White plan for Houston homeland security

Mayoral candidate Bill White has unveiled a plan for homeland security in Houston.

A new city program called HoustonCARES -- Community Awareness & Response for Emergency Situation -- that would coordinate neighborhood efforts to plan for disasters.

· A permanent office of homeland security to address city and regional issues.

· Regional planning to coordinate efforts of governments, industry and nonprofit organizations.

White said the recommendations would not cost the city money because current resources can be re-allocated and because the city can apply for federal grants.

The recommendations are the result of a task force that White put together. Annoyingly, there isn't a link to the task force report or the plan itself on the White campaign page, so they can't really be evaluated properly. I will be at a candidates' forum sponsored by my neighborhood association tonight, and I plan to buttonhole any White campaign staffer I see about this.

Interestingly, while Michael Berry supported the idea of creating a new "cabinet-level" department to focus on homeland security, both Orlando Sanchez and Sylvester Turner said they'd leave the job to the police and fire departments. When was the last time Sanchez and Turner agreed on anything?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 09, 2003 to Election 2003 | TrackBack