealed and he admitted he had an alcohol affliction.
“I’ll talk to the camera right now and make sure the public understands, that for many years, Commissioner Anthony has used a pattern of deception for many years, coming in after a case is closed when he had opportunity to participate in the rate case. He waits until the record is closed at which time he can no longer legally have an impact on the case….and he cries foul. He does that to trick the public into believing he’s on their side. And all the time, he never sat one day in the OGE rate case before the ALJ.”
In the latest claim, Hiett was accused during the same reported drunken incident to have groped a man sitting at the bar with him and there were reported witnesses to the incident.
This week, Corporation Commissioner Kim David suggested Hiett should take a leave of absence, adding that the serious allegations needed to be addressed.
“It’s critical that we ensure the public and those we regulate have confidence that we take the responsibility of this office seriously. Displaying full transparency in how we conduct ourselves is important.”
