Martin Won’t Publicize Votes on Items Under Consideration

The chairman will keep holding news conferences on white-copied items but also post them on the FCC Web site. For three months, most recently Thursday, Martin called reporters to a conference room next to his office to announce the matters. He didn’t publicize lists, while staffers were studying how to proceed. “I didn’t want to hold up being able to do a press release” by pursuing the vote publication plan, Martin said. He made the initial proposal “under the impression” from testimony at a congressional hearing “that that was what all of the commissioners had said they wanted to do,” said Martin. “I've since heard that maybe that’s not what all the commissioners want.”

A question by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., at a Dec. 13 hearing on media ownership prompted Martin to pursue the idea despite colleagues’ lukewarm reaction, commission officials said. Martin never formally sought other commissioners’ comments, they said. In December, Martin said he'd be “happy to make public what the commissioners have voted on” and it was “a good idea.” Commissioner Robert McDowell said he had “no problem” with additional openness, which was also endorsed by Commissioner Michael Copps. “It’s a good idea to let people know as much as possible,” Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said. Commissioner Deborah Tate said votes already are publicized: “The public knows how we vote on every issue.”

Commissioners’ responses hinted at confusion about what exactly McCaskill asked, commission officials said. After hearing that Martin wanted to circulate an order publicizing votes, some commissioners expressed concern that doing this could give a chairman excessive leverage over them, commission officials said. A vote tabulation would show Martin voting for every item on circulation, since he has usually voted on items he sends around the eighth floor. This could create the impression that other members are laggards, waiting to see whether the chairman supports revisions. A McCaskill spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment right away. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.

Martin’s plan “sounds more transparent” and may have merit, said Gloria Tristani, a commissioner 1997 to 2001, but carrying it out could mean “more gaming” of the system. Lobbyists could try to sway commissioners undecided on an item. “Until the item is adopted, commissioners can change their votes, which also makes for an interesting opportunity for maneuvering if pressures were put upon them,” she added. “I applaud all the efforts of this commission to become more transparent, and I applaud Chairman Martin for responding” with moves such as the white-copy list.

Two other former FCC members had no objections to Martin’s vote plan. “Getting a five-person commission to vote at all is a problem, so whatever expedites voting on really finished items is good,” said Reed Hundt, FCC chairman 1993 to 1997. He and another former member said they don’t see publicizing votes as giving lobbyists undue influence over the commission. “People informally say how they're going to vote and they don’t make it public, and they tell some lobbyists and not others, and that’s a problem,” Hundt said. “That’s true for all commissioners, including myself.” Henry Rivera, a commissioner 1981 to 1985, said posting votes online wouldn’t give lobbyists information they lacked -- if the FCC said only who voted, not how. “Normally you could find it out if you're interested,” he said.

“It’s a good idea to put it on the Web site,” said an aide to McDowell. Aides to Copps and Tate didn’t respond to messages seeking comment. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said he’s “pleased” about the white-copy notice, a change he has “long championed.” But “it’s not good enough to say that our current practice is adequate because that’s how previous commissions, both Republican and Democratic, have done it,” he said.