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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONERS  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS  AND  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN, 
 CONCURRING 
 Re:  San  Francisco  Unified  School  District  for  Renewal  of  License  for  Station  KALW(  FM),  San  Francisco,  California 


 We  concur  in  the  decision  to  designate  KALW(  FM)  ’s  license  renewal  application  for  a  hearing.  There  are  factual  questions  at  issue  here  that  warrant  further  review.  It  is 
 important  for  the  Commission  to  ensure  that  licensees  are  meeting  their  obligation  to  serve  their  local  communities  and  provide  the  public  with  timely  and  complete 
 information  about  how  they  are  meeting  that  obligation.  It  is  also  important  for  the  Commission  to  take  its  public  interest  obligations  seriously  and  establish  an  effective 
 license  renewal  process. 
 That  being  said,  we  also  have  concerns  about  this  decision.  In  recent  months,  the  Commission  has  gone  out  of  its  way  to  avoid  sending  cases  to  hearings  even  when  there 
 were  legitimate  allegations  of  wrongdoing.  In  KALW(  FM)  ’s  case,  there  are  questions  as  to  whether  the  public  file  was  complete  and  whether  the  station  misrepresented  the 
 situation  to  the  Commission.  As  just  one  example,  in  another  recent  case,  there  was  also  an  incomplete  public  file  as  well  as  allegations  of  misrepresentation  and  material 
 omissions  in  filings.  In  addition,  in  that  case,  there  were  also  issues  related  to  unauthorized  transfer  of  control.  Yet,  in  that  case,  the  Commission,  over  our  dissent, 
 determined  that  it  would  not  designate  the  case  for  hearing.  When  the  Commission  finally  decides  to  make  an  example  of  a  station  and  designate  its  case  for  a  hearing,  it 
 chooses  a  small  noncommercial  broadcast  station  run  by  the  local  school  district.  We  are  troubled  by  the  message  we  send  when  we  send  small,  independent  stations  to  hearings 
 but  give  a  pass  to  stations  owned  by  larger  media  companies  for  troubling  allegations. 
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