Attorney Files Complaint Against Arizona Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith
A Valley attorney is seeking the ouster of Arizona Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith, arguing her ties to the telecommunications industry — one of the utilities she’s tasked with regulating — constitute a conflict of interest.
Bitter Smith has recently faced mounting scrutiny over her role as director of a cable industry-trade group and as a registered lobbyist for Cox Communications, which offers telephone services.
“Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith is deeply engaged with the telecommunications industry, an industry that by law she is charged with overseeing and regulating," said Tom Ryan, who filed the complaint on Wednesday with the Arizona Attorney General’s office.
Ryan points to Bitter Smith’s mixed record of sometimes voting for companies that are members of her trade group and at other times recusing herself. He also says her public affairs firm, Technical Solutions, does work for telecomm, but the commissioner did not reveal that in her filings with the secretary of state.
“The plain fact of the matter is she doesn’t put any of that down on her financial disclosure statement. All she says is ‘public affairs.’ That is a material omission that the voters of Arizona didn’t get to know about,” said Ryan.
The complaint also uncovers possible evidence that Bitter Smith has inappropriately influenced other matters involving utilities regulated by the commission, as well. Specifically, that Bitter Smith was hired by a developer to facilitate the relocation of an Arizona Public Service substation in Scottsdale to a nearby community.
Public records show that Bitter Smith emailed members of the community who were concerned about the substation, saying her public affairs firm was doing “community outreach.” Another email, cited in the complaint, references a meeting between Bitter Smith and a representative of APS.
In past interviews, Bitter Smith has maintained she’s only involved with cable services, not telecomm. But Ryan’s complaint indicates Smith has also written a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Cox about the Connect America Fund, which was set up by Congress to expand broadband, including internet and telecommunications, in rural areas.
A statement from Bitter Smith’s lawyer calls the complaint “frivolous and without merit,” and states “she has never been employed by a company regulated by her commission.
Updated 9/2/2015 at 6:10 p.m.
