Petrelis Files

Help! S.F.'s Top Disaster Official = FEMA's Brown

One lesson I've learned from the Katrina disaster and the local, state and federal government's catastrophic responses, or lack thereof, is that it's never too early to request help when a natural or man-made disaster is predicted.

With that in mind, I am issuing an urgent plea for help. As a resident of San Francisco, a city prone to earthquakes and a prime target for terrorism, I am scared that government officials at every level are not sufficiently prepared for disaster.

Last week, I phoned the regional FEMA office, which is in Oakland, and asked the public affairs office what plans, if any, the federal government had if it became necessary to evacuate San Francisco either after an earthquake or other calamity.

His response? It's up to the city and county emergency management authorities to get citizens out of San Francisco, if that were required.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this in public, but I've never learned how to drive a car. Never had a desire to get behind the wheel of an automobile and driving go-carts at Playland does not count as driver's education. So if a call went out to evacuate San Francisco, I'd be dependent on either Muni or BART to get out of town.

But if the public transit systems were not functioning, I'd be left to the mercy of Annemarie Conroy's disaster preparedness expertise, such as it is.

Conroy is the head of San Francisco's Office of Emergency Services and she makes former FEMA head Michael Brown seem qualified.

Read this story from KGO TV, our local ABC News affiliate for an assessment of Conroy and her qualifications. Then contact me and let me know if you'll be able to rescue me and my boyfriend after the next quake hits San Francisco.

-

Is San Francisco's Top Disaster Official Qualified?
By Dan Noyes

[...] There are some parallels between the man who stepped down as FEMA director this week and the woman who now heads San Francisco's Office of Emergency Services. They are both lawyers with little previous disaster experience who used strong political connections to get the job.

[...] John Bitoff is a retired Navy Admiral and former head of San Francisco's Office of Emergency Services. He says Mayor Gavin Newsom should replace the woman he appointed a year ago to head OES. Annemarie Conroy had no previous experience in disaster management.
Admiral John Bitoff: "Planning for saving lives and property, isn't that important enough to have a professional in that job? The president found out in a hurry!"

Admiral Bitoff echoes complaints we've heard in recent days behind closed doors here at City Hall, at the Board of Supervisors, even at the Disaster Council.

[...] Conroy has built a career out of political appointments. In 1992, her godfather, Mayor Frank Jordan, tapped her to fill an opening on the Board of Supervisors.

Two years later, Conroy lost her bid for re-election, so Jordan sent her to the police commission. Next stop, Treasure Island. Mayor Willie Brown appointed her to oversee the transfer of the base from the Navy to San Francisco. Then, last year, Mayor Newsom gave her the top spot for disaster planning, a $160,000 dollar a year job.

[...] But, Conroy stands out among OES directors up and down the state for her lack of emergency management experience.

[...] Annemarie Conroy is not a certified emergency manager. She'd have difficulty meeting even the basic criteria, such as 3 years experience in emergency management and 100 hours of training. Now, the I-Team has confirmed that Conroy is attending the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey for a master's in disasters. She'll be learning on the job, and that angers former OES director Admiral John Bitoff.

[...] At the moment, Annemarie Conroy is in Monterey for her studies. She'll be there for the next two weeks, and she'll be back there several times over the next year and a half. So she won't be in San Francisco if disaster strikes in the next minute or tomorrow or the next day. And, of course, your tax dollars are paying for her schooling -- $40,000 for tuition, plus travel, hotel and meals.