Tuesday, March 28, 2006
FEMA Flood Maps
Probably delayed:
Although federal officials said Monday that new advisory flood maps are critical in guiding thousands of local homeowners waiting to restore or rebuild their homes, they acknowledged they are unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline of releasing the maps by the end of March.
again
The new figures were originally supposed to be released in January, and then were delayed until mid-March. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency now say they expect to make the advisories public by the end of March, nearly seven months after Katrina.
Insert your own comment about claims that the state and city need to get their rebuilding plans together, but there was good news:
Paulison also committed that FEMA will rebid all of its contracts -- such as debris hauling and trailers -- to be certain the federal government is getting the best value possible.
"They have not been rebid yet," he said, "but I have committed to that and we will do that."
A funny comment (from another DHS official) preceded that statement:
"We have a tendency to overpromise," he said.
Apparently Paulison's spokesman missed the memo:
This week, FEMA said the contracts wouldn't be rebid after all. In fact, they have been extended, in part because of good performance, said Michael Widomski, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Just a reminder:
"A lot of the contracts that were previously awarded without competition are completed or are beyond the point where it would be economically feasible to re-compete"
Now I'm not a political strategist, but it does seem that, even though the administration deliberately gave itself an out in October, it still finds the subject somewhat embarrassing.
Although federal officials said Monday that new advisory flood maps are critical in guiding thousands of local homeowners waiting to restore or rebuild their homes, they acknowledged they are unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline of releasing the maps by the end of March.
again
The new figures were originally supposed to be released in January, and then were delayed until mid-March. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency now say they expect to make the advisories public by the end of March, nearly seven months after Katrina.
Insert your own comment about claims that the state and city need to get their rebuilding plans together, but there was good news:
Paulison also committed that FEMA will rebid all of its contracts -- such as debris hauling and trailers -- to be certain the federal government is getting the best value possible.
"They have not been rebid yet," he said, "but I have committed to that and we will do that."
A funny comment (from another DHS official) preceded that statement:
"We have a tendency to overpromise," he said.
Apparently Paulison's spokesman missed the memo:
This week, FEMA said the contracts wouldn't be rebid after all. In fact, they have been extended, in part because of good performance, said Michael Widomski, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Just a reminder:
"A lot of the contracts that were previously awarded without competition are completed or are beyond the point where it would be economically feasible to re-compete"
Now I'm not a political strategist, but it does seem that, even though the administration deliberately gave itself an out in October, it still finds the subject somewhat embarrassing.
