Quackenbush – Up Close and Personal

When I returned from lunch one recent afternoon and cleared out my phone messages, one struck me immediately.

The message was from a ‘Chuck Quackenbush’ and said that California’s former insurance commissioner wanted to speak with the magazine about clearing the air over a number of issues.

Okay, my first thoughts were that one of my present or former co-workers were pulling a prank on me. Having been here nearly two years doesn’t make me the new kid on the block, but you’re never too old to be the victim of a joke.

When I called the number in Hawaii that was left on the message, sure enough, it was a man claiming to be Chuck Quackenbush. I began to ponder to just what question or secret code I could offer him to make no uncertain terms about it that this was the real Chuck Quackenbush. This was a man who had grand designs when he took the job as commissioner and left under a cloud of dust to many Californians both in and out of the industry.

After several discussions between Quackenbush, myself, and publisher Mark Wells, we agreed to do an audio interview with Quackenbush. Mark and I discussed the questions we would ask him. While not raking him over the coals, this would not be a puff piece either.

Why did you resign? Do you feel like you damaged the office? Do you think you could ever return to California and run for political office? Those were just some of the areas we covered, along with clearing up any lingering questions people had on the Northridge settlements, his thoughts on current commissioner John Garamendi and the man that represented the Republican ticket last fall, Gary Mendoza, and much more.

The interview reached just past 30 minutes and excerpts from it begin on Page 26 of this issue. The full conversation is available on our Web site at www.insurancejournal.com/interviews/quackenbush beginning March 5.

Why would Quackenbush contact Insurance Journal of all the available media out there? Would he fear contacting the Los Angeles Times who had a field day with him in recent years? Quackenbush indicated that he felt comfortable with the way Insurance Journal would portray him and handle the interview. As we told him, while we were not out to hammer him to the cross, there were areas, notably his conduct in office, that we wanted to touch on.

Take a read and listen to the interview. Would you be interested to read some articles from California’s former commissioner and his thoughts on the present state of the workers’ comp market, homeowners insurance and much more in the state?

Feel free to offer your feedback on this interview. We want to hear from you.

Topics California