A few days ago, I expressed the opinion that Michael D. Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), should be replaced. In the comments to that post, I wrote:
The director of the agency is spectacularly unqualified. He spent the previous nine years running disciplinary hearings for the International Arabian Horse Association, and he was fired from that job. Curiously, that nine-year portion of his experience isn’t listed on his FEMA bio. It’s almost as if he were embarrassed by that part of his record.
The head of FEMA should have a background as a senior leader in the military or in the global construction industry. The person in that job should know how to coordinate massive projects and how to lead people under pressure. Brown wasn’t qualified for the job, and the two people who are directly beneath him are equally unqualified. Please read their bios and tell me why anyone could expect them to do a competent job in their current positions.
Apparently, the Secretary of Homeland Security has come to exactly the same conclusion after reviewing FEMA’s disastrous recent performance. The Washington Post reports today that a qualified replacement is now in place:
With Michael D. Brown, the embattled public face of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, taking harsh criticism for the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the secretary of homeland security this week assigned a top Coast Guard official to help bail him out.
Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, the Coast Guard’s chief of staff, was assigned on Monday to be Brown’s deputy and to take over operational control of the search-and-rescue and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast. The unprecedented task of coordinating the massive effort was handed off to a leader and expert who was described by colleagues as unflappable, engaging and intensely organized.
Allen is also familiar with the inner workings of the Department of Homeland Security, where the Coast Guard has landed alongside FEMA as one of the designated main protectors of the United States. Allen has been one of the primary shepherds of change at the Coast Guard since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has been praised for his ability to reach out to other agencies to develop “big-picture” approaches to homeland defense.
Retired Adm. James M. Loy, former commandant of the Coast Guard and former deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said yesterday that Allen has the experience to help steer the federal response to the Katrina catastrophe in the right direction after early shortfalls. When Loy was the Coast Guard chief of staff from 1996 to 1998, Allen was his resource director, and Loy said he “always brings a new idea per minute to the table as far as how to grapple with difficult situations.”
DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff handpicked Allen to essentially lead the federal recovery efforts in New Orleans. As Brown’s deputy, Allen will work with Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore — head of the military’s Joint Task Force Katrina — to oversee, manage and lead all military and civilian recovery efforts.
They can spin this as giving Brown an assistant, but any reasonable person can see who’s really in charge now – and not a moment too soon. I don’t understand the logic expressed by some people that now is not the time to replace Brown. Why on earth do you leave a person in place who is doing a terrible job and continuing to make bad decisions based on a complete lack of experience? This move suggests that the Director of Homeland Security thinks the operation needs help right now. It would’ve been nice to have Adm. Allen running FEMA for the past two years. Maybe he or someone with an equally impressive resume can take over at FEMA after this crisis is past.
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Ed Bott 