Hank's Place

PZ Meyers of Pharyngula has been perusing the FEMA website to see if the regional FEMA appointees are as hackish as the Washington leadership. Here in region IX I'm afraid it doesn't look too good. Our Acting Regional Director is a woman named Karen E. Armes. Here is her capsule biography:

Karen E. Armes was appointed Acting Regional Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Region IX in April 2004. In this position, she oversees the operation of the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada, as well as American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Federated States of Micronesia.

In addition, Ms. Armes continues to serve as the region's Deputy Director, a post she assumed in December 2000. Previously Ms. Armes had served as director of the Operations Support Division and as branch chief of Program Services. She also served as Acting Regional Director from January 2000 until November 2002.

Before joining FEMA, Ms. Armes was director of the Business Management Department of the Navy Finance Center in San Francisco, a position assigned to her after the capitalization of the data automation centers by the Defense Information System Agency in 1994. Prior to that, she had served more than 10 years with that organization being promoted from budget analyst to the director of the Budget and Accounting Division and then director of the Management Support Division. She began there in 1982 as a NAVCOMPT financial management trainee.

Ms. Armes holds a bachelor of science degree in recreation administration from Radford University, Va. She has also completed graduate courses in business administration at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

She appears to be good at money, but I see no sign that actual physical disaster has been a big part of her professional life. Dang. I hope we don't have any earthquakes (He says from almost in sight of the San Andreas Fault).