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Is Maryland prepared for a disaster?
Local first responders' needs not met by
federal government, survey says
BY ALEX MENESES MIYASHITA
Capital News Service
The federal government's
"upside-down" policy of directing homeland security funds
to states instead of local governments has kept local emergency
responders from effectively protecting their communities,
a new survey charges.
The survey of 304 agencies in 23 states–including 22
agencies in Maryland–by the Democratic Task Force on
Homeland Security found that just 16 percent of respondents
felt the federal government is doing all it can to address
homeland security needs.
"The funding that we have received has not been timely, it
has not been adequate, and it is far from being direct," said
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, who was on Capitol Hill for
the release of the report. O'Malley is also chairman of the
U.S. Conference of Mayors' Homeland Security Task Force.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency challenged the
findings, noting that the survey is unscientific and reached
just a handful of the emergency response agencies in the nation.
"The fact of the matter is that we have made significant
increases to first responders," said Chad Kolton, public affairs
director for FEMA.
FEMA has created programs to aid emergency responders across
the country, he said. For instance, the Assistance to Firefighters
program will make 7,000 grants this year, including $2.2 million
so far to 25 Maryland fire departments.
Some Maryland agencies also disagreed with the survey's findings.
The Montgomery County Police Department has daily updates
from the federal government on information regarding terrorism
and other security related issues, said Capt. John Fitzgerald.
"We know each other on a first-name basis," he said.
Ron Frye, deputy director of the Allegany County Department
of Emergency Services and Communications, said that his agency
handles about 90 percent of the problems in the county, but
that the federal government is there in times of need, such
as in major floods or tornadoes.
But a September survey by Rep. C. A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger,
D-Cockeysville, of more than 20 emergency response units in
his district found many were dissatisfied with the federal
response. The 2nd District survey said 76 percent of the agencies
that responded did not receive any federal aid for first-responder
needs, and together they had spent $24 million of their own
money.
"Our priorities are upside down, we need to change our priorities,"
Ruppersberger said. "Those priorities need to change because
our lives are at stake."
O'Malley said Baltimore has spent $17 million in city funds
and has only received $6 million in federal funds for homeland
security since Sept. 11, 2001.
He thinks the federal government needs to do a better job
assessing the vulnerability of areas across the country and
tallying the needs of first-responders. The lack of national
and state assessments of vulnerability has created "anomalies"
in the way federal money for homeland security is spent, O'Malley
said.
For instance, the city of Baltimore gets about one-tenth
the amount of money to combat bioterrorism as the state of
North Dakota does–even though the city and the state
have about the same population.
O'Malley also said bureaucracy has hindered efficient communication
between the federal government and front-line emergency workers.
"The thinking that has dominated this administration on homeland
security is that all dollars must flow to the 50 states' emergency
management agencies," O'Malley said. "That's created a real
bottleneck."
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