Cal. court ruled PUC Comr. Henry Duque must be removed from offic...

and ends Dec. 31. Judge Alfred Chiantelli of Cal. Superior Court, San Francisco, ruled Duque had violated conflict-of-interest laws because he owned stock in telecom carrier, Nextel Communications, that’s directly affected by PUC decisions, and didn’t make all reasonable efforts to ascertain whether Nextel holding put him in conflict. In addition to removal from office, Chiantelli fined Duque $5,000 and ordered him to pay legal fees for consumer group that sued to oust him from his $107,000-per-year position. Duque has until April 14 to ask court to reconsider decision and he’s expected to do so. If court refuses and decision becomes final, Duque’s attorneys said he would appeal and seek stay of ouster order pending final ruling on appeal. Duque invested $10,000 in May 1999 in stock of wireless carrier Nextel and reported investment on financial disclosure statements filed with state. He sold it 15 months later, in Aug. 2000, for $69,000 after news reports raised conflict question. Duque said his stockbroker told him Nextel was regulated by FCC, not PUC, but court said Duque’s reliance on his broker to keep him out of stocks that could put him in conflict was insufficient defense. Court said Duque had duty to double-check his investments to avoid conflict. Court said that was case of “bad judgment” and failure to take reasonable precautions against conflict. Court didn’t address legal validity of Duque’s votes since May 1999 stock purchase put him in conflict, and there’s no legal or policy precedent to apply. Duque’s attorneys said judge didn’t conclude Duque was deliberately violating law, so harsh penalty of ouster wasn’t legally justified for innocent bad judgment. If Republican Duque is ousted, PUC would have 2 vacancies and 3 sitting members, all Democrats.