Free Republic

With a late evacuation, contradictory messages to her citizens and now a failed first attempt to give evacuees a chance to check their homes, it's been a tough week for Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. The four hectic days were filled with Hurricane Ike's destruction and the reality that thousands of residents were reluctant to leave. Now there is the arduous task of keeping her promise to them that she would have them home soon while trying to combat a growing public health crisis. Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with her tiny quorum of three council members...

Excerpt - A part of the current problems with recovery from the ravages of Hurricane Ike is that the city of Galveston’s part-time, unpaid mayor has virtually all the power in the city. The person who runs the city every other day, the city manager, is secondary. That’s backwards, and it gets in the way of effective government in the face of dangerous community crisis. The person in charge in an emergency should be the person who has hiring and firing authority over city department heads. That person is Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc, and Galveston would be better off...

Excerpt - GALVESTON — Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas on Monday ordered all city employees not to talk to news reporters. She did not say when that order would be lifted. Thomas and City Manager Steve LeBlanc will be the only officials allowed to talk to reporters. City spokeswoman Mary Jo Naschke vehemently denied the city was trying to clamp down on coverage. She said emergency personnel and city employees were too busy to talk to reporters. Naschke also said the city had been accommodating news reporters by allowing them access to the island when others weren’t allowed, giving them escorted...