LANDAU RENOMINATION TO CPB IS ANNOUNCED

The White House has announced that it will nominate Sonia Landau, chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to serve another term on the board through 1991.

Landau, 48, has served on the board since President Reagan appointed her in 1981. She has been chairman since September, 1984.

Her term expired Wednesday, along with those of four others on the 10-member CPB board: Lillie Herndon, Harry O’Connor, Kenneth Towery and Howard A. White. Board members can serve only two consecutive five-year terms. Because of the time they already have served, Herndon and White will step down.

Without replacements confirmed by the Senate, the board technically will have only five members. A meeting scheduled for early April to consider the fiscal 1987 budget was canceled because of the board’s temporarily reduced size.

The board has scheduled another meeting here May 15, and what happens to the expired terms of half its members has added a new element of intrigue to the workings of the group, which has been sharply divided by personalities and political beliefs.

The White House decision to nominate Landau alone puzzled observers, especially in light of indications from the Senate Commerce Committee that it wants to consider all of the CPB nominations together and not separately.

The Reagan Administration has not indicated when it will announce the other nominations, and the Senate recessed Thursday until April 8.

O’Connor and Towery, the board’s vice chairman, were both appointed by Reagan and are likely to be renominated. Even so, that leaves two additional vacancies. Any controversy over those nominations could possibly impact Senate confirmation of people to fill all five empty seats.

“I’m not concerned,” Harry O’Connor said about not yet having been officially renominated. “I have no reason to be.”

O’Connor, of Playa del Rey, heads O’Connor Creative Services, which produces and markets broadcast program services.

It was O’Connor who challenged Landau for the chairmanship several months ago. The subsequent vote ended in a tie, which means that while Landau can continue to serve as chairman, she can be challenged for her position at any meeting. Should new appointees to the board not support Landau, she could lose her chairmanship, which has not been without its share of controversy.

The absence of a chairman confirmed by the Senate also could present other day-to-day problems, such as who will testify before the Congressional appropriations committee in April on the CPB budget.

How fast the White House will release its full list of CPB nominations, or how soon the Senate will act on them, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, at the CPB, life goes on. As one CPB staffer said privately, “We little ants are just running around taking care of business as usual.”