Word: witt
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...spread across Wisconsin, state officials begged for help from Washington, but it's safe to say that none of them expected it would arrive by Greyhound bus at 3 a.m., wearing ostrich-skin cowboy boots and missing a suitcase. But then, few in Wisconsin or Washington knew James Lee Witt...
...native of Wildcat Hollow, Arkansas, Witt, 49, had only three months earlier taken charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, long derided as a dumping ground for political hacks and feckless bureaucrats. Most recently, FEMA was blamed for mishandling relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew. Witt has brought to the agency the frontline verve he had shown in official posts in Arkansas where, when snowstorms closed rural roads, he could be found standing on the tailgate of a pickup truck, spreading salt to clear the way for motorists. In times of flood, Witt stacked sandbags and drove a bulldozer...
When the Mississippi River jumped its banks in early July, Witt was eager to get to the scene -- and not by government jet. Described by friends as deeply religious and penny-pinching, Witt shunned the perks of his $136,300 post and flew by commercial plane. Bound for Madison, Wisconsin, via Chicago, Witt missed his connection. Undaunted, he boarded a flight to Milwaukee where, unwilling to pay the $100 taxi fare to Madison, he directed the cabbie to take him to the bus station, where he waited in line to buy a ticket. Cost to taxpayers: $9. Upon boarding...
...moving with uncharacteristic speed and vigor. From its creation 14 years ago right through Hurricane Andrew in Florida last summer, FEMA built a reputation for bumble-footed sluggishness. Democratic Senator Ernest Hollings once called its officials "the sorriest bunch of bureaucratic jackasses." Under a new administrator, James Lee Witt, however, FEMA has moved quickly to set up offices in at least eight flooded states. Regional staffs actually went into some areas before flooding became serious to help state officials apply for disaster assistance. Witt has since started a daily morning conference call with state emergency managers and directed FEMA workers...
FEMA HEAD JAMES LEE WITT...