How Southeast insurance chiefs got their jobs

Southeast insurance commissioners seem happy about how they got where they are.

During the recent Southeastern Regulators’ Association annual conference in South Carolina, moderator Michael Maloney asked: “What do you see are the benefits of being an elected official versus appointed?”

“I like the idea of people electing officials and having direct power through their vote,” the reelected John Oxendine of Georgia said. “I’m a populist, but also a conservative and a Republican.”

Appointed Alabama Commissioner Walter Bell said, “I would not be in this position if I had to be elected.”

Mississippi’s George Dale, who revealed he will “most likely run for a ninth term in 2007,” said he can see both sides of the issue.

Eleanor Kitzman, the appointed South Carolina director of insurance, said the process is politicized either way. “The turnover is a real problem,” Kitzman said. “But it doesn’t matter if the commissioner is elected or appointed, the rates on the coast are not going down.”

Arkansas’ Julie Benafield Bowman prefers appointment. “Being appointed, you only need the vote of the governor; you’re not beholden to anybody else.”

Virginia’s Alfred Gross was appointed by a panel of judges. “It provides professional longevity and a degree of independence, especially when dealing with solvencies and licensing,” Gross maintained.