Confirmation sparks outcry

Utah's utility watchdog group on Wednesday confirmed Leslie Reberg, a former US WEST employee, as its new executive director, setting off an outcry by some consumers.

The 4-to-2 vote by the Committee of Consumer Services came after a closed session to discuss Reberg's qualifications.

Committee members Dee Jay Hammon, chairman, and Betsy Wolf voted against Reberg.

Despite Hammon's dissenting vote, Reberg said she could work with Hammon and would report to work today, meeting with staff to review goals and objectives for the coming year.

"I respect people who stand up for what they believe in, as I do, and look forward to working with them," Reberg said. "While the process may have been difficult, I look forward to the opportunities it presents and actually the heightened awareness and sense that the public may now have of the committee and its roles and responsibilities."

While committee member Ryan Atkinson said Reberg was qualified and would do a good job, longtime consumer advocate Claire Geddes called the committee's action "disgusting."

"I think this is one of the saddest days for the public and for the committee that I've seen," Geddes said. "They stabbed us in the back. I have no confidence in what the committee does anymore. They did this in a closed meeting. That's the saddest part. Nobody got to hear her qualifications or her answers."

The deciding vote appears to have come down to committee member Kent Bateman, who said he remained undecided even after other committee members had taken sides in the closed-door meeting.

Bateman said he had several concerns about Reberg, including her 18-month stint as community relations manager with US WEST and her involvement with HB338, a bill passed by the Utah Legislature in 2000 that former Utah Public Service Commission Chairman Steve Mecham said gave US WEST "the ability to earn outrageous profits at the expense of their captive ratepayers."

However, Bateman said his concerns were eased after listening to Reberg's responses to the committee's questions. He added that he was impressed with her decision to not work on HB320, a bill that passed in the 2000 Legislature that would have abolished the committee but was eventually repealed.

"We've got to get back to work," Bateman said. "We've spent a lot of time with this, and she's a very intelligent person, and I think that as time goes on she will be a good advocate for the committee. If I had continued in the way that I was going to go and voted against her, we would be at a stalemate and she wouldn't be confirmed."

Atkinson said Reberg's tie to HB338 had been overblown.