“My concern is that policyholders don't get stuck with a coupon while the lawyers walk off with all the money,” he said.

He also lamented the fact that “while I want claims paid if the coverage warrants it, I also want a market afterwards,” noting that “the plaintiffs' bar doesn't have to carry that responsibility.”

“This is not my first rodeo. I have been through this kind of situation before,” he said. “Everyone wants to live near the water, but nobody wants to pay the price to live there [in terms of risk-based insurance premiums].”

He confessed that “the biggest political mistake I made was when I faced the media after the storm and said some claims won't be covered because insurers don't cover flood. I was hammered like I had spoken out against motherhood; slammed for taking the side of the industry, as if there is a 'side' to the facts.”

He observed that “the public wants a demagogue–someone who will tell them what they want to hear, not what the facts are. The industry took a terrible black eye in our state.”

He dismissed recent attacks on the industry's profitability as uninformed and unfair. “People complain about all the money the industry is making, but I try to explain that while they are doing well collectively, every line in each state has to stand on its own. The fact is the industry paid out more in Katrina claims than they took in from our state over a five-year period.”

The political temptation to pile on the industry was great, but would have been short-sighted and self-defeating, he admitted.

“I would have loved to be up on the podium on TV swearing at the industry and showing off for the voters, but if I did that, how can I then go to carriers with my hat in my hand and ask them for a market?” he said.

He implored industry officials assembled at the meeting to work with his state to restore Mississippi's property insurance market. “What can regulators do to get carriers to take another look at our exposures?” he asked, acknowledging that better building codes and greater rate flexibility would be a start, but a tough sell nevertheless.

“A lot of people don't want to bite the bullet and do what has to be done to get carriers back,” he sighed, conceding such resistance will make his job of securing affordable markets for his fellow Mississippians very difficult indeed.

If we had more commissioners with the insights and candor of Mr. Dale, things would go a lot smoother not only for the industry, but for policyholders as well.

Perhaps there is some hope for reason and sanity in states with elected commissioners. After all, Mr. Dale noted, “I have been elected [commissioner] eight times, and only once with less than 70 percent of the vote.”

I wonder if that will change the next time around, however, given Mr. Dale's unpopular “support” for the industry during and after the Katrina crisis–prime fodder for a “demagague” of an opponent, indeed.