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E-mail StoryGovernor: Give this guy up!
Do Republicans really want to relive the Quackenbush scandal? That's what looms ahead.
| Wednesday, Aug 1 2007 5:10 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Aug 1 2007 5:12 PM
What was Gov. Schwarzenegger thinking? To head a state consumer financial watchdog agency, he appointed a former Republican deputy insurance commissioner who was forced to resign in 2000 after being found up to his earlobes in scandal.
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While legislators were on a recent holiday break, Schwarzenegger appointed Michael A. Kelley to serve as commissioner of the Department of Financial Services. It is an appointment that will have to be confirmed by the state Senate after hearings that will likely get ugly.
Kelley was Republican Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush's deputy. A bipartisan investigation that means it was conducted by Republicans and Democrats concluded Kelley was a central figure in a scandal that drove Quackenbush, Kelley and others out of office.
The scandal involved $12.5 million in secret settlements paid by insurance companies in the wake of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Insurance companies were accused of stiffing customers on their damage claims.
Rather than the settlements going to help consumers, the money was diverted to Quackenbush's pet non-profit organizations. Some of the money was used to further Quackenbush's political career.
As outrage grew this week over Schwarzenegger's appointment of Kelley to the financial commissioner's post, Kelley issued the following written statement: "Subsequent to the legislative report (of his wrongdoing) the FBI, attorney general, district attorney and grand jury conducted a thorough investigation and identified the individuals that had broken the law. I was not complicit in any criminal activities. Those who were responsible for criminal acts were found and punished by the judicial system."
Hardly! Quackenbush resigned, rather than face impeachment, and then high-tailed it to Hawaii to work on his tan. Most recently, he was reported to be working for the Lee County, Fla., Sheriff's Department as a deputy on the graveyard patrol shift.
While Kelley was not criminally charged, he was either a key player in the sleazy insurance department scheme or too dumb to detect it and intervene. Regardless, he doesn't deserve to be placed again in a position of watching over consumers' well-being.
Calling Kelley's appointment to head the state Department of Financial Services a "good fit," Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear told the Los Angeles Times, "Michael Kelley has been a successful administrator and regulator for over 20 years and has been an effective watchdog for California consumers every step of the way."
Give it up! The governor was asleep at the switch when someone pawned off this tainted retread.
Do Republicans really want to relive the Quackenbush scandal? That's what looms ahead if Schwarzenegger stubbornly backs this guy and senators reopen old wounds during predictably bruising confirmation hearings.