by Frank James

It doesn't seem to happen too often that FEMA gets to tell a good-news story about itself but the agency believes it has one now.

Apparently, half of the agency's employees think the disaster-management agency's officials are managing the agency's employees well. The other half? Well, draw your own conclusions from this snippet from a FEMA press release:

• 49 percent of FEMA employees responded positively to questions related to Leadership & Knowledge Management
• 50 percent of FEMA employees believed the agency fostered a Results-Oriented Performance Culture
• 51 percent of FEMA employees gave positive responses to questions relating to the agency's Talent Management

At a lot of places, having half the employees fail to respond positively about their managers would be seen as quite the failure.

But this is FEMA we're talking about after all, the agency that became the butt of jokes and scorn following its mishandling of Hurricane Katrina.

Andrew Zajac

Here's a switch. A press release in which a high-ranking Bush Administration official claims he' not leaving.

FEMA Administrator David Paulison this afternoon put out a strongly worded declaration that, contrary to media reports, he's not not going anywhere.

That passes for news in the last year of a lame duck presidency generously sprinkled with top level boards and commissions lacking enough members for quorums and by a rush for the exits among senior officials. (See yesterday's announced departure of embattled HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.)

Moving on is a fact of transitions, he said, but not imminent.

"It is a fact that I serve President Bush, and therefore my service will end when we move into the next administration,'' he said. "However, I can assure you that this announcement is not imminent. I have no job offers and have no plans to leave FEMA at this time.''

(FEMA Administrator David Paulison at a Missouri flooding-disaster area in March. AP Photo by Tom Gannam)

by Frank James

David Paulison, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, apologized for last week's fake news conference and announced that changes have been made. It's essentially an acknowledgement that one of the most important emergencies he needs to manage is one of his agency's own making.

Fortunately, it won't require anyone having to live in a FEMA trailer.

Here's his statement:

On behalf of FEMA employees everywhere, I apologize for the inexcusable actions and remarkably bad judgment exhibited at a FEMA press conference last week. This was an avoidable incident that should not taint an otherwise strong response, in support of local officials, to the California wildfires. Individuals involved have been admonished and additional disciplinary actions are possible.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff shares in my frustration and view that these mistakes are not reflective of the development and maturity that FEMA has achieved over the past two years.

Transparency and credibility have been and will be tenets of everything we do. Today, we will begin making reforms in the Office of External Affairs to restore our integrity and to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

In concurrence with Secretary Chertoff, Russ Knocke will serve in a temporary capacity as Acting Director of the Office of External Affairs. Russ has been serving the department as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.

by Frank James

The FEMA public-relations official who staged the by-now infamous fake press conference during the California fires apparently was fired from a new job before he could even start it, a position as the top spokesman for National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.

John Philbin was supposed to start that new job today, according to the Associated Press. But the offer went up in smoke following the outrage that ensued after Philbin's blunder became public knowledge.

It didn't take much time at all for McConnell to decide that the last thing the intelligence community needed was a guy who staged a fake press conference. The spooks are is still trying to live down their own credibility problems related to that "slam dunk" intelligence they provided in the run up to the Iraq War.

Maybe Philbin should be forgiven however for what he did. This is the same Bush Administration, after all, that produced the phony "video news segments" which it then distributed to small-market television news programs.

Remember this New York Times story from a couple of years ago?

It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

by Sabrina Fang

Posted by Mark Silva at 1:55 pm CDT

“A lot of us have seen the pictures about what happened here and pictures don't do it justice,’’ President Bush said today during a tour of tornado-stricken Greensburg, Kansas.

“There is a lot of destruction,’’ the president said. “Fortunately, a lot of folks had basements here in this part of the world and lived to see another day. Unfortunately, too many died, and we offer our prayers and condolences to those who died.’’

In front of the John Deere dealership, the president shook hands and slapped backs. “Thanks for staying with your mom,’’ he said to one young man. “Thanks for volunteering," he told others.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, August 18, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush is meeting with his economic advisors at Camp David.

FEMA Director R. David Paulison is participating in a news briefing on lessons the government learned from Hurricane Katrina. 7:30 a.m.

Posted by Frank James at 5:25 pm CDT

So how did the problem with the locks on FEMA’s travel trailers that I mentioned in an earlier posting come to light?

John Philbin, FEMA’s communications director, told me the agency’s top officials learned of the problem Friday afternoon. They became aware after a FEMA trailer-park resident showed a Baton Rouge television station reporter how a key from one trailer unlocked the door on another’s entry door.

Posted by Frank James at 1:06 pm CDT

So what could be worse than having your home destroyed by a hurricane then having to live in a FEMA trailer? How about learning that the entry doors on the trailer you call home are insecure because the keys that open the doors of other trailers can also open yours?

That’s the situation for some of those dispossessed by Hurricane Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a press release announcing the problem and offering to replace the locks for any worried trailer residents.

Posted by Mark Silva at 2:15 pm CDT

David Paulison, the former Miami firefighter who inherited the shamed director’s office at the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the calamity known as Hurricane Katrina, says: “I want to make this country proud of FEMA again.’’

“Hot enough for you?’’ David Paulison asked reporters today in Miami, where President Bush was touring the Tropical Prediction Center at the National Hurricane Center. “It’s my home, and even living here my whole life it’s still sometimes tough to get used to the heat. And without that ocean breeze, it would be kind of unbearable.’’ Some big ocean breezes will be blowing this summer and fall, and the administration maintains it will be ready for them this time.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, July 20, as gathered by the Associated Press.

President Bush is addressing the annual NAACP convention at 9:30 a.m., the first time as president he has appeared before the group.

The Institute of Medicine holds a news conference to release a report assessing the frequency and toll of drug-related mishaps. 10 a.m.

7 a.m. TIGERS — News conference to release ``the most comprehensive scientific study of tiger habitat ever done,’’ sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society and Save the Tiger Fund.
Location: Lion/Tiger Hill, National Zoo.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 7:36 a.m. CDT

A $13 six-pack.

That finding is a fitting coda from a not-to-be-missed story in today's Hartford Courant about wasteful spending at the Department of Homeland Security. David Lightman reports the findings of a 33-page congressional report of spending at the department before and after Hurricane Katrina.

The shopping spree, financed by Uncle Sam, includes these items: $68,000 worth of dog booties, $7,000 in iPods and $208,000 in flat bottom boats (12 of which are missing).

A Swamp favorite, though, is a $227 beer-making kit so home brew could be bottled with Coast Guard-theme labels. Officials said it was a good way to make people relax -- and break the ice -- at gatherings of cadets and top officials.

The Coast Guard said homemade beer would save money. But the GAO, not missing a beat, calculated the cost of each six-pack: $13.

Posted by Frank James at 2:00 pm CDT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has just emailed a handout on its preparations for the coming hurricane season.

April appears to be the month when FEMA issues its press release about approaching hurricanes. Last year, for instance, feeling confident, it titled its press release "Hurricane Season 2005: Building on Success."

But that was then. This year, with all its failures in response to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA has dropped the "success" business though they're still sounding pretty confident. "FEMA: Ready for 2006 Hurricane Season," is the title of today's press release.