Commentary by Pat Davis, City Desk
Pat Davis is a former Albuquerque City Councilor. He is the publisher of City Desk ABQ and owner/publisher of a group of newspapers in Central New Mexico.
A few weeks from now, the penitentes will begin planning their pilgrimages to Chimayó, and family elders will start wiping off the backyard picnic tables and cleaning those folding plastic and metal chairs to be spread out across church plazas and backyards under the new spring leaves of the old trees that have watched over community and backyard Easter dinners for generations.
Easter is coming early this year. For the faithful, this is a season to celebrate rebirth and forgive our sins.
But for the tens of thousands of New Mexicans who lost homes and businesses and so much more in the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fires two years ago, there won’t be any gatherings in the plaza or under the trees because those are all gone.
Easter came late that year. By then, many of the earliest victims had already been on fire watch for weeks as flames creep closer. By the next Easter they were still shoring up washed out roads, clearing acequias choked with soot and debris and waiting, patiently, on their claims to be processed. This Easter, many are still waiting.
With almost $4 billion in the bank progress and visits from legislators, and even the President, recovery money, overseen by FEMA, was supposed to flow quickly. But it hasn’t and that hasn’t inspired much faith in FEMA’s ability to do this without some local help.
FEMA has the opportunity to reset the process – a restart in the spirit of the season, if you will – which, so far, has been too bureaucratic, too far removed from the communities, and delivered too little money.
In the next few weeks, FEMA is expected to appoint a new compensation manager to reset the relationship with victims and finally get claims and money moving. Local communities are skeptical, and for good reason. However, they have a good idea of how to do it right, and there is still time for FEMA to listen.
For anyone needing reminding, 2022’s wildfire season got an early and explosive start in early April of that year. Within a few weeks, it had spread to thousands of acres. Some days, fire managers said, it grew by more than 10,000 acres. By the merciful end three months later, more than 900 structures were gone. Another 85 were so damaged they might as well have been. And then came the floods.
Like many natural disasters in the West, the consequences were predictable yet ignored. The sins of bad forest management and lazy fire monitoring, overseen by managers whose careers spanned a few decades, were borne by the people whose love of the land had been built over many generations.
There were apologies, slow and simple at first. At first, the US Forest Service defended its actions but then admitted some fault. Later, President Joe Biden, pushed by the governor and our federal legislators, visited and offered a more personal apology and a promise to make it right. Recovery help was slow and not enough, but it came. First, a few hundred thousand dollars from the federal department overseeing the Forest Service. Then, a billion dollars in one bill and a few billion more in another.
However, providing funding and delivering it are two different things.
All told FEMA estimates that more than 29,000 individuals, nonprofits, and businesses could claim compensation for losses sustained by the fire the federal government started. But, the office responsible for making payments didn’t cut their first check until seven months after the fire began, according to reporting from Source NM and ProPublica. A year in, less than 1% of allocated funding had reached victims. By last month, they had done only marginally better: 3,400 claims processed of the almost 30,000 potential in the cue. Claimants (victims) complain that they have been pressured to pursue claims without the help of lawyers. FEMA itself admitted the paperwork maze it had created was too much. Yet, the bureaucratic manager appointed by FEMA to figure it all out said they had been successful. Victims, understandably, disagree.
By the end of last year, residents and public officials had had enough. By January, their pressure had forced the compensation manager out. Now, FEMA is faced with the new challenge of identifying a new manager to administer the multi-billion dollar compensation fund—and fast.
Thankfully, the federal law appropriating most of the funds includes language requiring claims to be calculated according to New Mexico law. That’s a necessary provision that acknowledges the special place and special laws essential to restoring it. It also provides FEMA justification for hiring someone local to oversee recovery.
