Wheeler Defends Closing Field Office in Pacific Northwest
The Democratic senators from Oregon worry about possible closure of the FCC Enforcement Bureau field office in Vancouver, Washington, that oversees Oregon, but FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the agency’s proposal in a May 29 response, released last week. That…
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office “is vital to the television and radio broadcasters in our state,” Sens. Jeffrey Merkley and Ron Wyden told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in an April 24 letter. “We worry that a field office as far away as San Francisco would not prioritize our constituents, and have a significant delay in response time to broadcasters in the Pacific Northwest.” They wanted the agency to, “at very least, facilitate public input on the proposed field office closures as this process progresses” and ask the FCC to consider the needs of local broadcasters before closing that field office and “look to find an alternative solution.” Wheeler said closing the field office makes sense. The field office overseeing Oregon “has relatively little radiofrequency complaint resolution activity” and costs “approximately $276,000 each year to maintain,” Wheeler said, costing $15,000 in taxpayer funds per complaint. The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing on the proposed closures Thursday.