Fema centers to hire corporate executives and sign non-diclosure agreements. No reason to doubt they will abuse their power and spy on Americans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun inviting private-sector executives to work at its headquarters for the first time, part of the agency’s renewed outreach to corporate America and a tacit acknowledgment that government cannot handle disasters alone.
Under the program, a key initiative of FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, corporate executives in industries ranging from retail to energy spend three months at the agency’s response coordination center and serve as a liaison to the business world, particularly during a disaster. The executives also get a seat at the table for key meetings to provide a private-sector perspective.
“I really feel like we have the pipeline in now to FEMA,” said Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation, a trade group. “Over the past year, they have taken a fresh approach.”
Kathleen Tierney, director of the Natural Hazards Center and professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the focus on partnerships is part of a broader trend toward government contracting for services ranging from defense to electricity. (The executives working at FEMA’s coordination center remain on their own company payrolls.)
“We’ve moved beyond a sort of 20th-century concept of government that focuses on what public agencies do and more to a concept of government that emphasizes relationships,” she said. “This is simply a recognition of the way that the world has changed.”
FEMA officials said that they reached out to the retail industry first because it provides critical goods to residents during a disaster but that they are hoping to work with leaders from other industries, too. An executive from Target launched the program in November, and a representative from discount retailer Big Lots is slated to take her place this month.
On a recent morning, Katie Dempsey, senior assets protection investigator at Target, blasted e-mails to her contacts at retailers across the country as a major snowstorm prepared to strike the Midwest and Northeast. She wanted to know how many stores were closed in the affected regions.
Candidates with operational experience are preferred. During their rotation, candidates must be able to deploy to the NRCC within 90 minutes of notification. Candidates will complete an orientation and training program before their rotations begin, and will participate in operational training programs and exercises as needed during their rotation. No security clearance is required; however, candidates must submit to a background credit check and criminal history check (via fingerprinting). Candidates will be required to complete (1) a Standard Form (SF) 450 financial disclosure; (2) a screening agreement; (3) a non-disclosure agreement; and (4) an Organizational Conflict of Interest Avoidance and Mitigation Plan. Candidates agree to participate in a compliance review during their rotation, as well as after-action reviews if deemed necessary by FEMA.
Link:
http://publicintelligence.net/public-private-partnership-corporate-executives-now-working-at-fema-headquarters/