Editorial: Nominee’s experience a plus

Monday, April 10, 2006 | 7:06 a.m.

We are glad that R. David Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, did not take it as an insult when the Bush administration searched the country looking for anyone but him to become the next director.

Only after the administration struck out did it return to Paulison last week and nominate him for the job. Unlike Michael Brown, who directed FEMA until his forced resignation following the agency's inept response to Hurricane Katrina, Paulison is well qualified.

A firefighter and rescue specialist for more than three decades, Paulison served as chief of the 1,900-employee Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department from 1992 until 2001. He left the department after President Bush appointed him U.S. fire administrator. In that position, which comes under FEMA, Paulison worked with state and local fire agencies on preparedness programs. When the Department of Homeland Security was created, Paulison became a preparedness director and worked with states and communities on disaster plans.

With less than two months to go, it is essential to have a FEMA director in place. We see Paulison's acceptance of his nomination as a positive step toward restoring FEMA to the efficiency it displayed under the Clinton administration.

Other qualified people sought out by the Bush administration refused to accept the nomination. The New York Times interviewed many of those who were approached. Their reasons for turning down what normally would be viewed as a dream job had a central theme, that the Bush administration has placed FEMA in a subordinate role to the Homeland Security Department and is not giving the agency full support.

"The challenges are there, but there has not been a proven commitment from the administration that whoever takes the job is going to have 100 percent support," said Ellen Gordon, a preparedness expert in Iowa.

Eric Tolbert, a North Carolina preparedness expert with past FEMA experience, said, "FEMA is housed within the Department of Homeland Security. That is unacceptable for me to even consider going back. I could not operate in that environment."

If confirmed by the Senate, we hope Paulison's experience can help him cut through the many organizational and resource problems now faced by FEMA.

Millions of people will be counting on him.