One Big Team
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Today there was a summit meeting in Baton Rouge for all the leads of all phases of the planning program and for the National Guardsmen.
It was an opportunity for us all to see what others were doing and how our parts fit into the overall puzzle. There are four simultaneous planning efforts going on. We are doing the recovery plans which include projects that will be initiated and sometimes completed this fiscal year. Another firm is preparing a series of pattern books providing guidance to neighborhood / culturally appropriate styles for rebuilding. Andres Duaney (the big advocate for “New Urbanism”) is leading three charrets across the region to provide examples of good design for the surrounding areas. Finally, Calthorpe will be tying all of this together in developing and assessing alternative growth scenarios.
Duaney was the most enjoyable speaker. He purposefully tries to challenge people’s ideas and get a reaction. Many of his points are good creative solutions.
It was really a good day to get everyone on the same page in terms of where we are going, what are the limits of our work and when we need to be done.
One of the things I realized with this entire pause event is that FEMA is really a quasi-military operation. Many of the folks involved are retired military. They are given a mission and their job is to get it done and get out. Results are measured in quantifiable terms like cubic yards of debris removed or trailers installed. Communication with the media and the community is closely and centrally control. And when there is a problem like the pause, the first people to be demobilized are the community affairs folks effectively reducing communication with the media. Planning which by its nature needs to be inclusive, needs to involve maximum communication, is multi-disciplinary with no easy performance measures and with no definitive time frame for success is an odd duck in this world. It is little understood within the organization. While mayors and others sing the praises of this programs, there are people within FEMA questioning its value. They just look at the world from a different perspective.
Today there was a summit meeting in Baton Rouge for all the leads of all phases of the planning program and for the National Guardsmen.
It was an opportunity for us all to see what others were doing and how our parts fit into the overall puzzle. There are four simultaneous planning efforts going on. We are doing the recovery plans which include projects that will be initiated and sometimes completed this fiscal year. Another firm is preparing a series of pattern books providing guidance to neighborhood / culturally appropriate styles for rebuilding. Andres Duaney (the big advocate for “New Urbanism”) is leading three charrets across the region to provide examples of good design for the surrounding areas. Finally, Calthorpe will be tying all of this together in developing and assessing alternative growth scenarios.
Duaney was the most enjoyable speaker. He purposefully tries to challenge people’s ideas and get a reaction. Many of his points are good creative solutions.
It was really a good day to get everyone on the same page in terms of where we are going, what are the limits of our work and when we need to be done.
One of the things I realized with this entire pause event is that FEMA is really a quasi-military operation. Many of the folks involved are retired military. They are given a mission and their job is to get it done and get out. Results are measured in quantifiable terms like cubic yards of debris removed or trailers installed. Communication with the media and the community is closely and centrally control. And when there is a problem like the pause, the first people to be demobilized are the community affairs folks effectively reducing communication with the media. Planning which by its nature needs to be inclusive, needs to involve maximum communication, is multi-disciplinary with no easy performance measures and with no definitive time frame for success is an odd duck in this world. It is little understood within the organization. While mayors and others sing the praises of this programs, there are people within FEMA questioning its value. They just look at the world from a different perspective.
posted by J Corlss at 3:22 PM
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