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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  04-  3494 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of 
 Equal  Opportunities  Complaint  Filed  By  Nicole  Parra  Against  Pappas  Telecasting 
 Companies 


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 ORDER 
 Adopted:  October  29,  2004  Released:  October  29,  2004 
 By  the  Deputy  Chief,  Media  Bureau: 


 1.  The  Commission  has  before  it  a  complaint  against  Pappas  Telecasting  Companies  (Pappas)  filed  October  29,  2004,  by  Nicole  Parra,  a  candidate  for  Assembly  member  for  the  30  th 
 Assembly  District  in  California.  The  complainant  alleges  violation  of  the  equal  opportunities  provision,  47  U.  S.  C.  Section  315(  a),  as  implemented  by  the  Commission’s  rules  at  47  C.  F.  R.  Section  73.1941. 
 Complainant  also  alleges  a  violation  of  the  Commission’s  political  file  rule,  47  U.  S.  C.  Section  315,  as  implemented  by  the  Commission’s  rules  at  47  C.  F.  R.  Section  73.  1943.  At  the  Commission’s  request, 
 Pappas  filed  a  response  to  the  complaint  on  October  29,  2004. 
 2.  The  complainant  asserts  that  Dean  Gardner,  an  opponent  of  hers  for  the  Assembly  member  seat  has  received  “free  airtime”  from  Pappas  on  KMPH-  TV,  Fresno,  CA;  KFRE-  TV,  Sanger, 


 CA;  and  KMPH-  FM,  Hanford,  CA  and  that  her  attempt  to  obtain  free  equal  opportunities  from  these  Pappas  stations  was  rejected.  Instead,  the  complainant  contends  Pappas  offered  her  campaign  equal 
 opportunities  at  the  respective  stations’  “lowest  unit  charge.”  The  complainant  asserts  that  the  free  time  made  available  to  Mr.  Gardner  was  part  of  an  overall  gift  of  time  by  Pappas  to  thirteen  Republican 
 County  Central  Committees  to  be  distributed  to  various  Republican  candidates  at  the  discretion  of  the  Committees.  According  to  complainant,  each  Committee  was  given  $25,000.  In  its  response,  Pappas 
 argues  that  the  time  furnished  to  Mr.  Gardner  should  not  be  deemed  to  be  free  time  for  purposes  of  Section  315. 


 3.  Based  upon  the  facts  that  have  been  presented  to  us,  we  find  that  the  broadcast  time  that  has  been  made  available  to  candidate  Gardner  was  furnished  free  of  charge  by  the  referenced  stations.  In 
 this  regard,  we  note  that  the  letter  dated  October  13,  2004,  from  Pappas  Telecasting  Companies  to  the  Fresno  County  Republican  Central  Committee  documenting  the  airtime  gift  indicated  that  the  time  was 
 being  given  by  “Harry  J.  Pappas  and  my  affiliated  entities”  (emphasis  added).  The  named  entities  include  the  licensees  of  the  stations  on  which  Mr.  Gardner  appeared.  Moreover,  nothing  in  the  record 
 before  us  indicates  that  the  stations  on  which  Mr.  Gardner  appeared  were  paid  for  his  use.  The  Commission  has  ruled  that  when  a  candidate  is  furnished  time  at  no  cost,  competing  candidates  are 
 entitled  to  receive  the  same  amount  of  free  time  in  comparable  time  periods.  Carter/  Mondale  Reelection  Committee,  81  FCC  2d  409  (1980).  Thus,  under  these  circumstances,  we  find  that  the  complainant  is 
 entitled  to  equal  opportunities  on  the  same  free  basis  as  her  opponent.  We  emphasize  that  our  ruling  herein  is  limited  to  the  specific  circumstances  of  this  complainant’s  request  for  equal  opportunities. 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA04-  3494 
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 4.  With  respect  to  complainant’s  allegation  regarding  the  political  file,  licensees  are  not  obligated  to  mail  or  fax  material  from  the  file.  See  47  C.  F.  R.  Section  73.3527(  c)(  2)(  i). 
 5.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED  that  the  complaint  is  granted  in  part,  as  indicated  above. 


 William  H.  Johnson  Deputy  Chief,  Media  Bureau 
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