Fema Compliance Cost (Ice Sotrm)

[cannon_fodder]

A TulsaWorld article today was talking about the increased cost of debris removal on account of under estimating the quantity (understandable).
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080116_1_A1_spanc44663

While reading it a couple number caught my eye:

quote: Storm Reconstruction Services has a $3,032,000 contract to collect debris over 60 days.

quote: Solid Resources Inc. has a $1,595,950 contract to monitor the collection to ensure records are kept to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements for reimbursement.

So for every dollar being spent cleaning up trees, 53 cents is then spent making sure we qualify for FEMA aid.

YADoes ANYONE find that acceptable?  Clearly from the cities standpoint it makes sense to spend up to 70% of the cost to make sure we get reimbursed, but it's still insane.  Does FEMA reimburse the compliance cost?  And whether they do or not - WHAT A WASTE!

This is why I say central government is incapable of efficiency and generally want them doing as little as possible.  Even if you think they usually do a good and efficient job, clearly they missed the mark here.  AND EVEN AFTER ALL THIS, you get massive over runs and waste still coming in from Katrina.  ARGH!

That's my 53 cents worth anyway.  For the love of god, someone tell me I'm wrong.

[sgrizzle]

That is 1.6M to pay people $10/hr to ride behind trucks for 10-12 hours a day. Seems like a lot.

[we vs us]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

That is 1.6M to pay people $10/hr to ride behind trucks for 10-12 hours a day. Seems like a lot.

+1 for job creation in an economic downturn!

[we vs us]

But seriously.  I understand that administrative costs are part of any undertaking of that size (and think about it, verification is important so we know that contractors aren't taking advantage of government funds).  But yeah, costing roughly half of the actual clean up does seem steep.

As an aside, NPR just finished a three part series on DHS's 5th anniversary (of which FEMA is a part), and just in general, that is one completely and totally effed up organization. Scattered and disorganized, subject to the whims of Congress and the President, needed more than ever and yet unable to be everything to all people and in all places at once.  No one ever had the chance/intention of putting everything together smartly when it was being created, so inevitably it just trips over its own bureaucracy when trying to get things done.  

I usually don't agree with the conservative critique of Big Government, but this is one time when we're on the same page.

[NellieBly]

The monitor literally sits in a running car all day long watching the debris removal. He just sits there for hours at a time? I don't see how this is effective monitoring. Does each truck have one monitor? Can't monitors travel between locations?

I wonder how much they make an hour?

[Breadburner]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

The monitor literally sits in a running car all day long watching the debris removal. He just sits there for hours at a time? I don't see how this is effective monitoring. Does each truck have one monitor? Can't monitors travel between locations?

I wonder how much they make an hour?

Minimum wage they graduated from OSU......

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

The monitor literally sits in a running car all day long watching the debris removal. He just sits there for hours at a time? I don't see how this is effective monitoring. Does each truck have one monitor? Can't monitors travel between locations?

I wonder how much they make an hour?

They make $10/hr

[grahambino]

driving through a neighborhood near my office, i saw a subaru station wagon, backed into a driveway.  He had the front end in half the road, down the street from a giant 'PAUL BUNYAN' truck.  the dude was asleep, apparently.  at first glance, i thought he might have been dead.
Granted it couldve been his lunch break, since it was about that time, but there was a truck down the street picking up limbs.
I certainly wouldn't mind some supplemental part-time income if that's alls you gotta do...

[RecycleMichael]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

The monitor literally sits in a running car all day long watching the debris removal. He just sits there for hours at a time? I don't see how this is effective monitoring. Does each truck have one monitor? Can't monitors travel between locations?
I wonder how much they make an hour?

They make $10/hr

$10/hr plus all the sticks you can eat.

I know I should be worried about government waste and all, but these jobs are adding some income into the local hard-to-keep-employed sector.

The feds are paying 75 cents on the dollar and the state is reimbursing 12 and a half cents. These dollars will probably all be spent locally and churned into many other local dollars. A whole lot of people are going to be able to do a little more business in our local stores and restaurants.

I am thinking of buying stock in Dollar General and McDonalds.

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by we vs us

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

That is 1.6M to pay people $10/hr to ride behind trucks for 10-12 hours a day. Seems like a lot.

+1 for job creation in an economic downturn!

15 dollars an hour actually

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by YoungTulsan

quote:Originally posted by we vs us

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

That is 1.6M to pay people $10/hr to ride behind trucks for 10-12 hours a day. Seems like a lot.

+1 for job creation in an economic downturn!

