[StBernard] Former FEMA head in NYC: party politics played role in Katrina

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sat Jan 20 21:15:55 EST 2007


By NAHAL TOOSI

The Associated Press


NEW YORK (AP) - Party politics played a role in decisions over whether to
take federal control of Louisiana and other areas affected by Hurricane
Katrina, with some in the White House suggesting only Louisiana should be
federalized because it was run by a Democratic governor, former FEMA
Director Michael Brown said Friday.

Brown, speaking to a group of graduate students in New York about politics
and emergency management, said he had recommended to President Bush that all
90,000 square miles along the Gulf Coast affected by the devastating
hurricane be federalized.

"Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking 'We had
to federalize Louisiana because she's a white, female Democratic governor
and we have a chance to rub her nose in it," he said, without naming names.
"We can't do it to Haley (Barbour of Mississippi) because Haley's a white
male Republican governor. And we can't do a thing to him. So we're just
gonna federalize Louisiana.'"

Brown declined to say who in the White House had argued for federalizing the
response only in Louisiana, but said that he'd later learned of the
machinations through Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco's office and from other
officials on the federal level.

Federalizing the region would have involved placing the federal government
in charge of all agencies responding to the disaster, he said.

Blanco reacted sharply on hearing what Brown had said.

"This is exactly what we were living but could not bring ourselves to
believe. Karl Rove was playing politics while our people were dying," Blanco
said through a spokeswoman, referring to President Bush's top political
strategist. "The federal effort was delayed, and now the public knows why.
It's disgusting."

Eryn Witcher, a spokeswoman for the White House, denied Brown's claims.

"It is unfortunate that Mike Brown is still hurling false statements about
the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina," she said. "The only consideration
made by the administration at the time of this tragedy and since are those
in the best interests of the citizens of the gulf region."

Brown defended his statement

"All I have done since I have left the government is tell the truth about
what was going on," he said.

Calls made late Friday seeking comment from the Department of Homeland
Security were not immediately returned. A spokesman for Barbour, Pete Smith,
had no immediate comment.

The question of federal control became a source of contention after Katrina.
President Bush asked to put military relief efforts in Louisiana under
federal oversight, but Louisiana officials rejected that idea, keeping state
control over National Guard troops. They worked together with federal
forces.

Brown said the political considerations were among the many frustrations he
endured while trying to coordinate disaster relief in the region.

But now, more than a year after the pain and chaos of Hurricane Katrina, he
said he feels redeemed, and that he believes his recommendations about flaws
in the emergency management system are finally being heeded.

Brown, 52, was ousted from FEMA after the agency's much-criticized response
to Hurricane Katrina. He also became a punch line after President Bush
publicly praised him, saying he did a "a heck of a job," while thousands
desperately waited for help in water-soaked New Orleans.

Speaking on Friday in Manhattan to graduate students at the Metropolitan
College of New York's public administration program in emergency management
and homeland security, Brown defended his performance during the Katrina
disaster and urged them to do what is right even in the face of political
gridlock.

"As long as you know in your heart you were doing what was right, what was
the right thing to do, it doesn't matter what they say about you," he said.

Since Katrina, Brown has claimed he was made a scapegoat for the
government's slow response and has taken swipes at his former bosses. He has
said that President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
should have shared in the blame.

Brown, who also came under scrutiny for his job qualifications, now directs
Emergency Management Programs for the Resilient Corp., a consulting firm. On
Friday he defended his experience and said he had earned his way.

About 70 students in the Metropolitan College of New York program spend 16
months studying a variety of issues involved with responding to disasters
and hazards.





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