Copps Unveils Series of Reforms at FCC
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps spoke to FCC staff Monday, specifically instructing them to answer questions from all commissioners, not just the chairman, as he instituted a series of reforms designed to make the commission more open. Meanwhile, Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on Monday blasted the leadership of the agency under former Chairman Kevin Martin. In remarks at a New America Foundation event, Adelstein said the FCC will see a new era of openness under the administration of President Barack Obama.
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“To succeed in our mission, the FCC must utilize its resources -- especially its human resources -- smartly and inclusively,” Copps said. “And we must be credible not only in what we do, but how we go about doing it. But I worry that in some important ways we haven’t always been doing that. I am troubled that our lines of communication, both internal and external, seem to have frayed. Our credibility suffers when that happens.”
Adelstein was more openly critical of Martin’s chairmanship during his speech, though he did not mention the former chairman by name. “Glasnost at the commission has already begun with the ascension of our new acting chairman, Commissioner Copps, who is his first moments as chairman signaled a new openness where staff can freely share and debate ideas with each other and with the leadership of the commission,” Adelstein said. “Views like those we'll hear today can now be debated internally without fear or intimidation.”
Adelstein condemned a climate of fear during the previous administration where he said most FCC staff were afraid to weigh in on big issues or even discuss their opinions with commissioners or their staff: “The time is over when a privileged few ruled as if they had a monopoly on the best ideas and those who questioned them were seen as disloyal or worse.”
Copps instructed staff to cooperate with all members of the commission when they have questions. “Beginning now, requests from Commissioners’ offices -- not just the Chairman’s Office -- should be answered directly and as quickly as possibly, just as if the Chairman’s Office is asking for it and without the need for running those requests through the Chairman’s office first,” he said. Copps said the only exception, “a very narrow one,” are requests that would require excessive amounts of time on the part of staff. In another institutional change, Copps said he would hold a weekly chairman’s office briefing with bureau and office chiefs or their designees that will be open to the other commissioner’s offices. He also asked the various offices and bureaus to coordinate their work more closely.
Copps also said the FCC should put more emphasis on reports to Congress on the state of the various industries and prepare more white papers to share commission expertise. He also pledged to make more use of the various advisory committees. “This Commission should … be making its expertise and creative thought available to the outside world on a more regular basis,” he said. All of the suggestions reflect concerns he has raised numerous times in the past, while part of the commission’s minority.
Copps repeated earlier remarks that his initial focus as interim chairman will be the DTV transition. “We are already moving to improve coordination of the Commission’s efforts, to deploy new ideas and resources, and to do whatever we can do, at this late date, to better focus our efforts to minimize what is certain to be considerable consumer disruption on February 18,” he said. “It is no secret that I have always favored a more proactive and coordinated public- private partnership to fashion a seamless DTV transition. It’s too late for that seamlessness now, but we have an obligation to do what we can in the three weeks remaining to minimize the dislocation and then, in the weeks following, to repair the things that didn’t work.”
But he said the FCC will work on other issues as well. To that end, he announced that the next two FCC meetings will occur Feb. 5 and March 5. “Some things are on deadline and must be attended [to]; other things are less than wildly controversial and we should be able to move on many of these without detracting from our DTV efforts; other issues can be teed up for future resolution,” he said. “As just one example, we have sitting, in many nooks and crannies, backlogs of routine items from stakeholders seeking clarification or a license or some other non-hot button request. Some of these decisions might actually help boost our sagging economy, so they are timely and important. I would ask that you work with your supervisors to catalogue these items and develop a plan for addressing them at the Bureau level where appropriate and at the Commission level if need be.”