Davis Fills 2 Long-Vacant Seats on Public Utilities Panel

Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday filled two long-vacant seats on the state Public Utilities Commission, ending a nearly six-month delay that had stalled decisions on many key telecom and energy matters in California.

Davis appointed businessman Joel Z. Hyatt of San Mateo and labor official Carl W. Wood of San Diego to the commission. Hyatt will begin work at the PUC today and Wood will join the commission June 21. Loretta Lynch, one of two temporary members appointed by Davis last week, will serve until Wood begins his term.

The two appointees will serve six-year terms and earn an annual salary of $98,096, reflecting a 5% pay cut requested by Davis for political appointees and his staff. The Senate must confirm Hyatt and Wood within a year.

Hyatt, 49, is a lawyer from Cleveland who has strong ties to the Democratic Party and most recently served as chairman of Global Business Network, a Bay Area technology firm.

Hyatt has been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and in 1992 made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by his father-in-law, outspoken Ohio Democrat Howard M. Metzenbaum.

He attended Dartmouth College, earned his law degree from Yale Law School and was a co-founder of Hyatt Legal Services and Hyatt Legal Plans Inc., two businesses that specialize in low-cost legal representation.

Wood, 51, is a former electrical technician at Southern California Edison who has served with the Utility Workers Union of America since 1986. Most recently, Wood served as the union’s senior national representative and national deregulation coordinator.