By Craig Kojima, Star-Bulletin
State consumer advocate Chuck Totto is stepping down
after 10 years. Totto keeps a cutout of Star Trek's Capt.
Jean-Luc Picard in his office, inspired by the character's
decisiveness in handling conflicting points of view.

---

Totto leaving
state post

He cites differences
in management style

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

The man who has spent the past decade battling Hawaii's utilities on behalf of consumers is leaving his post as the state's consumer advocate.

Chuck Totto, executive director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Division of Consumer Advocacy, said he is leaving at the end of the month because of differences in management philosophy with Kathryn Matayoshi, department director.

Totto declined to elaborate, as did Matayoshi.

Industry officials said Totto would be missed.

"He's been a fantastic consumer advocate," said Ed Murley, vice president of regulatory affairs for Oceanic Communications. "Even when we didn't agree . . . he was always very professional and pleasant to work with. He represents consumers well."

Totto ran the division during a time of unprecedented change in some of the regulated industries the office monitors. The telecommunications industry, in particular, still is undergoing a historic transformation from a monopolistic to a competitive market. Totto played a key role in crafting the 1995 state law that enabled that process to begin, though competition in some parts of the industry is coming slowly.

Totto said his office has come a long way since he took over in May 1988. At the time, companies didn't consider his staff much of an adversary, often trying to bully them or leave them out of the information loop, he said.

"When I started, we didn't get any respect," Totto recalled. "It was like Rodney Dangerfield."

Today, he said, the roughly 20-person staff, with the help of outside consultants and five state attorneys, is able to negotiate on a relatively even footing with companies. Even GTE Hawaiian Tel, the company with which Totto has most frequently butted heads in recent years, speaks well of him.

"Given the nature of his office, we did not always agree with the positions Chuck took on numerous issues," said Brian Blevins, a GTE spokesman. "But we regarded him as a committed adversary who fought hard to advance his point of view."

Asked what he considered the office's most significant achievements under his watch, Totto said saving consumers money was a key one. Since 1988, he said, the division has succeeded in getting about $630 million pared from rate increases requested by utilities. For a family of four, that averages about $2,300 annually.

On the downside, Totto pointed to the long-standing problems Big Island residents have had with electrical service and the years-long wait many suffered through before getting better phone service. He said he was disappointed his office couldn't persuade regulators to bring about improvements more quickly.

"We just took too long to do everything," he said

During a 90-minute interview yesterday morning, Totto sat just a few feet from a larger-than-life cardboard cutout of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, the TV character from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Totto, an admitted Trekkie, keeps the cutout in his downtown office. He said he admires Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) for his decisiveness in the face of conflicting points of view -- a skill helpful for a consumer advocate.

Totto, an attorney, said he doesn't have a new job lined up yet, but he intends to remain in Hawaii with his wife, state Supreme Court Justice Paula Nakayama, and their two children.

Matayoshi said she wants to fill Totto's position as soon as possible and is conducting a local search for a successor.

"To me, it's a very key and pivotal position," she said.

With all the regulatory changes going on, the next consumer advocate will face a difficult task of learning the complexities of still-evolving markets, executives say.

Totto agreed. "That's going to be a tough learning curve," he said.