From the mind of Michael Brown

A former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency speaks out on Craig Fugate, the President's pick to head the agency, the public's perception of FEMA and looks back on his public service. Here are his edited responses to questions on FederalNewsRadio's Federal Drive:

Fugate being considered "outspoken" -

The career civil servants are going to love that: somebody who comes in and just says "this is what I think, this is how I believe, this is what we're going to do." What I worry about with Craig is the external. Sometimes people don't like to hear the truth.

The "perception gap" about FEMA -

I'm not convinced yet the American public understands yet what FEMA does. FEMA's not a first responder... It is basically a coordinating agency and an agency that doles out money.

FEMA as support -

To this day, you pick up 911, you don't hit FEMA, you hit your state and local governments, and they...should always be the first responders because no matter how many disasters President Obama declares, I guarantee you, there'll be a thousand more disasters that FEMA does not get involved in because they're handled solely by state and local governments.

Which relationship should Fugate address first -

A lot of my friends who still work there, the career folks that I stay in contact with, they're frustrated, they're confused (about) which way are we going to go... So I think first and foremost, it's the internal constituency.

No first responder communications network in place -

Frankly it's an embarassment. When you think about that was the number one concern of the New York City Police and Fire Departments, of the tri-state area in metropolitan New York, and that we are now eight years past 9/11 and we still haven't fixed that? Shame on us.

Being a public servant -

Public service is still a great endeavor. It's still incredibly satisfying. And don't look at what happened to me and let that deter you from going into public service. I look back on my service, and you know what? I'm proud of it. I'm not bitter about what happened. I understand the politics of Washington DC, and you know what? I've got a great life. I've served my country.

Michael Brown was DHS Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response from January 2003 through September 2005.

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On the Web:

Michael Brown's blog - MichaelBrownToday.com

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