Powder River Examiner -

Something Is Rotten on the PSC

There’s a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that goes, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. This has come to refer to corruption from the top down in a political body. And so goes the Montana Public Service Commission and its problems.

First there was the spying, stealing, and publishing of emails by one commissioner on another. In early May, Commissioner Koopman, who had his emails stolen and published, attempted to censure Commissioner Pinnochi, who did the stealing. The other 3 commissioners just sat on their hands and refused to consider this procedure.

Then, there is Tony O’Donnell, commissioner of District 2. In 2019 he had a 45% absence rate. The PSC is a full-time, highly compensated job and he failed to show up almost half the time.

Just two weeks ago Tony O’Donnell was found guilty of his 3rd campaign ethics violation. During the primary he used his office for political purposes, which is against Montana law, and he broke campaign finance laws by failing to report campaign spending. His first violation was during his 2016 campaign. So even though he is a seasoned politician and in his second campaign, Tony has failed to learn campaign laws. It begs to ask, how well does he study the reports and information he is given as part of his job?

When it comes to accountability and integrity, in the “state” of the Montana PSC, it seems that something indeed is rotten. It is time for a change on November 3.

Valerie McMurtry

Public Service Commission Candidate District 2