The scandal surrounding Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett isn’t going away. More allegations are reported to soon be surfacing.
Accused of drunkenly groping a man at a Minneapolis, Minnesota bar where he was attending a national convention in June, Hiett steadfastly refuses to resign, although this week he surrendered his chairmanship of the three-member regulatory body.
Hiett’s move to give up being chairman developed when he took up Commissioner Bob Anthony’s agenda item to replace him and name vice-chair Kim David to succeed him.
Typically when Commissioner Hiett handled such controversial hot-topic agenda items proposed by Anthony, he would turn the matter over to Anthony. Not so on Wednesday. In what appeared to be almost a choreographed move, Hiett offered a prepared statement indicating he would step down as chairman for his “physical” and “spiritual” health. Commissioner Kim David took up the cue as though she anticipated his statement and offered her appreciation of his comments.
“I have always respected the work that you’ve done for the state of Oklahoma, and I was, I was not planning on calling for your, for you to step down from these two positions. I was going to really wait and leave that up to you because I know that I feel — I feel that you truly do need to step back and get the healing that you need and to be able to come back and work for the people of the state of Oklahoma once again and finish your term out with dignity.”
As the scandal developed with The Oklahoman’s disclosure on Thursday of another drunken incident that occurred in June at the opening of a new law firm in Oklahoma City, questions were also raised about Commissioner David—what she knew and when did she know it?
David informed The Oklahoman she had been aware of the June incident that occurred in Oklahoma City, making it obvious that the commissioner has known for some time of Commissioner Hiett’s affliction with alcohol.
OK Energy Today pressed the commissioner about the growing scandal.
“I appreciate you reaching out to me however, due to the on going process of determining the appropriate entry to investigate this serious matter, I will not be making any comments until that process has taken place and we have had the opportunity to review and assess the findings.”
The commission is moving ahead with what was labeled Wednesday as a “personnel” investigation and not an “independent” investigation as Commissioner David first proposed last week.
While witnesses to the June incident in Minneapolis were reported to involve individuals employed by the Kansas Corporation Commission, there was a list of several Oklahoma Corporation Commission employees and representatives of Oklahoma utilities present for the national convention—not that they witnessed the incident in question.
The following is the list of those from Oklahoma in attendance at the national convention of The Mid-America Regulatory Conference (MARC), a group that represents an association of regional organizations of utility and energy regulatory agencies from 14 states that include: Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Bob Anthony
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Elbert Thomas
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Erica O’Neal
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Geoffrey Rush
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Justin Cullen
Oklahoma Corporation Commission Todd Hiett
Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. Zach Quintero
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Dawn Cash
OMS Brad Pope
ONE Gas Cory Slaughter
ONE Gas, Inc. Dustin Fredrick
ONE Gas, Inc. Robert Vincent
Meanwhile, there are growing suggestions and hints that allegations regarding other possible incidents involving Commissioner Hiett at other national conventions in California, Texas and Florida will soon be made pubic. Some “of a sexual nature” are anticipated to surface in the coming days or weeks.
Who is making such claims? It reportedly involves individuals from offices of other state regulators that have attended the same conferences where Commissioner Hiett has appeared.
One such conference was last fall in California, a conference OK Energy Today highlighted at the time. It was an event also attended by an Assistant Attorney General. When pressed about the reported attendance, a spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond stated, ” No member of the Attorney General’s staff has ever reported witnessing inappropriate behavior by Commissioner Hiett. Attorney General Drummond has complete confidence in the ability of his staff to represent the interests of ratepayers in all matters before the Commission.”
The attorney general had previously indicated he would not conduct an investigation into the alleged incident. However, as the political news site Non Doc reported, Drummond’s chief of staff, Trebor Worthen sent an email to Commissioner David just prior to the start of Wednesday’s meeting.
“You are authorized to state that the Office of Attorney General stands ready to accept any complaint of criminal wrongdoing, and will take appropriate action,” wrote Worthen, a longtime political consultant who served in the House with Hiett 20 years ago. “Reports may be made to Agent (Gerard) Dauphinais via phone (…) or email.”