Wooley Will Resign as Insurance Chief
Assistant to fill in, then run for office
as posted at www.nola.com
Friday, February 03, 2006
by Ed Anderson
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE — Robert Wooley, insurance commissioner since October 2000, announced Thursday what had been rumored for weeks: He is resigning his $85,000-a-year job as of Feb. 15 to "pursue new opportunities in the private sector."
Wooley, who was elected to a full four-year term in the 2003 statewide election, will turn the reins of the agency over to Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, 61, of Metairie, a former Jefferson Parish Council chairman from 1976 to 1980, and state House member from 1982 through 2001. He resigned his legislative seat to become chief deputy commissioner.
While at the Insurance Department, Donelon also served as executive counsel before being named Wooley's chief assistant in December. Donelon, a Republican, will serve as acting commissioner until the Sept. 30 statewide election. State law requires an election to fill the vacancy if there is more than a year left on the term. Wooley's term expires in January 2008.
Donelon, a former chairman of the House Insurance Committee, said he intends to run for the job in September, and probably for a full four-year term. The only official indicating an interest in running against Donelon is state Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek, who has about $400,000 in his campaign fund. Cain is the chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee.
Wooley joined the department as chief deputy commissioner in 1999 and became acting commissioner after then-Commissioner Jim Brown was convicted on a federal charge of lying to federal agents during an investigation into the liquidation of Cascade Insurance Co. Brown was acquitted on 43 other charges. Brown served a 6-month jail sentence and was released in April 2003.
Wooley said he does not feel he is betraying voters who elected him in 2003 with 58 percent of the vote over GOP challenger Dan Kyle, a former legislative auditor.
"When I joined the department in 1999 for what I figured would be a brief stint, I never imagined I would end up being commissioner," Wooley said. "I have always said I am not a politician, which made my decision to run for this office just as difficult as the decision is that I am making now. . . . I have fulfilled my obligation; I have done five years, and that's more than one term."
Wooley said he will start negotiations with law firms, lobbying groups and insurance trade associations in Washington as soon as he leaves office Feb. 15.
"I am not willing to talk to anybody about my new position until I get out of here," Wooley said. "It is time to move on."
Wooley was snared in controversy after he used state money to buy a luxury 2004 Ford Explorer as his official state vehicle, then traded it in a year later for a 2005 Ford F250 Explorer pickup truck. Each cost the state about $40,000. Wooley ignored the criticism from the public for a while, saying it amounted to nothing more than "a pimple on a bee's ass."
A month later, he apologized and turned in the vehicle to be auctioned. He then purchased a Hummer H2 with his own money, which he uses as his state vehicle.
Wooley has bragged that he is the first commissioner of insurance in recent years not to go to jail. Brown and his two predecessors, Sherman Bernard and Doug Green, also did stints in prison for conduct relating to the operations of the office.
Wooley said some of his major accomplishments have been working to restore the "tarnished image" of the office; working with consumers and insurance companies hammered by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; luring more companies back to the state to write policies; and developing a more competitive insurance market in the state.
Donelon said he will continue Wooley's programs and promised to "be a vital part of the reconstruction of south Louisiana" by recruiting more insurers to the state, making insurance affordable to consumers while making sure companies do not lose money, and providing "fair regulation" of insurance companies. . . . . . . .
Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com.
United Policyholders is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 and dedicated to educating the public on insurance issues and consumer rights. UP publishes educational materials and serves as a resource for individual and business policyholders and residents of communities with insurance problems. UP’s Amicus Project provides information to courts of law to support policyholders’ legal rights. UP unites policyholders and their advocates by sharing information. Write to UP at 110 Pacific Ave., PMB 262, San Francisco, CA. 94111, call us at (510) 763-9740, or visit our website at www.unitedpolicyholders.org.
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