That’s exactly what local victims and officials think should happen. Following the departure of the FEMA bureaucrat in January, the local Coalition for Fire Fund Fairness (CFFF) fired off a letter to Washington to make the case for someone new. “Because judges are the most familiar with the law, and are respected individuals who are trusted by the community, the natural choice for the new director is a retired New Mexico judge,” CFFF founder Manny Crespin wrote. They even had a few helpful suggestions ready to go:
- Richard Bosson, retired Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court
- Tim Garcia, retired Judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals
- Judith Nakamura, retired Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court
- Linda Vanzi, retired Chief Judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals
- Alan Mallot, retired Judge of the New Mexico District Court
These choices are excellent, and the suggestion that a judge or mediator – not a bureaucrat – should lead this next phase of compensation administration is not wholly unprecedented. After the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, federal officials set up a multi-billion dollar recovery fund overseen by the Treasury Department and a federal appointee with apparent expertise in managing claims. His brief tenure was bogged down by claims that he was too close to BP and the government, and few claims were paid (sound familiar?). Under pressure, he was removed. Local communities advocated for someone local who understood Louisiana’s unique culture, people, and the impact of the damage firsthand. The court overseeing the settlement agreed and appointed… a well-respected local attorney with years of mediation experience in the affected area.
In California, 2020’s fires caused by the local utility PG&E damaged thousands of homes and potentially generated hundreds of thousands of claims. After a few fits and starts, retired Judge John Trotter was brought in to speed up payments.
So far, FEMA seems intent on repeating the sins of the past. Last month, FEMA opened applications for a new compensation manager. That’s fast work for the government, but fire victims see one critical flaw in the new process.
“This rapid closure of the application window, open only for 5 business days, raises significant concerns about the seriousness with which FEMA is treating our call for this position to be filled by an individual with the appropriate legal expertise and administrative experience to effectively manage the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Relief Fund and claims office. As we have expressed to FEMA on multiple occasions, we strongly believe these qualities would be well-met by a New Mexico judge or appellate justice. The short time frame for applications hardly seems reasonable or sufficient to attract and evaluate candidates who fit this vital profile,” the CFFF wrote to FEMA Administrator Deanne Bennett Criswell on Feb. 29th.
Take it from an experienced politico: short posts like these usually indicate a process where the fix is in. The time required for applicants to review the job requirements, especially one this large and complex, prepare the required application documents and references, and complete the daunting federal hiring process is daunting—unless you already know it’s coming and get a head start.
Victims are right to be suspicious. FEMA is right to move quickly. But let’s hope the rush to do something doesn’t overwhelm the need to do the right something well.
FEMA would be wise to take public input on the requirements for the local manager (officially dubbed the Director of Operations for the New Mexico Joint Recovery). As an elected official who stumbled through countless rounds of public outrage over everything from ART and police misconduct to the display of the Oñate statue in Old Town, I can tell you firsthand that impacted people need a forum to provide input (even if they think it will be disregarded, as it often is).
Victims and impacted New Mexicans need to feel ownership of the recovery process, whether it is a local debate around statue removal or a considerable issue of multi-billion dollar fire recovery, and FEMA would be wise to include New Mexicans in this critical decision.
In public comment, FEMA has already heard as much. In public comment submitted by a long list of attorneys, including a former State Supreme Court Justice and attorneys in other states who have worked in broken recovery programs, they wrote:
“Many citizens of New Mexico lack confidence in FEMA due to the standard rejection process. Unique cultural dynamics in the affected communities further complicates trust in the federal government, including FEMA. For these reasons, we strongly believe participation in the claims process will be significantly enhanced with the appointment of an independent claims manager to oversee the process. Most importantly, the only realistic way the program can fulfill the bill’s requirement to reflect New Mexico law is to hire a manager who is a New Mexico attorney.”
Read the full comment at Singleton Schreiber LLP
This Easter, as you contemplate the sins of our past and the opportunity to start fresh, send a prayer for the victims of these fires that the same spirit inspires federal officials in charge of the recovery to turn recovery over to New Mexicans who know our people, their needs and are trusted by those most in need to get the job done.