Changes at FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the appointment of nine new members and the reappointment of one member to the FEMA National Advisory Council (NAC). Mandated by Congress in the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, the mission of the NAC is to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters. The NAC is comprised of state, tribal and local governments, private sector, and non-governmental partners who advise and provide recommendations on a variety of issues within emergency management to the FEMA Administrator.

"The NAC has provided thoughtful guidance on a range of issues, including integrating access and functional needs in emergency planning, considering the needs of children in disaster response operations, and engaging the whole community to develop and implement the agency's mission," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. "I congratulate the new members on their appointment. This council represents the interests and expertise of the whole community and I look forward to hearing their recommendations."

Members of the NAC are appointed by the FEMA Administrator to serve for three years and represent a geographic and significant cross section of officials from emergency management and law enforcement, and include homeland security directors, adjutants general, emergency response officers from state, local, and tribal governments, private sector, and non-governmental organizations.

Jim Featherstone, the General Manager of the Emergency Management Department of the city of Los Angeles, has been reappointed as the NAC Chair. Teresa Scott, the Director of Public Works for the city of Gainesville, Florida, has been selected to finish her second term as the Vice Chair for the NAC. The new NAC members are:

Senator Joseph Bolkcom, Assistant Majority Leader, State Senator, Iowa State Senate
Dr. Sarita Chung, Director and Attending Physician, Disaster Preparedness Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston
Ms. Anne Kronenberg, Executive Director, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management
Mr. Robert Maloney, Director of the Office of Emergency Management, Baltimore City, Maryland
Mr. Ken Miyagishima, Mayor, City of Las Cruces, New Mexico
Mr. Joseph Nimmich, Director, Maritime Surveillance and Security, Raytheon Homeland Security
Mr. Thomas Powers, Vice President, Corporate Security and Safety, Iron Mountain
Mr. Earl Pat Santos, Deputy Director, Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP), Louisiana
Lieutenant General Guy Swan, Vice President of Education and Executive Director, Institute of Land Warfare at the Association of the US Army