Editorial: Cronyism shouldn’t count

Sunday, Oct. 23, 2005 | 10:20 a.m.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in June 2002, Michael Brown was tossed a softball question that he hit out of the park. Brown was before the Governmental Affairs Committee, listening to prepared statements and fielding questions about his qualifications to become deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., told Brown that FEMA workers in his state, of late, had become more friendly. At the time, FEMA was about to be absorbed into the Homeland Security Department, and Bunning wanted to know if that friendly, cooperative attitude would continue.

"Well, senator," Brown answered, "I will make this pledge to you, that as long as I am around, those partnerships will continue to grow and expand ..." Brown continued at some length about how states look to FEMA for leadership, and that the agency under Homeland Security would respond to natural disasters "as well as we have, and hopefully even better." After FEMA became part of Homeland Security, Brown was appointed FEMA director and no additional hearing was held.

Now, fast-forward to last week's testimony before the same committee by the only FEMA employee in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29. Marty Bahamonde, a public affairs officer, testified that for several days, beginning on Aug. 28, he communicated details of the growing emergency to Brown and his staff. One e-mail Bahamonde sent to Brown on Aug. 31 described the situation as "past critical." About two and a half hours later, Brown's press secretary sent an e-mail to FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, Cindy Taylor, and others, effectively confirming Brown's detachment. "... it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner (at a busy Baton Rouge restaurant)," the e-mail stated.

Bahamonde told the committee that his efforts to get Brown's attention and alert him to the scope of the disaster, particularly after the levee broke, went unanswered. "I got the word to him as strongly as I could," he testified. "I don't know where the information went." In a Sept. 3 e-mail to Taylor, Bahamonde said, "The leadership from top down in our agency is unprepared and out of touch."

We believe Bahamonde's testimony provides Congress with the obvious answer as to why the federal government's response to Katrina was so shockingly inept. There was a failure of leadership -- beginning in 2002. The Government Affairs Committee knew then that Brown's background, including time as an office-bound lawyer, horse association commissioner and staff director for Oklahoma's state Finance Committee, was entirely wrong for leading FEMA. Yet it enthusiastically endorsed him for the job because of his contacts in the Bush administration. Reform must begin with Congress. Nominees for important posts must be rejected if their only qualification is cronyism.