Plakon Among Nine Seeking PSC Post

Facing term limits next year, state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, is among nine candidates for an open seat on the Florida Public Service Commission. The candidates filed applications before a Friday deadline. The seat on the five-member utility regulatory commission opened last month when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed longtime Commissioner Julie Brown as secretary of the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Plakon served in the House from 2008 to 2012 and returned in 2014. In his application for the Public Service Commission seat, he pointed to experience in business and in the Legislature and included a letter of reference from former House Speaker Dean Cannon.

Applications for the $135,997-a-year job were submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission Nominating Council, which will interview candidates and make recommendations to Gov. Ron DeSantis. In an appointment to the commission last year, DeSantis tapped former state Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud. While it is unclear when Brown’s seat might be filled, the candidate selected likely will join the commission as it faces major issues, including electric base-rate cases filed by Florida Power & Light and Tampa Electric Co.

Other applicants are Rosanna Manuela Catalano, president of the communications firm Rocket Ship Consultants LLC and a former executive director of the Florida Elections Commission; Jeanne Curtin, a former deputy general counsel of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs; Darren Fancher, an engineer who is director of facilities management and building construction for the Florida Department of Corrections; Pamela Johnson, a former deputy director of the Division of Workforce Services at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity; Ana Ortega, who has served as chief policy adviser to three members of the Public Service Commission, including La Rosa; Gabriella Passidomo, a commission attorney who also is a daughter of Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples; William Wheeler,a former power plant shift supervisor for Duke Energy Florida and Gainesville Regional Utilities; and James Allen, an equipment sales specialist for Snap-on Equipment.

Article reposted with permission from The News Service of Florida.