Owen Avoids Ethics Charges

An ethics investigation that led former Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman Gus Owen to drop his renomination bid last year sheds some light on his outside business dealings, but does not make any specific charges, according to a report.

The 22-page executive summary by the Department of Transportation’s inspector general does not state whether Owen violated government ethics laws. However, it found that he:

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Spent about a third of his average work week away from Washington, D.C., during his four years on the board and its predecessor agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission.

li>Failed to disclose his leadership role in a group advocating deregulating California’s electric utilities.

li>Discussed deregulation of the electricity industry with a federal regulator without disclosing his membership in a group backed by utilities.

li> Omitted information about numerous real estate holdings on his annual financial disclosure forms.

The conclusions weren’t so much for us to make as for others,” said Roger Williams, counsel to Inspector General Kenneth Mead.

The investigation was requested last year by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) after a complaint was filed with his committee by the Congressional Accountability Project, a government reform group with ties to consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

While the report was submitted to McCain last summer, it was not made public until TRANSPORT TOPICS filed a Freedom of Information Act request in December. The full report is expected to be made public by the end of May.

For the full story, see the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.