Dunleavy’s former ‘personal assistant’ should not serve as state utility regulator; proposed law change would end debate

As I wrote here last summer, nothing that John Espindola did during his years of working for the state as a “personal assistant” and policy analyst for Gov. Mike Dunleavy qualifies him to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

He claimed to lead the “Office of Energy Innovation,” one of the imaginary offices created for the 2022 Dunleavy campaign.

It is clear that the work Espindola did in New Mexico in the years before he hired on with Dunleavy in 2018 does not meet the minimum educational and professional requirements spelled out in state law about the people entrusted to regulate Alaska’s utilities.

Espindola does not have a law degree, is not a member of the Alaska Bar Association, does not have a degree in any of the six academic fields listed in state law or five years of work experience in those professions.

Espindola is one of three members of the RCA who do not meet the minimum job qualifications in state law.

We’ve had people on the RCA with thin resumes before, but Espindola’s is the thinnest. Appointed to his new state job last summer, he faces a legislative confirmation vote this session.

His biography on the RCA website lists his more than three years as Dunleavy’s personal assistant first on his short list of credentials.

“He served the governor for over three years as his personal assistant,” the RCA press release said.

Espindola meets what has become the defacto minimum standard to be appointed to anything by Dunleavy—he did not sign the recall petition.

Anchorage Sen. Cathy Giessel has proposed a bill that would end all the debate about who is qualified to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska by tightening the language in state law and removing a fuzzy phrase.

There is a hearing planned Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. This change is a minor part of the bill, but an important one.

Among other things, SB 257 by Sen. Cathy Giessel would tighten the language in state law about the minimum requirements to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Three of the four commissioners now on the state payroll do not meet the minimum requirements.

The existing law says that certain college degrees are required or “actual experience for a period of five years” in law or engineering, finance, economics, accounting, business administration or public administration are the equivalent to a degree.

Her proposed change would require a degree and five years experience in the field.

Meanwhile, the problems of regulating Alaska’s utilities got worse this month when the six-year term of the only lawyer on the commission, Janis Wilson, ended.

That leaves the RCA with four members, three appointed by Dunleavy and one reappointed by Dunleavy. The latter is Robert Pickett, who has been on the RCA since 2008, when he was named by Gov. Sarah Palin.

The other RCA commissioners include Robert Doyle, Keith Kurber and Espindola.

Pickett is the only commissioner who clearly meets the existing minimum requirements in state law to serve on the RCA.

Kurber is a retired military officer and retired preacher who got campaign help from Dunleavy and ran for the Legislature and lost. His wife was a campaign donor to Dunleavy in 2022.

Doyle is a former school superintendent. He was a campaign donor to Dunleavy in 2022. He says his master’s degree in administration from UAA makes him qualified under the current law. But his biography on the RCA website says he earned a master’s in “educational leadership.”

Nat Herz reports that Dunleavy has yet to name a replacement for Wilson.

Herz says the governor’s office says four people applied for the job, which pays about $116,000.

The Alaska Federation of Natives approved a resolution last year that says three of the commissioners do not meet the job qualifications in state law. The resolution also called for at least one commissioner to be a tribal member.

I would be satisfied if all commissioners met the minimum qualifications in existing state law or the proposed amendment from Giessel.

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