WASHINGTON-CTIA’s Steve Largent used the biggest news in the nation’s capital last week-Joe Gibbs returning to coach the Redskins-to justify his actions as he fired five people and named three new staffers.
“Nobody expects Joe Gibbs to come in with the Washington Redskins and retain (former Redskins Coach) Steve Spurrier’s assistants and neither should anyone expect me to come in and keep all of Tom Wheeler’s assistants,” said Largent, a former star wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks and member of the National Football League Hall of Fame, along with Gibbs.
Late Friday, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association said that Eva-Maria Wohn, vice president of state affairs, had been let go. Wohn joins Christina Martin, senior vice president for public affairs and communications; Jo-Anne Basile, vice president for external and industry relations; Kathryn Condello, vice president of industry operations; and Christopher Putala, vice president of congressional affairs, all of whom were notified of their terminations earlier in the week.
Coming in are Brian Kidney in the newly created position of chief operating officer, John Walls as the vice president of communications, and Bobby Franklin as vice president of government affairs.
Walls is currently the anchor of NBC-affiliate KJRH-TV in Tulsa, Okla. He begins his duties at CTIA Feb. 23. Franklin is the former vice president of federal government affairs for Alltel Corp. He starts his job Jan. 20, the day CTIA begins operations in its new headquarters.
CTIA will move into its new headquarters at 1400 16th Street NW after the close of business this Friday. Because next Monday, Jan. 19, is a federal holiday, CTIA will resume operations Tuesday, Jan. 20. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same.
“The move presents a great transition point for us, and that’s why the events of this week are occurring. I wanted to allow enough time for me to review the organization and allow the holidays to pass as well,” Largent told RCR Wireless News Thursday morning.
Largent spoke to RCR Wireless News to confirm that he was restructuring the wireless trade association and that his goal was to have a new organization in place by the time of the move. The Walls and Franklin announcements were made Thursday afternoon.
On Jan. 5, CTIA said it was creating a new position-COO-and that Kidney had been hired to be COO. After Kidney’s hire, Largent laid off four senior executives. The layoffs and Kidney’s hire represent significant changes in organizational structure. Under Wheeler, CTIA had four senior vice presidents. It appears that Largent will have none, although titles and an organizational chart are still being developed.
“An organizational chart will not be drawn until the conclusion of Mr. Largent’s 90-day review. It will conclude within the next couple of weeks,” said CTIA spokesman Travis Larson. “Having come from Congress, Mr. Largent is more comfortable with the chief-of-staff organizational structure common on Capitol Hill.”
Kidney is that “chief of staff” even though his official title will be chief operating officer.
“The COO job was designed to keep the trains running on time in order to ensure that CTIA is even faster, more effective and more responsive to our members’ needs. This position requires a person with a deep understanding of how wireless companies operate, the background and bipartisan nature to work with Capitol Hill and the Federal Communications Commission, and the overall demeanor to build team spirit and pride with the association and the industry,” said Largent in a statement.
Kidney is an industry veteran who was vice president of external affairs for AirTouch Communications until 2000. Since then he has been running a consulting firm in San Francisco. He is a former member of the CTIA board, and he lobbied Capitol Hill in the 1980s for Pacific Telesis Group.
Walls replaces Martin, while Franklin replaces Steven Berry, who left shortly after Largent’s Nov. 3 arrival to be the chief lobbyist at the National Cable Television Association.
While Berry focused on Washington, CTIA was quick to point out that Franklin’s portfolio will include “advocacy efforts before Congress, state legislatures and regulatory agencies.” Under Wheeler, CTIA had barely put a toe in the state arena-by hiring Wohn fairly recently-after strenuously avoiding any controversy outside of the Beltway for years.
Basile’s departure comes as the industry is basking in the light of winning litigation regarding the negative health impacts of cellular-phone use. She was CTIA’s point person on this issue. It is unclear who will handle this issue if it comes up again, but Largent indicated that CTIA would still respond to health questions. It is also unclear who will handle homeland-security issues for CTIA because that was one of Condello’s major responsibilities.
“Some of the issues are more mature and can be competently handled by more junior members of CTIA,” said Largent. “It was my view that CTIA was top heavy.”
Putala’s exit was not surprising; he was close to Wheeler. Michael Altschul, senior vice president and general counsel, and John Windolph, senior vice president for business development, remain at CTIA.
Largent would neither confirm nor deny any other changes because he said he wanted to make sure that everyone heard directly from him rather than in the press.
While it is not surprising when a new leader changes staff, Largent said when he was hired last year that no changes were imminent. By waiting two months to make the changes, he believes he is keeping his word.
” This totally conforms with everything that I said from day one-that I would take 60 to 90 days to review the organization, and that I would engage in a thoughtful process … when it came to our organization,” he said
