4 November 2022 — 0821 mdt
Prominent lawyer challenges Jennifer Fielder’s endorsement
of Ann Bukacek for the Montana Public Service Commission
Guest essay by Ann Brodsky
Ann Brodsky
I can’t sit quietly following Jennifer Fielder’s endorsement of Ann Bukacek for Montana’s Public Service Commission District 5 seat. The most important job of the PSC and what it’s best known for is setting utility rates. Bukacek’s opponent is John Repke, who promises to fight for the ratepayer after having retired from four decades of professional work in finance and business.
Though a Commissioner, Fielder may best be known in Helena, where I live, for threatening St. Peter’s Hospital staff for refusing to treat a patient with unauthorized medication. Bukacek, a doctor outside of established health care, may best be known for her anti-vax protests. She’s also known for her decades-long opposition to reproductive freedom for women.
So what does this background have to do with the PSC? Nothing. Nonetheless, in her opinion piece, Fielder lauds Bukacek for her strong work ethic, ability to objectively study complex information, courtesy, respect for proper protocols, and genuine people connection. I’d like to share my own different perspective.
Strong work ethic? Bukacek has already announced that, if elected to the highest paying board in Montana, it will be a part-time gig. Indeed, she’ll work only two days/week for this $112,000/year position, so she can continue practicing medicine.
Ability to objectively study complex information? Bukacek has already proselytized against certain energy sources, despite having no background in this area (or in finance), as demonstrated by her campaign expenditures on books espousing climate change denial. The PSC’s job is not to propose energy sources, but to evaluate industry proposals.
Courtesy? Respect for proper protocols? Two fellow republicans who worked alongside Bukacek when she served on the Flathead Health Board say “she preached and did not listen.” These same gentlemen said “she was rebuked by the Deputy County Attorney” for none other than improper protocols.
Genuine people connection? Adjectives I’ve seen used to describe her include “divisive,” “truly disruptive,” causing “havoc.” And though she runs ads saying, if elected, she’ll seek “amplified communication with the public,” she told Helena’s Kiwanis Club she supports limiting public involvement in the PSC’s decisions.
Do not be deceived by Fielder’s endorsement. It is not supported by the facts. The PSC has hard work to do, particularly today when consumers are facing staggering inflation, and Northwestern Energy is seeking a significant rate increase.
This PSC race is not a head-scratcher. We could not have a more qualified candidate than John Repke running to represent households and businesses on the Commission. Repke will work full-time fighting to keep your energy costs down and your power reliable. He commits to approaching this serious work objectively – his only goals being to ensure your energy is affordable, reliable, and sustainable for the long-term. He’s already gone to work for you, the ratepayer, when he testified before the PSC against limiting public participation.
Please join me in supporting John Repke for PSC District 5. And, incidentally, though Fielder is a PSC Commissioner, at least 5 former Commissioners have endorsed Repke for this seat.
Note from James Conner. Helena resident Brodsky wrote this essay as a private citizen and not as a member of Montana’s human rights commission, to which she was appointed in May, 2019. But she’s not just any lawyer, as the following biography from the MHRC reveals.
…is a retired attorney, who served as Governor Schweitzer’s Chief Legal Counsel from 2005-12 and defended the State of Montana in tort (personal injury) litigation for close to 20 years. She worked in private practice for short periods, both for an environmental law firm that contracted with the State to handle Superfund litigation, and on her own.
Ann’s interest in human rights goes back to her earliest memories. Her father was a Russian Jew who grew up in Berlin and emigrated to America in 1939, a family history deeply ingrained in her.
In high school, Ann served as an intern for her state’s (N.J.’s) human rights agency. She obtained a B.A. in American Studies from Middlebury College, and wrote her senior thesis on the suffrage movement in America.
In 1977, Ann moved to Montana to serve as a VISTA volunteer for the then-Human Rights Division, investigating discrimination cases, and later supervising the Division’s investigators.
She was employed as a researcher for the Montana Legislature for five years and staffed the House Labor Committee, where human rights issues were heard. She lobbied for the Women’s Lobbyist Fund (later the Montana Women’s Lobby) during the 1985 legislature, before attending the University of Montana law school, graduating in 1988.