Emergency.Blog

As emergency fades, it's a return to politics as usual

26 Oct 2007

As emergency fades, it's a return to politics as usual

SACRAMENTO, CA: The sense of emergency caused by the devastating fires in Southern California created an initial state of suspended political animation in which Gov. Schwarzenegger could reign without opposition.

Now the goodwill is ending, and second-guessing the state's emergency response is fair game.

Conservative Republican congressmen like Dana Rohrabacher, of Huntington Beach, have criticized the fire response, forcing Schwarzenegger to answer tough questions about how effectively firefighting equipment was deployed.

On Friday, the governor convened a meeting of his cabinet in front of television cameras at the state's emergency operations nerve center outside Sacramento.

"Of course, after this, we're going to go and analyze everything ? how perfect of a job we have done," the governor said, looking tired.

Schwarzenegger has been at his best this week, racing across the state in his private plane to comfort fire victims and cheer on their rescuers. He was a ubiquitous presence on television, conveying such compassion and concern that political analysts on CNN said it was a pity Schwarzenegger couldn't run for president.

He appeared with Democrats like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who lauded Schwarzenegger in a statement for being "on the scene virtually around the clock."

He spent a day with his frequent political nemesis, President Bush, whose conservatism the far more popular Schwarzenegger often uses to set off his own moderate political positioning on the environment.

But none of that was in evidence as Schwarzenegger toured charred neighborhoods with the president in tow. The governor praised Bush "for his tremendous support and for his immediate help in this terrible disaster, and for taking the time out to come here to California to see firsthand what the people of our state are going through."

Bush returned the favor, saying what a difference it made to have a governor who knew what he was doing in a natural disaster, an apparent reference to the disorganized state and local response in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina, which, along with what was perceived as a botched federal effort, scarred Bush's presidency.

But Schwarzenegger's rapprochement with the president is likely to come to an end next week, when California files an environmental lawsuit against the feds that it had delayed because of the fires.

"Arnold may be making nice right now with George W. Bush, because there's federal money at stake," said Garry South, a Democrat who advised former Gov. Gray Davis. "But you can bet the minute Bush leaves California, that lawsuit is going to be filed."

Schwarzenegger put off the lawsuit this week because of the fire. But Attorney General Jerry Brown is expected to go to court next week to force the Environmental Protection Agency to decide whether California and 11 other states can impose stricter vehicle standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

California has been waiting for almost two years for a response.

The end of the fire emergency means Schwarzenegger will also have to return to everyday business in Sacramento, where his proposals to reform health care and address the state's critical water needs have been stalled. -- Source: Associated Press, Laura Kurtzman, October 26, 2007

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Emergency Service Analyst Notes: California Wildfires

CHICAGO, IL: More than a few experts, who study emergency response/disaster operations, say that the problem is not now a return to "politics as usual," but rather that "the politics never went away," during the recent wildfire disaster in California. By the second day of fire operations in various parts of the Golden State, "political sniping" had begun and fingers were already being pointed by various parties in the direction of Schwarzenegger, Bush, and FEMA. Political opponents, often associated with various candidates in the upcoming elections, had already began to criticize and lay blame for any possible difficulties that had or might be encountered. And...this was going on as the battle between firefighter -- the wind -- and the fire storms -- were just being joined.

One would have thought that everyone would have concentrated on rushing aid to the victims of the horrible fires, and providing the necessary resources to help the firefighters in their valiant efforts to defeat "the fire devil." Instead, it seemed that far too many people "had an political axe to grind," and they wanted to do it by criticizing disaster operations as they were ongoing.

Analysts said that this entire mentality of "political one-ups-manship" must stop if we are to hope to ever effectively respond to and effective mitigate disasters in this country. ERRI CEO and senior analyst Clark Staten said of the situation, "Disaster response should be apolitical...it should not be just another opportunity to bash one's political opponents and second guess decisions that are being made during periods of great challenges and emotional stress." "That's what professional after action reports (AAR's), post crisis debriefings, and post-incident studies are for," Staten added.

Staten, a veteran of more than 30 years of various kinds of emergency service and military experience, continued, "First responder leaders do not need to be fighting 'political battles' in the midst of a crisis -- they need to concentrate on strategizing the best possible actions to be taken to resolve the crisis -- not watching their back to see if they are being stabbed by some 'political operative' with an agenda other than saving lives and property and mitigating the crisis circumstances."

"Unfortunately, unless and until the voters (and the main stream news reporters and editors) make it clear that they will not stand for an exploitation of emergencies, disasters, and their victims by politicians...this folly is likely to continue," Staten added. "We, as a country, can't afford to allow the vociferous political climate to get in the way of effective response to disasters...to do so will undoubtedly result in the unnecessary deaths of citizens who might have otherwise have been saved," Staten concluded.