Two weeks ago, I wrote that Gov. Terry Branstad’s decision to remove Sheila Tipton from the Iowa Utilities Board was a mistake. Since, a couple of things happened that make the situation even worse than it first appeared.

A little background: Branstad appointed Tipton, a lawyer at Belin McCormick P.C,, to an interim term on the three-person Utilities Board in 2013. Before taking the job, she received assurances she’d be appointed to a full six-year term in 2015. That made sense because Tipton was giving up a career of representing utility companies and putting her decades of experience to work for the people of Iowa. She was 61 years old at the time, and the Utilities Board was expected to be her final career move.

She did a good job. Perhaps too good, because in February, MidAmerican Energy Co. executives went behind her back to complain to Branstad about a rate case that required their company to share profits from a wind energy project with customers. 

Branstad’s response was to effectively fire Tipton by not naming her to the promised six-year term. He also demoted Utilities Board Chair Libby Jacobs from her leadership position, presumably in the hope that she would resign, which she has not. 

Branstad nominated Geri Huser to be the new board chair. Huser is a former lawmaker and daughter of the late Ed Skinner, a longtime Democratic power broker. Her nomination was expected to sail through the Democrat-controlled Iowa Senate. 

The above was uncovered by Ryan Foley of The Associated Press, who also reported that a Branstad spokesman had said the reason Tipton was not reappointed was because she had recused herself from a pending case that involves building a massive power transmission line across Iowa. 

The spokesman told Foley that with only two voting members, a single no vote could stall or kill the transmission line.

Here’s what’s new.

Last week, Foley got hold of a blistering four-page letter that Tipton delivered in person to the governor on March 18. Among other things, it accuses Branstad of “disservice to the citizens of this state” by blatantly violating the Utilities Board’s independence. 

On March 26, the day my earlier column appeared, Foley reported that Huser has her own conflict, which some people believe should cause her to recuse herself from an even bigger case involving a much-debated pipeline that would transport oil from North Dakota through Iowa. 

Huser indicated that she might not recuse herself. But if she doesn’t, former Utilities Board Chair Diane Munns told Foley, it could result in a lengthy court appeal by whichever side loses the pipeline case. The irony, of course, is that Branstad’s impetuous treatment of Tipton has created the exact situation that he said he wanted to avoid – a board with only two voting members in one of the most significant utility cases in recent history.  

While we’re on the subject of Branstad’s fumbles, there’s also a new development with Mike Carroll, the former head of administrative services. 

Branstad fired Carroll a year ago because of inaccurate innuendoes strung together by The Des Moines Register. I said at the time that the governor had allowed himself to be bullied by the newspaper into firing Carroll.

Anybody who knew Carroll didn’t believe the charges, and Henning Construction Co. hired him as soon as he turned in his keys to the Capitol. 

In February, Carroll was given the SIR Award award by the Associated General Contractors of America and Master Builders of Iowa. SIR stands for Skill, Integrity and Responsibility and the presenters take great pride in it. 

The citation says that reforms Carroll instituted produced “annual savings to Iowa taxpayers of millions of dollars per year.”  

At least they would have before Branstad got in the way.