Copyright 2006 Capital City Press
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By GERARD SHIELDS
The Advocate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man most criticized for the federal government’s sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina could soon become a consultant to one of Louisiana’s hardest-hit parishes.
Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is negotiating to represent St. Bernard Parish in the recovery process. Days after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, Brown was removed as the federal point man handling the aftermath.
Within weeks, Brown resigned from FEMA, which is under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and was replaced by David Paulison.
But Brown has made a rebound after a videotape emerged showing him directly warning President Bush the day before the disaster that it would be “the big one” and “the bad one” and that the New Orleans-area levees could be topped.
Since then, Brown has formed a consulting company similar to other former FEMA directors’, trying to help businesses and communities negotiate the maze of federal bureaucracy.
“I hope to give them some publicity about the plight they’re facing right now,” Brown said of St. Bernard. “They’re in difficult straits right now.”
St. Bernard was one of the hardest-hit parishes in the storm, with 129 people dying and 26,000 homes being destroyed. Federal rules prohibit Brown from lobbying his former agency directly for another five months, though he will be able to tell parish officials how to deal with the agency.
Brown joined FEMA in 2001 as its chief attorney before becoming deputy director. He became director in 2003 with the departure of Joe Allbaugh, who formed his own consulting business. In a role similar to Brown’s, former FEMA Director James Lee Witt is helping state government as its disaster consultant.
Brown said his FEMA experience will help St. Bernard. “It’s a perspective that very few people have,” he said.
Though St. Bernard officials said talks are preliminary, Brown and parish officials are drawing up a contract and might formalize it by the end of next week, he said. Brown, who normally charges $250 an hour, said he will likely charge a monthly fee.
St. Bernard Parish officials could not be reached for comment Friday because of a daylong council meeting. But Parish President Henry “Junior” Rodriguez told Bloomberg News that Brown will help the community compete with large communities for federal funding while accelerating the parish’s recovery process.
“He’s going to be the answer to the problems we’ve been having,” Rodriguez said.
Katrina killed 1,460 people in the Gulf Coast, according to state health officials, and displaced thousands of others across the nation.
Brown said he first met Rodriguez days after the storm. “He was suffering and I was suffering,” Brown said.
U.S. Rep. Charles “Charlie” Melancon, D-Napoleonville, represents St. Bernard Parish and sat on the House committee that investigated the federal government’s response to Katrina.
Though Melancon had differences with Brown, he said he hopes St. Bernard gets the help it needs through the contract.
“I’m like the emergency room physician,” Melancon said of the deal. “I don’t care how injured people were or how bad the cars were banged up, what matters is trying to get the patient back on its feet.”