PHOENIX โ State utility regulator Bob Burns is not serving in office illegally despite the fact he was listed as a lobbyist for a telecommunications organization, the Attorney Generalโs Office concluded Friday.
Assistant Attorney General Brunn Roysden acknowledged that Burns was registered as a lobbyist for the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council. The complaint was that some of that organizationโs members are employees of or have business relationships with companies subject to regulation by the Arizona Corporation Commission, of which Burns is a member.
Arizona law says anyone employed by or holding an official relation to a corporation which is regulated by the commission cannot hold office. The same is true of someone with a pecuniary interest in any regulated entity.
But Roysden, in a letter to Sedona resident Warren Woodward, who filed the complaint, said he found no evidence that Burns had a relationship that would disqualify him from serving.
โMerely being listed as an authorized lobbyist with the Secretary of State is insufficient to establish a violation,โ the assistant AG wrote.
He said someone who is an authorized lobbyist must be employed by or representing someone. But Roysden said there was no evidence Burns was employed or paid by ATIC or ever lobbied on its behalf.
And he said the fact that Burns was listed by the organization as a lobbyist โwas simply an administrative oversightโ by the group.
The conclusion of this investigation is in sharp contrast to the Attorney Generalโs Office filing suit to remove Susan Bitter Smith from the commission.
In that case, Attorney General Mark Brnovich cited evidence she was a lobbyist for Cox Communications and head of a cable TV association. Brnovich said while the commission does not regulate cable, those firms also offer telephone service, which is regulated.
Bitter Smith denied breaking the law but resigned anyway, saying the lawsuit and the publicity had become a distraction from her work at the commission.
