Consumer Groups Pitch FTC on Consumer Protection Bureau Chief

Say individual should not come from industry but should have public interest credentials

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/19/2013 4:34:56 PM

Three dozen consumer advocacy groups, including the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG, have written new Federal Trade Commission chair Edith Ramirez asking her to make sure her choice as director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection has come with public interest and consumer rights credentials.

In the letter, they say the new director should be able to talk tough in public about threatening marketplace behaviors and "honestly appraise" the work of staff.

"Given the Bureau's role in protecting consumers from the many challenges they face today," they wrote, "we believe that the new director should be an individual who has been independent of industry, with a record of success protecting the interests of consumers and with proven leadership ability."

David Vladeck, the former director, exited at the end of the year to rejoin the faculty at Georgetown University in Washington. Former FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz exited earlier this month. Charles Harwood, who had been Deputy Director of the Bureau, has been acting director.