FEMA Chief fired from last job.

[RandFan]

FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'

The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.

The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.

The agency, run by Brown since 2003, is now at the center of a growing fury over the handling of the New Orleans disaster.

``I look at FEMA and I shake my head,'' said a furious Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday, calling the response ``an embarrassment.''

President Bush, after touring the Big Easy, said he was ``not satisfied'' with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

And U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch predicted there would be hearings on Capitol Hill over the mishandled operation.

Brown - formerly an estates and family lawyer - this week has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.

WTF? No prior experience?

Look, find the best person for the job. Nothing esle matters. Not friendship, not family ties. Nothing but experience and qualifications God damn it!

 

[Zep]

WTF? No prior experience?

Look, find the best person for the job. Nothing esle matters. Not friendship, not family ties. Nothing but experience and qualifications God damn it!

Same goes for his boss, then, I hope?

Yes, I agree. It's dreadful to see these mistakes coming back to bite so hard on the ass. I can imagine the on-ground services pulling their hair out in frustration at all this.

 

[a_unique_person]

As I said before, the Republicans must have any number of friendly retired generals who would have had plenty of experience to bring to the role.

And I don't doubt the dems would fall for the same trick themselves these days.

 

[SezMe]

WTF? No prior experience?

Look, find the best person for the job. Nothing esle matters. Not friendship, not family ties. Nothing but experience and qualifications God damn it!

Oh, were it only so, RandFan. But these are political appointments so politics plays a large role. And this is true for both parties. Probably the worst example of this is how we select our ambassadors. You gave big bucks? Hey, here's a map of the world - what country would you like?

I'm not sure how we could go about changing the situation, but the present systems sucks and Katrina is only making this obvious.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I am resigned to America being a plutocracy, and almost resigned to it being an oligarchy, but it seems to be descending into kakistocracy.

Perhaps political appointees should have to take some sort of civil service exam?

 

[duggie]

But can you conclusively prove he doesn't enjoy respect?

 

[TragicMonkey]

But can you conclusively prove he doesn't enjoy repect?

Aretha's performance was marred by that afternoon's dental work.

eta: er, that could be taken quite the wrong way. Sorry.

etaII: hee hee, gotcha.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Nothing but experience and qualifications God damn it!

Don't use the lords name in vain. He is the one that will lead us out of this mess. If only we pray hard enough....

 

[Mephisto]

I agree

Perhaps political appointees should have to take some sort of civil service exam?

I would go so far as to insist on drug tests (since they're so set in the war on drugs), various psychological tests (to see if empathy is possible in this person) and a COMPLETE set of records for any government service (including the military) they have acquired.

 

[Rob Lister]

The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

huh?

Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.

huh?

My political meter tells me this is nothing more than partisan mud-slinging.

Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.

Seems qualified to me.

 

[Ed]

Well, I would like to see a list of appointments over the last 5 presidents segregated by lots of experience and tangential or less experience. Critisizing Bush on this is just mindless bashing.

I will point out that he was confirmed by the Senate. I have been unable to get the vote for some reason but he was confirmed by the folks we elected. Guess where the problem is?

 

[Cleon]

Well, I would like to see a list of appointments over the last 5 presidents segregated by lots of experience and tangential or less experience. Critisizing Bush on this is just mindless bashing.

...Because if there's one person who epitomizes "mindless bashing" of Bush, it's RandFan.

 

[Suddenly]

huh?



huh?

My political meter tells me this is nothing more than partisan mud-slinging.

Yeah... That Randfan is such a liberal hack...

Seems qualified to me.

Not if you actually read it...

Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel.

Now that's a safe place for a political hack lawyer. Sit in with the boss and be there to supply legal opinions...

Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks.

He was on a committee that basically sat around and decided what to do in a policy sense.

Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan.

More sitting around.

In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

I mean, all of this "identify and resolve" and sitting on committees is basically resume BS. Bush appointed him to a bunch of committees that appear directed towards long term recovery.

Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court

He helped grade part of the bar exam...

and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court.

Glorified clerk...

He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters.

