User:Anitaneff/Michael Shames

Michael Shames has served as a consumer advocate in the state of California since 1981, when he created a utility consumer advocacy group called "Utility Consumers' Action Network" or UCAN. He is credited as co-founder of UCAN]. He has served as UCAN's Executive Director since 1985 where is has represented the interests of San Diegans in energy, telecommunication, water, financial and Internet-related matters before the state and federal regulatory bodies. Also serves as an expert witness and attorney on behalf of UCAN and served for 10 years as an adjunct professor at University of San Diego School of Business.

Background
A native of Syosset, New York, Shames described himself to the San Diego Union Tribune as the least competitive member of a hard-driving family. He is described as having been fascinated and motivated by the life of Abraham Lincoln. Shames became an activist, serving as a student observer on his local school board] after leading a campaign for creation of bike paths after the accidental death of a friend.

Similarly, in college at UCLA he was involved in consumer protection and landlord/tenant laws at the UCAN Office of Consumer & Environmental Affairs. After interning at CalPIRG in San Diego in 1978-9, he decided to go to law school at University of San Diego. It was at University of San Diego School of Law that he began the process of creating the consumer advocacy organization UCAN. On November 9, 2005, Shames was awarded a distinguished alumni honor] touting his work at UCAN.

Acknowledged Consumer Activities
He has been profiled by a number of independent sources, including twice by the San Diego Union Tribune, by the University of San Diego Advocate Magazine , San Diego Business Journal and Los Angeles Times. His views on energy regulation were profiled in the Public Utilities Fortnightly in 2007. where he observed that "In the 21st century, regulators should be expecting and demanding higher rates of productivity of utility management—at least comparable to private industry. So I believe that some of the upward pressure on rates can be balanced by more realistic regulatory expectations on the part of utility management."

Michael Shames is viewed as a resource by the public and media in most consumer-related matters. His comments on various consumer matters are found throughout the Internet. (Google has 29,400 results; Bing touts over 1,250,000)  His observations about energy, water, telecommunications, insurance, finances and other consumer-related matters appear in articles and opinion editorial pieces in every major California newspaper and a number of national newspapers and magazines, including Business Week,  Time Magazine ,USA Today ,Kiplinger's and most other national publications.

Writings
While director at UCAN, Shames has written three books. His first, published in 2005, is entitled Secrets of the World's Greatest Consumer. His second was titled Gruminations of the World's Greatest Consumer, released as a virtual book in 2007. In 2010, UCAN released Adumbrations of the World's Greatest Consumer. The books are described as humorous and creative descriptions of effective purchasing strategies and consumer habits.

He has published a large number of articles (both scholarly and general), opinion editorials and essays. Most of these are in the public domain and can be found through Internet searches.

Other Consumer Projects and Activities
During his tenure at UCAN, Shames has created UCAN-affiliated advocacy groups that monitor national privacy issues (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse),net-based intellectual property  (New Media Rights), identify-theft assistance  (Identity Theft Resource Center), as well as San Diego water policy issues (UCAN Water Project), and wireless phone issues (UCAN Wireless Watchdog).