Anyone who saw the video in which disgraced former Federal Emergency Management Administration chief Michael Brown looked like a dynamo as he briefed the White House and other agencies on the impending disaster that was Katrina knows that as much as he sucked in the job, his performance was head and shoulders above those of his bosses, including Silent George Bush.
Apparently Brown left some big shoes to fill. With the Atlantic hurricane season set to open in June, FEMA is still headed by Brown’s immediate successor, acting director David Paulison. FEMA told Government Executive magazine that the Department of Homeland Security “wants to install a new management team at FEMA that includes a new director, deputy director and chief logistics officer,” but that the agency hasn’t offered the jobs to anyone as yet. Brown says they have made offers but have been turned down because of the atmosphere at DHS.
In another story covering Congressional efforts to divorce FEMA from Homeland Security, the agency’s inspector general is quoted as saying that DHS and FEMA are suffering from a dearth of experienced personnel to fill a spate of top level vacancies because “we have not adequately trained and brought up those behind us.”
Filling those vacancies would be made more difficult if Congress follows the recommendation of David Walker, the Government Accountability Office chief, to take the drastic steps of establishing statutory qualifications such as documented experience for key jobs like Brown’s, and imposing a term limit or periodic reconfirmation requirement on those positions rather than the current practice of retaining key appointed personnel until they’re either hounded from office, die, or get hired to lobby their former employees and employers.
But back to the original point: DHS is waiting to get FEMA under control until they’re able to plunk a matched set of experienced managers into the top positions, and those people will have less than three months — possibly considerably less — to settle in before hurricane season, which coincides with vacation season for the president, hits. And meanwhile, everyone who gave Brown fits is still comfortably ensconced at DHS and in the White House.
Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. Incompetence was found. Maybe John Fogerty would take the gig. At least he sees hurricanes a-coming.
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The irreplaceable Michael Brown: big shoes to fill at FEMA
Anyone who saw the video in which disgraced former Federal Emergency Management Administration chief Michael Brown looked like a dynamo as he briefed the White House and other agencies on the impending disaster that was Katrina knows that as much as he sucked in the job, his performance was head and shoulders above those of his bosses, including Silent George Bush.
Apparently Brown left some big shoes to fill. With the Atlantic hurricane season set to open in June, FEMA is still headed by Brown’s immediate successor, acting director David Paulison. FEMA told Government Executive magazine that the Department of Homeland Security “wants to install a new management team at FEMA that includes a new director, deputy director and chief logistics officer,” but that the agency hasn’t offered the jobs to anyone as yet. Brown says they have made offers but have been turned down because of the atmosphere at DHS.
In another story covering Congressional efforts to divorce FEMA from Homeland Security, the agency’s inspector general is quoted as saying that DHS and FEMA are suffering from a dearth of experienced personnel to fill a spate of top level vacancies because “we have not adequately trained and brought up those behind us.”
Filling those vacancies would be made more difficult if Congress follows the recommendation of David Walker, the Government Accountability Office chief, to take the drastic steps of establishing statutory qualifications such as documented experience for key jobs like Brown’s, and imposing a term limit or periodic reconfirmation requirement on those positions rather than the current practice of retaining key appointed personnel until they’re either hounded from office, die, or get hired to lobby their former employees and employers.
But back to the original point: DHS is waiting to get FEMA under control until they’re able to plunk a matched set of experienced managers into the top positions, and those people will have less than three months — possibly considerably less — to settle in before hurricane season, which coincides with vacation season for the president, hits. And meanwhile, everyone who gave Brown fits is still comfortably ensconced at DHS and in the White House.
Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. Incompetence was found. Maybe John Fogerty would take the gig. At least he sees hurricanes a-coming.
===============================
If you like this site, please consider donating a few dollars through the PayPal link at the head of the page. Mahalo …