Respected lawyer or plumber called in to put the fix in? Toss up... but seeing he's an estate lawyer this sets of a warning bell, when you want a tough special prosecutor you appoint someone with experience I would think, not the guy who does your will...

While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues.

He got off to hackery early. You would think he would be busy studying...

His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

I wonder what city..

Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

Ye gads. Popped in to teach an afternoon class in title searches at his 4th tier alma mater I imagine...

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.

This is the resume of a political hack. He has a law degree, started being apointed to stuff before he even graduated. A good idea I guess considering the school he went to is pretty low rent. (Oklahoma CITY University... not to be confused with the big mother in Norman...) Then once his horse comes in he gets into these committees that engage in long term planning and sooner or later he gets the big payoff...

He has never run anything. He has a degree in politics, a law degree, and has spent most of his life doing real-estate and family work, basically he wrote wills for his rich buddies and so forth...

Then he's running a critical agency. His record as a manager? From the link:

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=100857

Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado.

``We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records,'' explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioner's office. ``This was his full-time job . . . for 11 years,'' she added.

Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.

``He was asked to resign,'' Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed last night.

Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign.

He couldn't even manage a bunch of horse judgers and he gets appointed to run FEMA post 9-11 in a time when we are basically waiting for the next shoe to drop...


If anything, his focus on committee work and background as an estate lawyer explains the weird fixation on recovery and rebuilding in the immediate days after while people were still in profound danger. His resume reflects someone who has done a lot of planning and not a lot of doing...

In short, I kind of expect liberals to appoint ivory-tower nitwits with no management experience to these kinds of posts. This is why liberals get made fun of by all the cool kids. I expect conservatives to appoint a CEO or army officer type, a gruff individual who understands what it means to lead and to act, i.e. Get The Job Done while liberal types whine about his being mean...

Not someone who sits in his office and writes wills and can't even Get The Job Done when dealing with training horse judges...

 

[corplinx]

WTF? No prior experience?

He didn't start out as chief of fema. People have been lumping on the guy about the superdome gaffe and now it looks like he's being pigeonholed in the scapegoat slot too.

 

[Magyar]

Re: Re: FEMA Chief fired from last job.

Don't use the lords name in vain. He is the one that will lead us out of this mess. If only we pray hard enough....

And don't forget purging our glorious Christian nation of all the
evil athiests, homos and pervs

(ooops that myght get rid of half the GOP)

 

[Skeptic]

Harumph.

The quote that his last job was "overseeing horse shows" was a quote from Today's New York Times opinion piece by Paul Breman (sp?), one of the two resident Bush-Bashers (after Maureen Doud).

The same article also offered, as a "fact", that Bush doesn't care about New Orleans because the victims are black, and--at the same time--that his lack of reaction is due to gross incompetence.

It's the usual situation for Breman: accusing Bush of being is at the same time an evil genius and an incompetent fool whenever something goes wrong.

Consider the source.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Seems qualified to me.

Yes, but only to be a lawyer.

 

[Dr Adequate]

It's the usual situation for Breman: accusing Bush of being is at the same time an evil genius and an incompetent fool whenever something goes wrong.

You go too far. No-one has ever accused Bush of being a genius.

 

[peptoabysmal]

WTF? No prior experience?

Look, find the best person for the job. Nothing esle matters. Not friendship, not family ties. Nothing but experience and qualifications God damn it!

From page two of your link:

The White House last night defended Brown's appointment. A spokesman noted Brown served as FEMA deputy director and general counsel before taking the top job, and that he has now overseen the response to ``more than 164 declared disasters and emergencies,'' including last year's record-setting hurricane season.

Elsewhere what I've seen indicates that he worked his way up the ranks of FEMA and was recommended for the job by his predecessor.

p.s. In all fairness, horse people are friggin' crazy. I know, I am one and I have dealt with enough of them.

 

[crimresearch]

"If anything, his focus on committee work and background as an estate lawyer explains the weird fixation on recovery and rebuilding in the immediate days after while people were still in profound danger. "

More likely it reflects how many people are completely ignorant of what FEMA's actual job is, and how gullible they are over the media's BS pronouncements on the matter.