Published: January 29, 2008 10:43 pm      

Murphy ready to be a commissioner

Dana Murphy really wants to be an Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner.

“It’s not a job I need,” she said. “It’s a job I want.”

In fact, six years ago, Murphy wanted to be a commissioner so badly that she quit her job as an administrative law judge for the corporation commission in order to campaign.

Murphy said she came really close to winning six years ago, making it onto the ballot for the run-off election, despite having no previous political experience.

Murphy feels even more confident about her campaign this year. That confidence comes from her qualifications for the position.

“I feel like I’m the most qualified for the position,” Murphy said.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in geology from Oklahoma State University, Murphy practiced as a geologist for 10 years.

She took night courses to earn a law degree from Oklahoma City University and spent two and a half years working for a large law firm in Oklahoma City before becoming an administrative law judge for the corporation commission.

For the past four years she has run her own oil and gas law practice.

Murphy says has both the legal and the technical background that will help her as a commissioner, since the commission is regulates oil and gas as well as public utilities, transportation and petroleum storage tanks.

Murphy said the commissioner position is “a job (she’s) spent (her) entire adult career preparing for.”

“I don’t need on-the-job training,” she said.

Should Oklahoma voters put her to work as a corporation commissioner, she said one of her biggest goals would be to make the commission more accessible to the people and entities it serves.

One way she hopes to improve accessibility is make the commission’s website more user friendly so people can find the information they need by making just one or two clicks.

Murphy said another goal is to increase education about the commission.

“Most Oklahomans are not aware of what the corporation commission does,” she said.

Murphy said that one thing people don’t often realize is that the commission is in charge of inspecting the more than 60,000 gas pumps throughout the state.

She explained that a team of inspectors from the commission goes out and ensures that the pumps are accurate to within one cubic inch, or six tablespoons, per gallon.

The purpose of this, she said, was so that “Oklahomans can be assured that they are getting what they paid for.”

Murphy said she has already developed a handy acronym to help people remember what the commission is in charge of regulating: TOPP, which stands for Transportation, Oil and gas, Public Utilities and Petroleum storage.

While many citizens may not realize it yet, Murphy noted that the corporation commission is “such a powerful agency.”

Because it is so powerful, she said “it’s really important who we elect to serve as commissioner.”

“For the future of our state, we need leaders that are qualified and experienced to deal with the problems facing the state now and in the future,” Murphy said. “I believe I’m one of those leaders.”

Murphy was born in Woodward, but now lives in Edmond. However, she still has ties to Woodward as her mother, two of her brothers and her grandmother live in the area.