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Pastimes : Where the GIT's are going -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (89973)	1/5/2005 2:34:42 AM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 225578

I know that, the Pensacola News Journal has had an ongoing investigation of the Miami FEMA hand out.. Some People in Pensacola are homeless and have received nothing from FEMA and yet, as that article pointed out..Miami, who was never hit by any hurricane is cashing in... Simple basic aid such as debris removal has been lacking from the FEMA aid. Now FEMA won't respond???? January 3, 2005 Section: Main Page: 1A Leaders push for meeting to clear air on FEMA money Michael Stewart Staff Pensacola News Journal Michael Stewart @PensacolaNewsJournal.com Some members of the Florida Association of Counties are calling for a meeting with the state's two U.S. senators and 23 U.S. House members to address concerns over hurricane reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. With a bleak tourist season looming, officials in some cash-strapped, storm-ravaged counties want to know which hurricane-damage costs FEMA is going to pay. U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, has agreed to try to help set up a meeting in Washington between Florida's congressional delegates and leaders in counties impacted by the four hurricanes that pummeled the state. Miller's legislative aide, Dan McFaul, said the meeting likely will take place in February. It will have to be arranged through the office of Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, who chairs the state's U.S. congressional delegation. Officials in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are among those pushing for the meeting. "Gov. Jeb Bush is wanting, and so are we, an idea of what FEMA is going to do," Santa Rosa County Commissioner Gordon Goodin said. "They are getting hard to deal with, and it's been a problem finding out if we are getting reimbursed. Some of what they have done is right on target and some if it isn't." U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Melbourne, one of the most vocal critics of FEMA, said he will attend if a meeting is called. Nelson has pushed for a Senate Committee investigation into $29 million in FEMA disaster aid awarded to Miami-Dade County, which is 100 miles south of where Hurricane Frances made landfall on Labor Day. Critics have said Miami-Dade's damage was minimal. "I want to know who is responsible and if they are going to be held accountable for their lack of management," Nelson said. Nelson also criticized FEMA for not using part of $6.5 billion allocated to the agency for hurricane disaster aid to pick up debris along private land belonging to residents who don't have the financial means or physical ability to remove hurricane debris. "I want answers to management questions, such as 'Why did FEMA place huge burdens on our people for debris removal when the law allows for reimbursement?'" Nelson said. "Since I wrote the law, I should have credentials on the subject." FEMA officials agreed to pick up an estimated $75 million in debris on private roads and property in Escambia County after officials successfully argued that the debris represents a health and safety hazard to the entire county. Similar requests by some counties in the state were turned down. "There are so many discrepancies in what FEMA says," McFaul said. "You hear one thing from FEMA officials in Orlando and another from those in Washington." "Gov. Jeb Bush is wanting, and so are we, an idea of what FEMA is going to do. They are getting hard to deal with, and it's been a problem finding out if we are getting reimbursed." _ Gordon Goodin, Santa Rosa County commissioner nl.newsbank.com