By MARK BALLARD
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Mar 26, 2009

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal phoned three of the state’s five utility regulators asking them to consider choosing a Democratic state senator to run their agency, Jindal’s top aide said.

Jindal, who was in Washington, D.C., at fundraising events Wednesday, made the calls last week because he found state Sen. Rob Marionneaux of Grosse Tete easy to work with, said Timmy Teepell, the governor’s chief of staff.

Marionneaux chairs the state Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. He applied March 10 to become executive secretary, who is the chief aide to the elected members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and head of the regulatory agency’s staff of 96. The PSC has a $9.8 million budget.

Jindal has rarely offered public support for those seeking high-level state jobs.

Teepell said Marionneaux often disagrees with Jindal’s positions. But Marionneaux is open to negotiation and follows through with what he says he will do, Teepell said.

Marionneaux did not return two calls seeking comment Wednesday.

PSC Commissioner Jimmy Field, of Baton Rouge, said Wednesday, Jindal “did call me and speak to me about Rob’s qualifications. … We didn’t talk very long and he said that Rob had done a great job working with the administration.”

Field, a Republican, said Jindal did not solicit his vote on behalf of Marionneaux and did not poll him on what other commissioners might think of the senator’s application.

Jindal also phoned PSC Chairman Lambert Boissiere III, of New Orleans, and Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, of Metairie, Teepell said.

Boissiere did not return two calls Wednesday.

Skrmetta refused comment. “We’re getting phone calls from a variety of people on a variety of the candidates,” Skrmetta said Wednesday.

Marionneaux wrote in his application letter that he is the managing partner of the Baton Rouge law firm of Unglesby and Marionneaux, which has amassed jury verdicts totaling more than $75 million since 2001. He wrote he participated in more than 25 jury trials in civil court. His law partner, Lewis Unglesby, is recognized in the national peer review publication “Best Lawyers in America,” for his work representing plaintiffs in civil lawsuits and defendants in criminal cases.

The PSC has no formal procedure for choosing the new executive secretary. A majority of the elected commissioners — three of the five — would have to approve the winning candidate.

PSC Secretary Lawrence St. Blanc, who has held the position since 1995, is retiring in April. He had been Kathleen Blanco’s executive assistant when the former governor served as a PSC commissioner. The position is not covered by civil service and pays up to $120,000, although St. Blanc made $110,000 per year.

In addition to Marionneaux, seven others have applied for the job. They are:

• Brian Eddington, of Baton Rouge, a former PSC general counsel.
• Vivian Broussard Guillory, of Baton Rouge, the general counsel for the state Division of Administrative Law.
• Madelon Kuchera, of Chicago, the managing director of Sterling Group Services LLC.
• Vanessa Caston LaFleur, of Baton Rouge, the general counsel for the Louisiana Tax Commission.
• W. Alan Miller, of Baton Rouge, attorney for the state Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee.
• Bill Robertson, of Bossier City, the executive assistant to PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell.
• Robert Scheffel Wright, of Crawfordville, Fla., a lawyer who represents consumer groups and local governments on utility issues.

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