The job was posted online for $10.

Maybe someone was getting a cut.

15 dollars an hour actually

[Steve]

I have observed the same thing in my midtown neighborhood, with the monitor sitting in her car and following the workers.  After they picked up my debris on Monday, I went out and raked up and bagged all the small stuff left behind; actually it was 5 large lawn/leaf bags of "small stuff."  When I was out there, the monitor came up to me and said I didn't have to do that, as they were going to make another pass down the street.  I told her I didn't care about that, I just want my front yard as neat & tidy as soon as possible and I can pick the remainder up myself.  (And probably do a much more thorough job to my picky satisfaction.)

I would guess that this whole monitoring business is a direct result of the FEMA/Katrina/New Orleans debacle.  After that, FEMA is so afraid of any charges of corruption, incompetance, or fraud.  And they should be.  It is unfortunate that the taxpayers must pay 1.5 times the cost due to incompetance, but I guess that is the way it is with government.  I think the cleanup crews have done a pretty good job so far.  

[jne]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

I have observed the same thing in my midtown neighborhood, with the monitor sitting in her car and following the workers.  After they picked up my debris on Monday, I went out and raked up and bagged all the small stuff left behind; actually it was 5 large lawn/leaf bags of "small stuff."  When I was out there, the monitor came up to me and said I didn't have to do that, as they were going to make another pass down the street.  I told her I didn't care about that, I just want my front yard as neat & tidy as soon as possible and I can pick the remainder up myself.  (And probably do a much more thorough job to my picky satisfaction.)

I would guess that this whole monitoring business is a direct result of the FEMA/Katrina/New Orleans debacle.  After that, FEMA is so afraid of any charges of corruption, incompetance, or fraud.  And they should be.  It is unfortunate that the taxpayers must pay 1.5 times the cost due to incompetance, but I guess that is the way it is with government.  I think the cleanup crews have done a pretty good job so far.  

Yeah. However,it seems we are probably paying 1.5 mill to protected ourselves from being ripped off for probably a couple-hundred grand.
What gets me is, (I understand it)it has to be a  'FEMA approved' contractor to monitor.  This cost is insane.  Why can't sufficient monitoring be done with less staff?  
-Maybe a Director (liason to Mayor's office) to coordinate with volunteer groups and public info and such)
-an Assistant Director to directly coordinate the clean-up crews.
-An Area Coordinator for each of the the 3 zones
-an Evaluator in charge of surveying a sample to be sure the job is getting done and to manage reporting requirements
- a few administrative people to move information around and maybe staff a complaint line etc.

Am I crazy?

[we vs us]

quote: Why can't sufficient monitoring be done with less staff?  
-Maybe a Director (liason to Mayor's office) to coordinate with volunteer groups and public info and such)
-an Assistant Director to directly coordinate the clean-up crews.
-An Area Coordinator for each of the the 3 zones
-an Evaluator in charge of surveying a sample to be sure the job is getting done and to manage reporting requirements
- a few administrative people to move information around and maybe staff a complaint line etc.

Am I crazy?

The trucks were in our neighborhood in midtown today.  Looked like each truck had a driver who also functioned as a crane op, and the monitor car driving behind with two guys in it (one holding the official clipboard). I'd love to know how this gets administrated, though.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by we vs us

quote: Why can't sufficient monitoring be done with less staff?  
-Maybe a Director (liason to Mayor's office) to coordinate with volunteer groups and public info and such)
-an Assistant Director to directly coordinate the clean-up crews.
-An Area Coordinator for each of the the 3 zones
-an Evaluator in charge of surveying a sample to be sure the job is getting done and to manage reporting requirements
- a few administrative people to move information around and maybe staff a complaint line etc.

Am I crazy?

The trucks were in our neighborhood in midtown today.  Looked like each truck had a driver who also functioned as a crane op, and the monitor car driving behind with two guys in it (one holding the official clipboard). I'd love to know how this gets administrated, though.

No jne, you are not crazy, and it seems like a horrible waste to me too.  But I guess it is the product of government bureaucracy and the aftermath of the FEMA/Katrina boondogle.

In my midtown neighborhood 26th & Yale, there is one man on the dumpster truck/crane, and one inspector following.  The truck man does all the work, moving the dumpster down the street, and climbing up the ladder and operating the crane to remove debris.  The inspector just follows along and sits in their car, making the required reports/observations.

I have also noticed that nearly all of the east/west street in my neighborhood have had the first pass of debris removal, but none of the north/south streets have had any pickup yet.