Transport exec gets PUC post

Gov. Jim Gibbons selected Samuel Thompson, commissioner of the Nevada Transportation Services Administration, to complete Don Soderberg's unexpired term on the Public Utilities Commission, Thompson said Wednesday.

But Gibbons named Public Utilities Commissioner Jo Ann Kelly to succeed Soderberg as commission chairman, sources confirmed.

Kelly has served as a utilities regulator for 13 years, first for 11 years as member of the Public Service Commission. In January 2005, Kelly joined the Public Utilities Commission, which took over utilities regulation from the Public Service Commission. She is a retired certified public accountant and registered as a non-partisan voter.

Attempts to reach Kelly late Wednesday were unsuccessful. Thompson, a former Republican judge from Memphis, Tenn., declined to comment before an announcement by Gibbons.

Former Gov. Kenny Guinn appointed Thompson to the Transportation Services Administration in December 2005. The TSA took over regulation of limousines, tow companies, buses, in-state movers and taxis outside of Clark County, functions that the Public Service Commission performed until 1997. He lives in Southern Nevada.

Thompson received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Memphis and a law degree from the Humphrey School of Law in Memphis. He was elected to an eight-year term as a judge in Shelby County General Sessions Court. He also served as a juvenile court referee, correctional facility administrator and deputy sheriff in Memphis.

Soderberg has served as chairman of the utilities commission since July 1999. Soderberg served as a member of the Public Service Commission for two years and, like Thompson, served on the Transportation Services Administration before joining the PUC in 1998.

Soderberg has not disclosed his plans, other than to say he will take a vacation.