Dennis Patrick Resigns as FCC Chairman

The young, personable Los Angeles attorney who former President Ronald Reagan appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission two years ago surprised the broadcast industry Wednesday by resigning, effective as soon as President George Bush finds a replacement.

In a three-page letter he hand-carried late Tuesday to White House personnel director Chase Untermeyer, FCC chairman Dennis R. Patrick outlined what he believed to be the outstanding achievements of the commission under his leadership, but gave no reason for his departure.

During a 30-minute press conference Wednesday afternoon in Washington, Patrick reiterated his accomplishments (repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, putting caps on American Telephone & Telegraph Co.’s long-distance rates and deregulation of the broadcast industry) and said only that he planned to return to the private sector. In his upcoming job search, Patrick said, “I haven’t ruled out either coast or any given profession,” except for politics.

Though some broadcasters speculated that Patrick might resign with the change in administrations, the 37-year-old attorney affirmed as little as two months ago that he had no intention of quitting the five-seat commission to which he was first appointed in 1983. He was named chairman in 1987, replacing Mark S. Fowler, another Reagan appointee. Prior to his FCC appointment, Patrick had been a White House aide.

Some veteran broadcasters suggested Wednesday that Patrick quit, in part, because of his frequent battles with Congress over his deregulatory approach--an approach that has only lukewarmn support in Bush’s “kinder, gentler” Administration.

It was a suggestion Patrick heatedly denied.

“The Bush Administration has really been very supportive,” Patrick told The Times after his press conference. “I sort of believe what Ronald Reagan used to say: If you stay in government too long, you become part of the problem.”

He said that the recent defeat of a 51% pay hike for federal officials was a factor in his decision to leave, but not the deciding factor. Last month, Patrick’s fellow commissioner James Quello publicly complained about the defeat of the pay raise when both the Senate and Congress voted it does on Feb. 7. As chairman, Patrick currently earns $82,500 a year and Quello’s annual salary is $80,700.

“I expect I could earn substantially more in the private sector but one doesn’t serve in government for economic reasons,” Patrick said.

Patrick said his biggest accomplishment was the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine--the 40-year-old FCC policy that requires broadcasters to air programs on controversial issues, but he attached equal importance to the commission’s recent action on phone companies’ long-distance rates. He said the lid that the commission has put on rates will eventually save consumers about $900 million a year.

Under both Patrick and Fowler, the commission has moved to change the way broadcasters are licensed and has generally followed a deregulatory approach that became a hallmark of most federal agencies during the early Reagan years. Critics have argued that too much deregulation has led to large, longterm problems in a number of industries, ranging from airlines to savings and loans to television and radio.

But Patrick said he believes the competition that deregulation spawned was healthy.

“I don’t think we should draw any quick conclusions on the Bush Administration. I don’t think we’ll see any substantial stop in the flow of these issues because we can’t . . . partially because the evolution of competition will drive the process.”

Since early last year, the commission has had only three members: Patrick, Quello and commissioner Patricia Dennis. With Patrick’s announcement, there are now three vacancies, giving Bush the opportunity to virtually create a whole new commission. Some sources have blamed congressional displeasure with Patrick as the primary reason that appointments to the commission have been held up.

Patrick conceded that he will probably be remembered, in part, for his strong stand on broadcast indecency--an issue that blossomed the week after he took over from Fowler in April of 1987 when the commission censured three radio stations for allegedly broadcasting indecent material. Since then, the commission has actively pursued complaints about obscenity and indecent use of sexually explicit language and pictures on television and radio. One Kansas City TV station was fined $2,000 for broadcasting the R-rated comedy “Private Lessons” during prime time, but the station has never paid the fine.

“We’ve certainly taken a more active enforcement role in the past three years,” Patrick said. “We’ve also taken some enforcement actions against dial-a-porn companies. I think that will be part of my legacy and I don’t apologize.”

A legal challenge against the FCC’s enforcement of a recent federal anti-indecency law was filed late last year by a coalition of broadcast and entertainment industry organizations and is currently pending before the federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.