James Lee Witt

James Lee Witt (born 6 January 1944) was Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Image File history File links James_Lee_Witt. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... New FEMA seal The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) within the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...

James Lee Witt was born in Paris, Arkansas and was raised in Dardanelle, Yell County, Arkansas. Witt started his own construction business in 1968. At age 34 he was elected County Judge of Yell County. Witt was reelected to the post 6 times and was recognized by the National Association of Counties for his work. Witt was a charter Board Chairman of Child Development, Incorporated which works to advance Head Start programs. Paris is a city located in Logan County, Arkansas. ... Dardanelle is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. ... Yell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Head Start is a program of the US governments Department of Health and Human Services which focuses on assisting three- and four-year-old children from low-income families. ...

In 1988 Witt was appointed by then-Governor Bill Clinton to be the head of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services where he reorganized the state's emergency management process. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

When Bill Clinton was elected President he appointed Witt to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1993. During his tenure Clinton elevated FEMA to cabinet status, and Witt overturned FEMA's previously poor reputation. A 1992 interim report by the US Congress (prior to Hurricane Andrew led to further criticism of FEMA) had said that "FEMA is widely viewed as a political dumping ground, a turkey farm, if you will, where large numbers of positions exist that can be conveniently and quietly filled by political appointment..."^[1] By 1996 an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial said that "FEMA has developed a sterling reputation for delivering disaster-relief services, a far cry from its abysmal standing before James Lee Witt took its helm in 1993. How did Witt turn FEMA around so quickly? Well, he is the first director of the agency to have emergency-management experience. He stopped the staffing of the agency by political patronage. He removed layers of bureaucracy. Most important, he instilled in the agency a spirit of preparedness, of service to the customer, of willingness to listen to ideas of local and state officials to make the system work better."^[2] The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Hurricane Andrew is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper of Atlanta and metro Atlanta. ...

Witt's term of office saw approximately 348 Presidential declared disaster areas in more than 6,500 counties and in all 50 states and territories. Witt supervised the response to the most costly flood disaster in the nation's history at that time, the most costly earthquake, and a dozen serious hurricanes. A disaster area is a region or locale heavily damaged by either natural events, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes), or by war. ...

Witt is currently on the Management Team of the Global Options Group, LLC, as President of James Lee Witt Associates, LLC which provides consulting on emergency and disaster preparedness to local and state governments. Witt also served as CEO of the International Code Council which sets international standards for building construction, 2003 - 2006. The International Code Council (ICC) is a United States based non-governmental organization which allows U.S. jurisdictions (states, counties, etc. ...

On September 3, 2005, he was hired by Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco to oversee reconstruction efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In December 2005 the University of Texas System hired his firm to prepare, process, and recover claims for damages from FEMA related to natural disasters. September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Are you kidding?, this is solid truth here, nothing escapes the eyes of Gov!!!, not even. ... Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (born December 15, 1942) is an American politician. ... Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa; 26. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seal of the University of Texas System The University of Texas System comprises fifteen educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are general academic universities, and six are health institutions. ...

Witt was mentioned as a potential candidate for Governor of Arkansas in 1997, but took himself out of consideration and stayed at FEMA until he was replaced by Joe Allbaugh, the first appointee of Bush, predecessor to Mike Brown, and then currently R. David Paulison, the illustrious former Fire Chief and Emergency Manager for many years in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Notes

1. ↑  Bill Gertz, Washington Times, September 4, 1992, "Mikulski faults FEMA officials, calls for probe"
2. ↑  Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 12, 1996, "Short Takes; Quick Witt helps"

The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

External links

• James Lee Witt Associates, LLC Website