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little or no experience when they were appointed or hired.

From Mr. Brown FEMA bio

Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.

Not a bad resume, certainly better than most of his accusers.

Interesting spin on the FEMA site bio, no?

His bio, as set forth in his confirmation hearings:

Mr. Brown was first appointed to serve as the FEMA General Counsel in February 2001, and then as Acting Deputy Director in September, where he served as the Chairman of the Consequences Management Working Group. As FEMA's General Counsel, Mr. Brown is both the principal legal advisor to FEMA's Director Joe Allbaugh and the head of the Office of General Counsel. Not only does he provide legal advice to the Director, but he and his staff of approximately 30 attorneys provide legal services to all of FEMA's programs and support offices and they also represent the agency in litigation.

Prior to his current job, from 1991 to 2000, Mr. Brown was the Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, an international subsidiary of the National Governing Organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee. In his position there, he created ethical programs, enforcement policies and procedures, conducted investigations, and prosecuted fraud and corruption cases.

Before that, he served as General Counsel of Dillingham Insurance, Suits Drilling, Suits Rig, and Latigo Energy, in addition to Dillingham Ranch and Dillingham Enterprises. Earlier positions included 8 years in private practice, 2 years as an advisor to the Oklahoma State Senate's Finance Committee, and 3 years as Public Administrator for Edmond, Oklahoma, where he co-founded joint public-private partnerships for economic development.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_senate_hearings&docid=f:81311.wais