A comparison of FEMA directors' backgrounds=Brown and Witt

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Micahel Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown

In the 1970s he served as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight in Edmund, Oklahoma, and as a city councilman, although most of his career was spent in private practice. He ran for Congress in 1988 and lost decisively to Democratic incumbent Glenn English.

In January 2005, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler publically urged President Bush to fire Brown, citing reports that FEMA disbursed $30 million in disaster relief funds for Hurricane Frances to residents of Miami, Florida, a city which was not affected by the hurricane. Brown admitted to $12 million in overpayments, but denied any serious mistakes, blaming a computer glitch. <8> Wexler repeated his call in April to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, citing new reports that FEMA sent inspectors with criminal records of robbery and embezzlement to do damage assessments. <9>







James L. Witt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lee_Witt
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0101/011601fema.htm
The son of a farmer raised in rural Arkansas, Witt never made it beyond high school. After graduation, he entered the construction business. He was later elected to six terms as county judge-the chief elected official of Yell County, Ark. Stories abound about the ways in which Witt, while serving in that position, and his two sons would personally help residents in times of distress. Often, the three men would sprinkle salt on the roads during freezes and stack sandbags during storms. In 1988, then-Gov. Clinton appointed Witt to direct the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services.

When Clinton took over the White House in 1993, he tapped Witt to head FEMA.

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1. If you were wondering (didn't know) about Chertoff's qualifications

Lawyer/prosecutor with NO experience in Emergency Services.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chertoff

In 1987, Chertoff joined the office of the U.S. Attorney for the state of New Jersey. He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 as United States Attorney for the state in 1990. Chertoff was asked to stay in his position when the Clinton administration took office in 1993, at the request of Democratic Senator Bill Bradley; he was the only U.S. attorney not replaced. Chertoff stayed with the U.S. Attorney's office until 1994, when he entered private practice, returning to Latham & Watkins as a partner.

Despite his friendly relationship with some Democrats, during the Whitewater scandal investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chertoff was special counsel for the Senate committee studying allegations against the Clintons. When Chertoff faced Senate confirmation in 2003 for a federal judgeship, Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a Senator from New York, cast the lone dissenting vote against Chertoff's confirmation. She explained that her vote was in protest of the way junior White House staffers were "very badly treated" by Chernoff's staff during the Whitewater investigation.