On the front page of this morning's
Chicago Tribune, we learn some frightening details about why it took FEMA so bloody long to get buses into New Orleans to evacuate the Superdome and Convention Center. Surprising precisely nobody, it's another example of public money being funneled to companies whose chiefs supported the administration. Said company sat on its ass for a couple of days, and then slowly got in gear, while offers of buses from other sources were ignored.
Quotes below
Update [2005-9-23 15:48:39 by dmsilev]: A couple of things from the comments that I wanted to highlight. Firstly, gring0242 has a diary up giving a first-hand account of Landstar and some rather iffy contract bids. Secondly, Kagro X and Dem in VA did some digging on the political donations of Landstar people. That's in the comments of this diary, starting here. Thanks to all of the commenters and recommenders.
Update [2005-9-23 17:49:7 by dmsilev]: luaptifer has an
excellent diary looking at the larger context of how cronyism has impacted the Katrina relief effort. I'm sure that we'll all get to repeat this oh-so-fun excercise in a couple of weeks when the inevitable Rita scandals emerge. Joy.
Two days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, as images of devastation along the Gulf Coast and despair in New Orleans flickered across television screens, the head of one of the nation's largest bus associations repeatedly called federal disaster officials to offer help.
Peter Pantuso of the American Bus Association said he spent much of the day on Wednesday, Aug. 31, trying to find someone at the Federal Emergency Management Agency who could tell him how many buses were needed for an evacuation, where they should be sent and who was overseeing the effort.
"We never talked directly to FEMA or got a call back from them," Pantuso said.
They wanted to help. This is an association of bus lines (including Greyhound), charter bus companies, and the like. In other words, a group of companies that could, if asked, rapidly provide large amounts of transportation. Furthermore, a professional association is the logical clearinghouse to coordinate the efforts of the whole industry.
So what does FEMA do? Contract it out to one firm:
Instead the agency had farmed the work out to a trucking logistics firm, Landstar Express America, which in turn hired a limousine company, which in turn engaged a travel management company.
All well and good if Landstar had its act together. But, like FEMA, they were a bit slow off the mark:
Though it was well-known that New Orleans, much of it below sea level, would flood in a major hurricane, Landstar, the Jacksonville company that held a federal contract that at the time was worth up to $100 million annually for disaster transportation, did not ask its subcontractor, Carey Limousine, to order buses until the early hours of Aug. 30, roughly 18 hours after the storm hit, according to Sally Snead, a Carey senior vice president who headed the bus roundup.
[...]
She said Landstar turned to her company for buses Sunday after learning from Carey's Internet site that it had a meetings and events division that touted its ability to move large groups of people. "They really found us on the Web site," Snead said.
What, exactly, are we the taxpayers getting for our hundred megabucks a year? Someone who can do a Google search for 'bus'? I'd like a refund.
Of course, the people who had access to tens of thousands of buses across the country were ready and willing to help:
Unbeknownst to them, two key players who could reach the owners of an estimated 70 percent of the nation's 35,000 charter and tour buses had contacted FEMA seeking to supply coaches to the evacuation effort.
The day the hurricane made landfall, Victor Parra, president of the United Motorcoach Association, called FEMA's Washington office "to let them know our members could help out."
Parra said FEMA responded the next day, referring him to an agency Web page labeled "Doing Business with FEMA" but containing no information on the hurricane relief effort.
I
love that response to Parra. 'Go check our webpage'. He's lucky that they didn't just keep him on hold for 6 hours or something.
So, who is Landstar, and why is this another example of BushCo? Well, it turns out that Landstar's chairman is nice and connected, a bigwig in the US Chamber of Commerce, a very Republican leaning business lobbying group:
Landstar Express is a subsidiary of Landstar System, a $2 billion company whose board chairman, Jeff Crowe, also was chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation's premier business lobbies, from June 2003 until May 2004.
So, again we have a case where a rather important function is subcontracted out to a company who's main qualification seems to be a chairman who is a high-end lobbyist. Anyone want to guess whether the honorable Mr. Crowe is a GOP contributor?
And, oh yes,
Landstar's regulatory filing also said that because of Hurricane Katrina, the maximum annual value of its government contract for disaster relief services has been increased to $400 million.
-dms