PHOENIX β A lawyer seeking the ouster of Susan Bitter Smith from the Arizona Corporation Commission says an ad she runs seeking clients for her private firm bolsters his claim that she is holding office illegally.
Thomas Ryan points to an advertisement Bitter Smith put in January into the annual Book of Lobbyists published by the Arizona Capitol Times. There, Bitter Smith β in her position of executive director of the Southwest Cable Communications Association β cited her areas of expertise as local government, cable television, telecommunications and wireless telephone.
The ad says Bitter Smith and her organization lobby on behalf of both cable television and telecommunications.
Ryan said that provides further evidence to support his complaint to the Arizona Attorney Generalβs Office that Bitter Smith, as a regulator of state utilities including phone companies, has a conflict of interest. He amended his complaint late Friday to include the new information.
Bitter Smith, who has denied any conflict, said the ad proves nothing.
βThat same ad copy has run for years and certainly should be changed as I donβt have any telecommunications clients and certainly would not accept any,β she said. She said her last client in that field was Alltel in 2010, two years before she was elected to the commission, of which she is now chairwoman.
Bitter Smith has said the lobbying she does, not only through the association but separately for Cox Communications, is only on behalf of the cable television side of the business and nothing to do with the phone service it provides through the same cables or fiber.
The associationβs website says the group provides βan essential βunified voiceβ in dealing with the local utility companies ... in resolving pressing utility problems.β That help includes negotiating contracts with major utilities so the cable companies can hang their wires on the same poles. Some of those utilities are regulated by the commission.
Bitter Smith, however, said those negotiations no longer occur. βPole attachment fees are now governed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission),β she said.
The new information comes as Ryan has petitioned Attorney General Mark Brnovich to file suit against Bitter Smith to force her to vacate her office.
Ryan charges that her role as a paid lobbyist for Cox β above and beyond what she does for the cable association β violates a provision of law which says commissioners cannot hold office if they have βan official relation to a corporation ... subject to regulation by the commission.β
He said being a companyβs lobbyist gives her that βofficial relation.β
A spokeswoman for Brnovich said Ryanβs complaint remains under investigation.
Ryan said if Brnovich does not act, he will file a lawsuit against the attorney general to compel him to move against Bitter Smith.
