Erin Carlstrom takes government relations job with PG&E

Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Erin Carlstrom has accepted a job as a government relations specialist for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., raising questions about whether her work with the utility will create conflicts of interest for her on the council.

The 32-year-old attorney and first-term councilwoman said she begins work at the end of July focusing the company’s programs to help upgrade utility systems in Northern California mobile home parks.

Carlstrom said she is excited because the job will bring her some needed financial stability, will allow her to draw upon her skills and relationships she’s developed during her council service, and could open up other opportunities for her within the utility.

“I’ve got a pretty unique skill set that I can bring to the right company,” Carlstrom said.

But by accepting a job in government affairs for a major utility like PG&E, Carlstrom will need to tread carefully to avoid conflicts of interest or the impression that she’s using her political influence to help a private company achieve its goals.

The City Council voted last year, for example, to join nonprofit public electricity agency Sonoma Clean Power, a direct challenge to PG&E’s role as the dominant energy provider in the county. The utility plays a role in issues that have come before the council, including upgrades of its gas transmission lines, the cleanup of a polluted former gas plant property downtown, and the partnership between the city and PG&E to collect utility taxes, an arrangement that is the subject of an active lawsuit.

City Attorney Caroline Fowler said she plans to meet with Carlstrom soon to discuss her new job and its implications for potential conflicts. It is every council member’s responsibility to avoid such conflicts, and her office helps council members understand and avoid them, Fowler said.

“Any decision that has a direct financial impact on PG&E would be something that she would have to refrain from,” Fowler said.

The new job promises to bring some professional and financial stability for Carlstrom, who has suffered some recent political and personal setbacks.

Carlstrom moved to Santa Rosa from Southern California in 2008, established a law firm and began getting engaged in local politics. She met Nick Caston, a political consultant, and launched a bid for council. The two were married in 2011, and Carlstrom won a seat on the council in November of 2012. The couple’s son, Adlai, was born in 2013.

Carlstrom announced a bid for state Senate after just nine months on the council, but withdrew after Sonoma County Supervisor Mike McGuire entered the race, which he won. She instead ran for the 10th Assembly District last year, losing by a wide margin to Assemblyman Marc Levine in the primary. She was passed over for mayor last fall.

Soon thereafter, she and Caston decided to divorce. They are in mediation and the divorce is not final, Carlstrom said. The breakup is one of the reasons she sought to transition to more steady employment, Carlstrom says.

“I’m raising my son under my own roof,” she said.

Caston has since closed his political consulting firm. He is now CEO of the non profit Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy and working at a local winery, he said.

When she applied for the PG&E position, Carlstrom said outside attorneys hired by the utility expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest involved in hiring a sitting council member. But she said her future boss strongly advocated for her.

The company did not hold it against her that she was a strong supporter of Santa Rosa’s joining Sonoma Clean Power, and it did not ask her to step down from the council.

In fact, it is the connections Carlstrom has made that she says make her valuable. For example, she said she has a good relationship with representatives of the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, who have made presentations to the council about issues important to its members in the past, she said.

The precise details of Carlstrom’s job remain fuzzy. She said she will learn more about her assignment as her start date approaches. Her future boss, director of corporate affairs Raj Beasla, was on vacation and unavailable to comment. Spokeswoman Brittany McKannay said she couldn’t speak about any specific person but said PG&E employs some elected officials and its employees often serve on local boards and commissions.

Carlstrom will be working for the company’s new Mobilehome Park Utility Upgrade Program, a three-year pilot program that began in January and aims to replace master-metered power systems owned by the parks with new individually metered systems owned by PG&E.

“My job is basically to be their eyes and ears on the ground,” Carlstrom said.

She said she doesn’t know if any parks in Santa Rosa are participating in the program. She said she’s also not sure if the work will require her to interact with city staff on behalf of PG&E.

“It’s possible, but the construction crews will be PG&E crews, the lines are PG&E lines, and the customers are PG&E customers,” she said.

Councilman Gary Wysocky, Carlstrom’s chief antagonist on the council and the city’s representative on the board of Sonoma Clean Power, said it is clear she will have to steer clear of Sonoma Clean Power issues when they arise. He said such issues may be more common than Carlstrom thinks.

Wysocky noted that the power agency’s board will have to make decisions affecting PG&E on a regular basis, such as the significant increases the utility is seeking to charge Sonoma Clean Power’s customers for power transmission and switching providers.

“I don’t think this is a one-and-done deal,” Wysocky said. “PG&E isn’t going to just walk away from 90 percent of their customers in Sonoma County.”

But Mayor John Sawyer said issues related to PG&E come to the council infrequently and he doesn’t see too many “red flags” raised by Carlstrom’s new job.

“I think it will present challenges at times, but we have a very astute legal staff that I think will ferret out any conflicts,” Sawyer said, adding that he also trusts Carlstrom to be mindful of such issues.

Sawyer said he thinks Carlstrom’s service on the council will probably make her effective in working with both public officials and members of the public, especially mobile home park residents and their special concerns.

“I think she’ll be good at it,” Sawyer said.

You can reach Staff ?Writer Kevin McCallum ?at 521-5207 or kevin.?mccallum@pressdemocrat?.com. On Twitter ?@srcitybeat.