[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51677-51678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19144]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[MB Docket No. 04-191; FCC 04-114]


San Francisco Unified School District

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document designates the application of the San Francisco 
Unified School District for renewal of license of KALW(FM), San 
Francisco, California, for an evidentiary hearing on issues relating to 
its qualifications to remain a Commission licensee.

DATES: Petitions by persons desiring to participate as a party in the 
hearing may be filed not later than September 20, 2004. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for dates that named parties should 
file appearances.

ADDRESSES: Please file documents with the Investigations and Hearings 
Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Room 
3-B443, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Shook, Special Counsel, 
Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau at (202) 418-
1448; Dana E. Leavitt, Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings 
Division, Enforcement Bureau at (202) 418-1317; or Michael Wagner, 
Assistant Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau at (202) 418-2775.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Hearing Designation 
Order, FCC04-114, released July 16, 2004. The full text of the Hearing 
Designation Order is available for inspection and copying during normal 
business hours in the FCC Reference Information Center, Room CY-A257, 
445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. The complete text may be 
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, Best Copy and 
Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554. Alternative formats are available to persons with disabilities 
by contacting Martha Contee at (202) 418-0260 or TTY (202) 418-2555.

Synopsis of the Order

    1. The San Francisco Unified School District (``SFUSD'') timely 
applied for license renewal for its station KALW(FM) on August 1, 1997. 
Golden Gate Public Radio filed a petition to deny that application on 
November 3, 1997, alleging both substantive rule violations and 
misrepresentations. Specifically, Golden Gate PUBLIC Radio alleged that 
SFUSD failed to adequately maintain its local public inspection file by 
failing to include in the file supplemental ownership reports and 
issues/programs lists as required by 47 CFR 73.3527 while knowingly 
certifying in the license renewal application that all these reports 
and lists were contained in the file. Similarly, Golden Gate Public 
Radio allege that the licensee failed to comply with the Commission's 
Equal Employment Opportunity requirements then in effect, while 
certifying in its renewal application that it had done so. San 
Francisco Unified School District, in opposition, argued that (1) 
Golden Gate Public Radio did not establish a substantial and material 
question of fact to warrant designation of the KALW(FM) license renewal 
application for hearing.
    2. Intitially, the Commission Bureau has reviewed the Golden Gate 
Public Radio petition and found several procedural infirmities: the 
petitioner did not demonstrated standing to challenge the renewal 
application, and the petition was neither properly served on SFUSD nor 
properly verified under the Commission's rules. The Commission 
therefore treated the filing as an informal objection rather than as a 
formal petition to deny.
    3. Upon reviewing of the record in this case--primarily the Golden 
Gate Public Radio petition and San Francisco Unified School District's 
response to two staff inquiries--the Commission found that the KALW(FM) 
public inspection file did not contain all of the requisite 
supplemental ownership reports and quarterly issues/programs lists when 
the subject renewal application was filed. Additionally, the Commission 
stated that it appeared that several staff members advised KALW(FM)'s 
station management that the public file was incomplete, which advice 
the station management either disbelieved or disregarded. Thus, the 
Commission found both that SFUSD made a false certification with 
respect to the contents of the KALW(FM) public inspection file in the 
renewal application, and that Golden Gate Public Radio had raised a 
substantial and material question of fact concerning whether San 
Francisco Unified School District intended to deceive the Commission in 
making that false certification. The Commission therefore designated 
the KALW(FM) license renewal application for evidentiary hearing, 
specifying the following false certification and misrepresentation 
issues:
    1. To determine whether San Francisco Unified School District 
falsely

[[Page 51678]]

certified its application with respect to the completeness of the 
KALW(FM) public inspection file and the effect thereof on its 
qualifications to be a Commission licensee.
    2. To determine whether San Francisco Unified School District made 
misrepresentations of fact or was lacking in candor and/or violated 
Section 73.1015 of the Commission's Rules with regard to its 
certification in the subject license renewal application that it had 
placed in the KALW(FM) public inspection file at the appropriate times 
the documentation required by Section 73.3527, and the effect thereof 
on its qualifications to be a Commission licensee.
    3. To determine, in light of the evidence adduced pursuant to the 
specified issues, if the captioned application for renewal of license 
for station KALW(FM) should be granted.
    4. Additionally, Golden Gate Public Radio argued that the licensee 
SFUSD falsely certified that it complied with the Commission Equal 
Employment Opportunity requirements in effect at the time the renewal 
application was filed. The Commission Equal Employment Opportunity 
program requirements at issue in this case were declared 
unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
Circuit in 1998. Nevertheless, those requirements were in effect during 
the KALW(FM) license term here, as well as when the subject renewal 
application was filed, and applicants are not excused from accurately 
representing their compliance with those rules by their subsequent 
invalidation. The Commission found that there may have been minor 
deficiencies in the dissemination of San Francisco Unified School 
District's Equal Employment Opportunity program during the subject 
license term, and thus its representations in the KALW(FM) renewal 
application regarding the station's compliance with the Commission's 
Equal Employment Opportunity rules and policies appeared to be 
incorrect. The Commission finds, however, that the evidence presented 
by Golden Gate Public Radio and the record as a whole are insufficient 
to raise a substantial and material question as to whether San 
Francisco Unified School District intended to deceive the Commission by 
making a false certification regarding its compliance with the 
Commission's then-existing Equal Employment Opportunity rules. The 
Commission nevertheless cautioned the licensee that it should exercise 
more care in the future to ensure that the information it submits to 
the Commission is accurate, because a false statement, even absent an 
intent to deceive, may constitute a violation of 47 CFR 1.17.
    5. Copies of this Order, are to be sent by certified mail, return 
receipt requested, to the parties and counsel. To avail themselves of 
the opportunity to be heard, Golden Gate Public Radio and San Francisco 
Unified School District to 47 CFR 1.221, in person or by their 
respective attorneys, must within twenty (20) days of the mailing of 
the Order, file in triplicate a written appearance stating an intention 
to appear on the date fixed for the hearing and present evidence on the 
issues specified in this Order. San Francisco Unified School District 
pursuant to 47 CFR 73.3594, shall give notice of the hearing within the 
time and in the manner prescribed in 47 CFR 73.3594, and shall advise 
the Commission of the publication of such notice as required by 47 CFR 
73.3594(g).

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-19144 Filed 8-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P