By Calvin Biesecker
President Obama yesterday said he will nominate Florida’s Emergency Management Chief Craig Fugate as the new administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Fugate was reported to be on the short list of candidates for the top job at FEMA, which has been under the watchful eye of Congress ever since the agency’s poor response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Fugate was appointed to lead Florida’s Division of Emergency Management in 2001 after four years as the division’s chief of the Bureau of Preparedness and Response. The division coordinates disaster response, recovery, preparedness and mitigation efforts with all of Florida’s counties and local governments.
During his eight years as Florida’s emergency chief, there have been 23 declared state emergencies, including 11 presidential declared disasters.
Fugate has risen through the ranks of emergency services, from volunteer fighter and paramedic to a lieutenant with the Alachua County, Fla., Fire Rescue and emergency manager for Alachua County.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that will consider the nomination, cited Fugate’s experience and said he looks forward to the “nomination and a conversation with him about his goals and priorities for FEMA.”
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also said yesterday that Jason McNamara will serve as chief of staff at FEMA. McNamara is an associate vice president and director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security at the professional services firm Dewberry. He supports local governments in the Washington, D.C., area in a variety of emergency planning, training and exercise services and has led the company’s support to FEMA headquarters and field management in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
“These announcements represent a new chapter for FEMA,” Napolitano said in a statement. “Both Craig and Jason bring a tremendous amount of emergency management experience to these positions, and they are just the first of a dynamic new team that is being brought in to lead this agency.”
FEMA is the subject of debate in Congress and possibly the Executive Branch over whether it should remain within DHS or become independent. Last week Rep James Oberstar (D- Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced the FEMA Independence Act of 2009 (H.R. 1174) that would establish FEMA as an independent, cabinet level agency. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the ranking member of the committee, co-sponsored the bill.
In testimony last week before the House Homeland Security Committee, Napolitano said she hasn’t discussed FEMA’s future with the president yet.