It's in that Sioux Falls paper: Governor Dennis Daugaard's pick for the Public Utilities Commission is Kristie Fiegen of Sioux Falls. Bob Mercer's wrong guess, Andy Fergel, was clearly an attempt at misdirection so as not to reveal he'd been tipped off beforehand as to the appointee's identity. But Mercer was right that the appointee would be (a) Republican and (b) willing to run to hold the office in 2012 (and I have that on good authority). Let the opposition research begin (because we all know that the PUC is really, really where it's at!)!
Fiegen is the award-winning president of Junior Achievement, a good organization which nonetheless doesn't seem like the most utility-policy-oriented organization from which to pick a public utilities commissioner. However, Fiegen has eight years of public policy experience: she represented District 11 (Minnehaha County) in the State House from 1993 to 2000. She also placed first in all four of her general election outings.
Governor Daugaard, alas, has denied me the chance to shout patronage! I reviewed Daugaard's campaign finance filings (between fixing peanut butter and jelly and salami crackers for my important lunch with my own Divine Miss K) and didn't find Kristie Fiegen's money anywhere, or even her husband Tim's. Nuts! She's apparently just a sharp executive with a good resume who's ready to serve the state again.
The Governor has at least done us the favor of elevating to office another Kristie, but this one with an E, to distinguish her on next year's ballot from that other Kristi.
Now, Commissioner-appoint Fiegen, how do you feel about Keystone XL and wind power?
Update 16:41 CDT: The Governor's office offers the following summary of Fiegen's utilities-related (utilitarian?) chops:
From 1999 to 2001, Fiegen was a member of the Xcel Energy South Dakota Advisory Board, which advises Xcel management on the utility's strategic direction in South Dakota.
As a legislator, Fiegen was a sponsor of legislation relating to telecommunications services for the deaf, 911 services, and rural water systems. Her legislative career also focused on health, safety, and family and children's issues [Office of Governor Dennis Daugaard, press release, 2011.06.21].
Fiegen has served on the state's Court Appointed Special Advocates Commission and the South Dakota Commission on Health Care.
A Kristi and a Kristie on the ballot now in 2012.
Looks like they wanted to appointa woman and I'm sure she is a great lady but I would have thought she'd have more experience in the energy field.
Can't we just elect Dusty again? That was fun! (Not to mention the way I would love to see all campaign commercials produced.)
Korie,
I learned long ago not to believe tips even from inside a political party's leadership or a governor's office. Sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're wrong. Sometimes they're deliberately wrong. Heck, The Washington Post once reported that LBJ was going to appoint a new director of the FBI. LBJ turned around and appointed J. Edgar Hoover for life and suggested what the Post's editor Ben Bradlee could do with himself. The only thing that makes the choice of Fiegen suspect is her unknown NFL team affiliation. Being a Packers fan seemed to be a prerequisite for other positions in the Daugaard administration.
More on media blinders: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/why-there-american-media-blackout-uks-n
If you run for office, you should be prepared to fulfill your term of service, not resign.
I agree. Both Dusty and Kolbeck should have fulfilled their terms. Dusty should have at least fulfilled part of it.
I suspect Dusty opened himself up to a lot of primary challengers now that he's jumped ship from the PUC.
This move was especially unfair to the Democrat Party who lost the seat.
Having served for four years in the SD House with Kristie Fiegen I must admit I have no respect for her. She never impressed me as being particularly smart but rather relied on her looks to get things done. Her shining moment was when she sprayed an entire can of green Silly String on another legislator during debate on the floor of the SD house. This was an attempt to convince him to press the green "yes" button when voting on the bill in question. It was an extremely unprofessional childish action on full display for the citizens in the gallery watching their government at work.
Now Dennis doesn't have to appoint a woman to the state supreme court .
Was she the Kristi Noem of her day?
Wondering if Mr. Mercer will repay the favor to the tipster that gave him the bad info...Bob's a good reporter so someone(s) threw him a bad piece of info which will certainly get them off the trusted list.
Nick, you strike me as a generally mellow dude. To react so strongly to Fiegen, you must really have seen some bad behavior on her part. The silly string incident does smack of poor statehouse decorum.
I once thought that the ideal container for silly putty was not something shaped like an egg, but like Ronald Reagan's head. It now appears we need to get Silly Putty into Kristi heads.
Cory, she got by on her looks and flirting ability not her brains and I got the impression that she had been doing so for years. The silly string incident was icing on the cake. If I had been asked which legislator will do the stupidest most child like thing to bring the most discredit upon the entire legislature Kristie would have been my choice. She did not disappoint.
I used to work for a printshop that was involved with Jr. Achievement and met Kristi on a couple of occasions. While I cannot say I was totally impressed, I certainly was not turned off by her. I think she is smart and very capable of the task at hand. As for the silly string, I think that is pretty funny. We constantly bitch government is too serious, and when someone stirs it up a bit, we call them out for being unprofessional.