(Galveston Mayor)Thomas extends emergency management role another 7 days

Source: Houston Chronicle

GALVESTON — With a late evacuation, contradictory messages to her citizens and now a failed first attempt to give evacuees a chance to check their homes, it's been a tough week for Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas.

The four heady days were filled with Hurricane Ike's destruction and the reality that thousands of residents were reluctant to leave. Now there is the arduous task of keeping her promise to citizens that she would have them home soon while trying to combat a growing public health crisis.

Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with her tiny quorum of three council members early Wednesday for another seven days to try to pull Galveston out of what she herself called "Third World Country" status and onto a clear road to recovery following Hurricane Ike.

~snip~

By Wednesday, Thomas, the three-time mayor, was seated before City Council members Danny Weber, Elizabeth Beeton and Susan Fennewald making what was thought to be a procedural request: to extend her emergency management role another seven days.

'Please don't do this now'

Under the Texas Disaster Act, the local emergency management role falls to the mayor, who works with state and federal officials to coordinate and direct contractors and workers to what tasks need to be taken care of first. Without a seat at that emergency management table, the state could take over Galveston's recovery


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6006746.html

Emotions raw at Galveston council meeting
GALVESTON, Texas — Tempers flared Wednesday at a Galveston city council meeting after a councilwoman questioned Mayor Lyda Thomas' emergency authority in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

One councilman walked out of the meeting, meaning there was no longer a quorum. That effectively extended Thomas' emergency powers for another seven days, The Galveston County Daily News reported.

The meeting, at a makeshift table in the lobby of the Galveston County Justice Center, was attended by four of the city's seven council members. The mayor said she did not know where the three absent council members were; it is possible they were among thousands who evacuated the island before Hurricane Ike slammed ashore Saturday morning, devastating the city.

During a discussion about extending Thomas' emergency powers through a disaster declaration, Councilwoman Elizabeth Beeton challenged the mayor, saying the city needed to return to a representative form of government as soon as possible to give city residents a voice in decisions.

more:http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Ike_Galveston_Council.html

They should be begging for anybody else to take over.

Those are the choices.

The law says the mayor is the go-to person, if she has emergency powers granted to her. Nobody other than the mayor qualifies for this role; without emergency powers, the mayor doesn't qualify. Perhaps that's an improvement; I'd doubt it.