fema processes are already changing

While we are waiting for the council that was appointed by President Trump to announce its recommendations, there are already changes happening out in communities impacted by disasters. See this New York Times article, How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves

The disaster declaration process has slowed to a crawl and the decisions coming from FEMA and the White House are not what they have been in the past. Likely what communities are experiencing is “process shock” because what was expected based on past experiences is not what it is going to be going forward.

The idea that states and local jurisdictions will have to be more responsible for their own communities is a good concept. Don’t they all say that their number one priority is “public safety” and isn’t emergency preparedness and response part of the equation? Yet, there needs to be a transition period. There also needs to be clear guidelines on what the processes and standards will be going forward.

That is the challenge with this current administration. It has the entire personality of the President. Decisions on disasters can be capricious and perhaps based on purely political considerations—such as are you opposing the President’s agenda in other areas of governing. Are you a Red State or a Blue State? President Trump has already threatened to withhold disaster recovery dollars from California.

I don’t think he can do that legally, but that has not changed his administration from trying to take unprecedented steps across the board in governing the nation. It is an era that will be remembered for a long, long time.