Firefighter to Replace Brown As FEMA Chief

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: September 12, 2005 6:32:33 PM EDT
To: Blaster <rforno () infowarrior org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Firefighter to Replace Brown As FEMA Chief


Firefighter to Replace Brown As FEMA Chief
Sep 12 5:03 PM US/Eastern
    http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/12/D8CIUQ5O9.html

By RON FOURNIER
AP Political Writer

WASHINGTON

Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown resigned Monday,
three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina  
relief
effort. The White House picked a top FEMA official with three decades of
firefighting experience as his replacement.

R. David Paulison, head of FEMA's emergency preparedness force, will  
lead
the beleaguered agency, according to three administration sources who  
spoke
on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been  
made.

Paulison is a career firefighter from Miami who was among emergency  
workers
responding to Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the crash of ValuJet  
Flight 592
in the Florida Everglades in 1996, according to a biography posted on  
FEMA's
Web site. He also has led the U.S. Fire Administration since December  
2001,
according to the site.

As chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, Paulison led 1,900
personnel under a $200 million operating budget. He was also in  
charge of
Dade County's emergency management office, according to his biography.

Paulison will lead an agency that has been under fire for its  
response to
the Katrina disaster. Local officials and members of Congress have cited
confusion and a lagging response to the Gulf Coast devastation.

Brown had taken much of the heat and was relieved of his onsite  
command on
Friday. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Brown said he
resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the
president." He said he feared he had become a distraction.

"The focus has got to be on FEMA, what the people are trying to do down
there," Brown said.

His decision was not a surprise. Brown was abruptly recalled to  
Washington
on Friday, a clear vote of no confidence from his superiors at the White
House and the Homeland Security Department. He also was accused of  
padding
his resume, which Brown has denied.

The president ducked questions about Brown's resignation. "Maybe you  
know
something I don't know. I've been working," the president said to  
reporters
on an inspection tour of damage in Gulfport, Miss. Bush said he  
planned to
talk with Brown's boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff,  
from
Air Force One on the flight back to Washington.

"There will be plenty of time to figure out what went right and what  
went
wrong," Bush said.

Polls show most Americans believe Bush could have done more to help
Katrina's victims, though they also blame leaders of Louisiana and New
Orleans. Bush's overall job approval rating is at the lowest point of  
his
presidency.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called Brown's departure long  
overdue.

"His resignation is the right thing for the country and for the  
people of
the Gulf Coast states," Pelosi said in a statement.

Brown, who said he last talked to Bush five or six days ago, said the
resignation was his idea. He spoke Saturday to White House chief of  
staff
Andrew Card, who did not request his departure, according to Brown.

"I'm turning in my resignation today," Brown said. "I think it's in  
the best
interest of the agency and the best interest of the president to do  
that and
get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead  
of me."

Shortly after Brown was recalled to Washington last week, officials  
close to
the FEMA director said he would probably resign. They said that even  
before
Katrina, Brown had been planning on leaving the administration late this
fall to go into the private sector.

___

Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven in Mississippi and Ron Fournier,
Nedra Pickler and Randolph E. Schmid in Washington contributed to this
report.




-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/