CA: Riordan hits federal response (to disasters) - Ex-mayor named to L.A. panel of security advisers

LA Daily News ^ | 2/17/06 | Dan Laidman

[NormsRevenge]

Former Mayor Richard Riordan joined Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday in chiding the federal government's disaster response and calling for more local self-sufficiency.

Villaraigosa also announced a new panel of homeland security advisers, including Riordan, who will be charged with developing better ways to protect residents, deliver aid and evacuate the city in the event of a terrorist strike or natural disaster.

"We need a new set of eyes to review what we do," Villaraigosa said in introducing the 42-member panel of government, law enforcement, business, religious and think-tank leaders.

Villaraigosa blasted the White House last week, accusing federal officials of failing to notify him directly before the president released new details of a foiled 2002 terror strike on Los Angeles.

The mayor said Thursday's announcement was not meant to point fingers and he went out of his way to praise Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Still, both he and Riordan criticized the federal government's handling of disasters.

"We're fools if we think we can rely on Washington, D.C., to save us from terrorists in this city," said Riordan, making one of his first public appearances since undergoing heart-bypass surgery.

The 75-year-old ex-mayor said it took federal authorities six months to tell Los Angeles leaders about a thwarted plot to attack Los Angeles International Airport during his tenure.

LAPD Chief William Bratton said the federal government's heavy investment in local public safety in the 1990s has been diverted abroad, meaning that "we are left, in many respects, to our own devices."

The homeland security advisers plan took shape last August in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the discovery of an alleged homegrown terrorist plot to attack Los Angeles targets, said Councilman Jack Weiss.

"At that moment we had to change the homeland security business as we knew it in Los Angeles," said Weiss, who chairs the Public Safety Committee.

Part of the new outlook was a recognition that the private sector would be vital to handling the aftermath of a disaster, Villaraigosa said. He pointed to Wal-Mart's assisting people after Katrina and, closer to home, to Costco workers helping victims of the 2005 Metrolink crash in Glendale.

The panel will have five focus areas: counterterrorism measures, private-sector outreach and involvement, governmental outreach and involvement, evacuation planning and emergency preparedness.

The committee is made up of members of the business, government and political communities, tasked with developing plans for large-scale evacuation, emergency health care and disaster management.

"We look at things differently, so we'll have a lot of discussion about putting things together on a city level," said Kerry Carmody, hospital administrator for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. "You can't rely on the federal government and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to do it for you; you've got to do it yourself. It's also important that all parts of the city are represented and, being a Valley guy, I'm glad to give my perspective."

In addition to current city and county officials, the group includes University of California, Los Angeles, Chancellor Albert Carnesale; former District Attorney Ira Reiner; former Viacom Chairman Jonathan Dolgen; and retired Army Maj. Gen. Peter Gravett among others.

[dfwgator]

"We're fools if we think we can rely on Washington, D.C., to save us from terrorists in this city," said

If only Blanco and Nagin thought the same way before Katrina hit.

[ansel12]

""We're fools if we think we can rely on Washington, D.C., to save us from terrorists in this city," said "

This country needs a massive emergency preparation awareness campaign, pre sixties style where it is stressed that survival is the responsibility of each individual household. Preparedness should become a house hold norm in America, but the MSM always portrays it as goofy, and mock the practitioners of this most basic expression of individuality and self sufficiency.

[Howlin]

So does this mean that LA won't be asking for any federal aid after the next earthquake?

[poetknowit]

The Democrats already have a prep course for a major disaster in Los Angeles area:
1. It's Bush's fault
2. It's Arnold's fault
3. When Reagan was Governor, he didn't fix it
(wanna bet?)

[DumpsterDiver]

So does this mean that LA won't be asking for any federal aid after the next earthquake?

Of course not! What do you take us for, deadbeats?

Haaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaa