Huckabee puts disaster agency in veteran hands
Posted on Saturday, July 1, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/159207/
Gov. Mike Huckabee has tapped longtime Arkansas Department of Emergency Management employee David Maxwell to lead the agency after last week’s sudden resignation of the director.
Speculation that Huckabee asked director John Brackin to resign just isn’t true, the governor said Friday afternoon.
“I was very surprised by the resignation. It was unexpected and it was not asked for,” he said, adding that it “caught me totally off guard.”
Brackin had been director for less than a year. He took the job temporarily in November 2005 after the previous director, Wayne Ruthven, resigned hastily. Brackin was given the job permanently in March.
Huckabee said he chose Maxwell, a 27-year veteran of emergency management, because Brackin’s abrupt departure left a void that needed to be filled immediately and by someone with knowledge about the job.
Maxwell, 51, has served as deputy director since March 2002 and was responsible for the day-to-day operations.
“I’m honored to accept this position,” the Arkansas native said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Governor Huckabee and the good people at ADEM to continue making great strides in emergency management in Arkansas.”
Brackin, who could not be reached for comment, resigned last week saying in a letter to Huckabee, “I feel that I no longer have your support or your confidence in my management of this agency.”
At issue was a self-assessment agency employees completed early this year at the request of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security that said Arkansas was unprepared to manage a catastrophe. The report was not given to the governor, even though he had met with Brackin several times.
According to the self-assessment, Arkansas gave its catastrophe plan the lowest possible marks in all nine categories — far worse scores than federal reviewers gave the plan. Huckabee and Maxwell both agree that the state can handle tornadoes and other disasters Arkansas typically faces but not a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault line in the northeast part of the state.
In a resignation letter dated June 23, Brackin wrote to Huckabee that the state had made great strides in preparing for a catastrophic event but there is still “an enormous amount of work still to be done.
“ If I have failed to adequately communicate this to you, then I apologize for not keeping you more informed.”
Huckabee said Friday that he still considers Brackin a good friend and wonderful person. However, the governor believes he should have been told about the self-assessment.
“I do believe, as governor, I absolutely have to know what an agency knows, and particularly if it’s bad news. Certainly, Mr. Brackin was aware of that. Why the federal agency and the press, frankly, was told something different than what I had been told, I don’t know.”
Maxwell told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the self-assessment marks were so low in part because the agency hoped the scores would garner federal grant money.
Huckabee said he was told the same thing.
“If we’re appealing for federal funding, I want it to be done honestly,” he said.
But, Maxwell has said, money wasn’t the only issue. He said employees completing the self-assessment were conservative in their answers and that they had a lot of “guts” to be so honest about the emergency plan’s shortcomings.
Huckabee said he hopes that the agency’s new leader instills a sense of confidence about the state’s emergency management abilities in the public and the 75 county judges in Arkansas.
“He knows the agency inside and out,” the governor said. “They’re supposed to manage crises, not create them.”
Maxwell previously managed the agency’s Plans and Operations Division. He was responsible for making sure local and state emergency operation plans were maintained and in compliance with state and federal guidelines. He also served as the designated state coordinating officer for seven federally declared disasters and one federally declared emergency.
Maxwell and his wife, Lauren, live in Conway with their daughter, Megan.
Garland County Judge Larry Williams, president of the County Judges Association of Arkansas, said Maxwell is “the logical choice” for the post.
“I think stability is desperately needed up there,” Williams said.
But he doesn’t know that Maxwell’s appointment will provide that because Huckabee will leave office in January. The next governor could appoint someone else to that job.
“This is a person who serves at the pleasure of the governor,” Williams said. “I like David but it’s hard for me to get too excited because I’ve been down this road before.”
The only thing that makes Williams feel better about the situation is that both gubernatorial candidates, Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat state Attorney General Mike Beebe, have promised to consult the county judges association when appointing someone to head emergency management.
“And I will hold them to that.”