Preparing for the next chapter after 35 years at the Public Service Commission | Bev DeMello
Later this month, I’m retiring from the same agency where I started my state career 35 years ago, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC).
Created by the Florida Legislature in 1887, the PSC was originally called the Florida Railroad Commission. Its primary purpose was the regulation of railroad passenger and freight rates and operations. Now the PSC—led by five appointed commissioners—oversees the electric and gas and water and wastewater industries in Florida and sets the rates for investor-owned utilities.
Before Ma Bell was broken up, and eventually, competition took over the markets, we regulated the state’s telecommunications companies. When I started at the agency, some of the “old-timers” used to laugh, saying the telephone would never go the way of the telegraph. During my tenure I saw the demise of landlines, eventually replaced by cellphones, Voice over Internet Protocol and broadband.
On my first day of work as a public information specialist in June 1987, then Executive Director David Swafford told me a lesson I have never forgotten: Don’t ever screw up on a slow news day.
I have served under 38 commissioners, no small feat since there have only been 70 commissioners. Braulio Baez, our current Executive Director, was also a commissioner. Our agency moved from the Fletcher Building to Southwood in 1995, housed in new buildings named after two PSC commissioners, Betty Easley and Gerald Gunter.
There were a couple of firsts for commissioners during my tenure: Julia L. Johnson (1993-1999) was the first African American female commissioner to serve, and Luis J. Lauredo (1992-1994) was the first Hispanic commissioner. The youngest commissioner? Julia Johnson, having the distinction of being the youngest appointed and elected chairman of the PSC. Current commissioner holding the gavel as chair the longest? Commissioner Art Graham. The oldest commissioner? I won’t say!
Technology’s evolution has changed the way we operate, too. Current PSC Chairman Andrew Fay took his Tesla around the state to test Florida’s vehicle charging infrastructure. PSC court reporters once used shorthand to cover the commissioner meetings/hearings. PSC hearings and meetings are now broadcast live via the Florida Channel or streamed online. Consumers can more easily contact the PSC via phone, letter, fax, email, or online form.
I used to clip articles from the Florida newspapers and the Wall Street Journal, scotch-tape them to typing paper, and Xerox them for the Commissioners and staff. I also used to type news releases on a typewriter, copy the releases, get in my car, and run them to the press corps for distribution.
Gone are the news reporters I first worked with . . . the Capitol legends as I—and maybe you—remember them . . . Howard Troxler, Lucy Morgan, Tim Nickens, Bill Cotterell, and Mike Vasilinda. I met Gary Fineout my first year, I think, when he was still with the then independent college paper, the Florida Flambeau. Now with Politico, Gary is always one step ahead. Media maven Mary Ellen Klas, Miami Herald, is still on the beat, still asking the tough questions.
I’ve enjoyed a few different titles over the years, including director, helped grow a consumer affairs division, was part of a few reorganizations, and ended my tenure as an assistant director in the Consumer Assistance & Outreach Office. I worked with some great managers and colleagues through the years. I even went for the job of commissioner. Three times I made the final list of names sent to the Governor, and three times I wasn’t selected. Maybe I should have given up after the first attempt, but I’m stubborn.
My first boss at the Commission, George Hanna, a former news reporter himself, once said about the PSC, “There are worse places I could have worked.” I would agree.
I’m fortunate to have witnessed so many exciting changes in the regulatory field through the years, but suffice it to say that, fortunately, some things stay the same. PSC Commissioners will continue making sure Florida consumers’ utility services are safe and reliable in the years to come. As for me, like others, I’ll find new adventures in life after the PSC.
Bev DeMello is a former community columnist, twice, for the Tallahassee Democrat.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Preparing for the next chapter after 35 years at the Public Service Commission | Bev DeMello
