Gov. taps former Democratic leader for Missouri board

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed the former Missouri Democratic Party chairman to a state finance board and a longtime aide to the state board that regulates utilities.

Nixon on Monday named John Temporiti, 60, to the Missouri Development Finance Board. The agency administers loans and tax credits to help with economic development and public infrastructure projects.

Temporiti, of St. Louis, served as the Democratic Party chairman for about two years and stepped down in December, about a month after Nixon won election.

An lawyer in private practice, Temporiti was previously a top aide to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. He also has served as president and chief executive officer of both Mayflower Transit and Vanliner Insurance Co.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Temporiti's term on the finance board would end in 2012.

Nixon also selected for the Public Service Commission an environmental lawyer who worked in the attorney general's office throughout Nixon's 12-year tenure.

Joseph Bindbeutel, 55, has been the deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources since Nixon became governor in January. Before that, the Columbia resident had been an environmental lawyer in the attorney general's office since 1986.

Bindbeutel would replace commissioner Connie Murray, whose term ends April 28. Murray was a Republican lawmaker from Springfield before being appointed to the commission in 1997. She was reappointed to a second six-year term by Gov. Bob Holden in 2003.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Bindbeutel's term would last until 2015.

The term of PSC chairman Robert M. Clayton III also is to expire April 28. But Nixon has not appointed a replacement for Clayton, who is a former Democratic legislator from Hannibal.

The finance board and the PSC have been at the center of debate in the current legislative session on two major pieces of legislation: an economic development package favored by Nixon and Republican leaders, and an effort to help AmerenUE finance a proposed second nuclear power plant.

The finance board has been criticized by some senators who want to limit how many tax incentives the board can approve each year.

The utility legislation would allow the PSC to give electric companies authority to charge customers the financing costs of building certain types of power plants before they begin producing energy. Currently, utilities must wait to recover costs until the plant is operational.

Also Monday, Nixon appointed Doyle Privett, 57, of Kennett, to the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents. Privett is chief financial officer of Kennett National Bank and previously served on the Board of Regents from 1995-2003. If confirmed by the Senate, he would serve until Jan. 1, 2015.