By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The man who resigned as head of the U.S. disaster relief agency after being removed from its operations as it tried to save New Orleans, Louisiana, from Hurricane Katrina’s floods says he should have been quicker to seek military help, according to congressional aides.
Michael Brown also accused state and local officials on Monday of constant infighting to the detriment of the relief effort.
Brown continues to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation to take effect in two weeks’ time, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.
During that time, Brown will advise the department on “some of his views on his experience with Katrina” as he transitions out of his job, Knocke said.
Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties a day before his scheduled appearance before a special House of Representatives committee investigating the government’s response to the Aug. 29 disaster. Brown did not respond to several calls for a response Monday.
Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and the flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed Brown from his onsite role overseeing the disaster response on Sept. 9. Brown announced his resignation from FEMA three days later.
A memo from a Republican staffer who attended a 90-minute briefing Monday said Brown expressed regrets “that he did not start screaming for DoD (Department of Defense) involvement” sooner. The first substantial numbers of active-duty troops responding to the Gulf Coast were sent on Saturday, Sept. 3 _ five days after the storm hit.
According to the memo, obtained by The Associated Press, Brown took several swipes at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He said the two officials “sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively.”
He also described Blanco as “indecisive,” refusing to cede control of the Louisiana National Guard to federal authorities because “it would have undercut her image politically,” according to the memo.
The document also criticized the conference calls with state and federal officials that Brown ran during the crisis, saying that no official notes were taken and that Brown “just assumed that agencies would follow up on taskings resulting from the calls.”
Brown defended himself against charges that he learned from television that thousands of refugees gathered at the New Orleans convention center, where adequate food, water and other supplies were lacking and there was rampant violence.
He said that because the convention center was not a planned evacuation site, “there is no reason FEMA would have known about it beforehand,” according to the memo.
Brown also admitted he did not ensure that Nagin had a secure communications system during the crisis.