Geri Huser may need to recuse herself from the Iowa Utilities Board’s upcoming decisions regarding the Bakken Pipeline proposal, according to a report by Ryan Foley for the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, Governor Terry Branstad appointed former Democratic state lawmaker Huser to the three-member Iowa Utilities board for a term beginning on May 1. She is not expected to have any trouble being confirmed by the Iowa Senate.
Speaking to Foley about Huser’s appointment, Branstad’s communications director indicated that the governor wanted to have every Iowa Utilities Board member able to weigh in on any important decisions.
[Sheila] Tipton’s removal will have an immediate impact on the process for considering the Rock Island Clean Line, a proposed 500-mile transmission line to carry electricity from wind turbines in northwest Iowa to Illinois customers. Hailed by wind energy backers, the $2 billion project is encountering opposition from farmers who worry the board will approve eminent domain.
Tipton had previously represented the company before joining the board, and has recused herself from the project. Branstad believes it’s best to have three voting members on the board, Centers said.
In today’s scoop, Foley reports,
Geri Huser’s brother has represented farmers who oppose the $3.8 billion pipeline that would transport crude oil from North Dakota across Iowa. In December, he sent a letter to the board objecting to the project on letterhead from a family law firm listing his sister as one of its attorneys.
Huser said she knew that her brother was representing landowners facing eminent domain, but was unaware it was linked to the pipeline. She said she didn’t know about the objection letter with her name on it in the case file until The Associated Press inquired Wednesday. […]
Huser’s brother, R. Bradley Skinner, said he recently withdrew from representing the landowners, William and Kathleen Gannon, who own a central Iowa farm that the pipeline would run through. Skinner said he did so to avoid “the appearance of an impropriety” when he learned Branstad was planning to appoint his sister. […]
Board general counsel David Lynch, who flagged the objection letter earlier this month as a potential issue, said Wednesday that state rules would require Huser to recuse herself if her brother’s firm continued to participate. Lynch said Thursday that Skinner’s withdrawal was “news to me” and wasn’t communicated to the board. He said he now saw no basis for Huser’s disqualification but noted that parties could file motions seeking her removal.
Click through to read the full article, with more context on the landowners Skinner had represented. They are longstanding friends of Huser’s late father Ed Skinner.
I’m not an attorney, but I can’t see how Huser can participate in any Iowa Utilities Board decisions related to the Bakken Pipeline. If outgoing board member Tipton felt the need to recuse herself from a different matter because of legal work she had done years ago, surely legal work Huser’s brother did a few months ago would create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Huser probably isn’t aware of most correspondence that goes out under the family law firm’s letterhead; since 2011 she has held a senior position in the Iowa Finance Authority. Nevertheless, any action she takes in connection with the Bakken Pipeline could provide fodder for a lawsuit later.
Speaking of the Bakken project, former State Representative Ed Fallon is three weeks into his walk from southeast to northwest Iowa along the proposed route. The Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition continues to organize opposition on several fronts.