Leadership in a disaster

No better example than California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as uncontrolled wildfires ravaged his state. He did all a governor should. He declared the appropriate places disaster areas to trigger federal help. He dispatched the National Guard, implemented state emergency preparedness plans and he maintained close and tireless communication with the local communities and their officials.

He and local officials were prepared and, more importantly, the governor did what all good leaders do — he personally visited the devastation to become an outward and visible sign of hope for people in need. He put his feet on the still-warm ashen ground, meeting with local officials directly and reassuring citizens where they lived.

He became the “Governator” — the nickname spun off from his “Terminator” movies — half-governor, half-cyborg, sent back in time to save Cah-lee-fornia from wildfires.

Winds controlled the fate of much of Southern California. But half the battle of a successful leader — as it is with any kind of success in life — is in showing up and being prepared. Sounds simple, but believe me, not many public officials get it right.

Remember New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina? Local and state officials were caught flat-footed. Louisiana officials, who in the three years before had spent $18 million of federal tax money — $18 million! — to create a hurricane disaster plan, failed to do so. When Katrina hit, they had no workable plan.

For example, Gov. Kathleen Blanco knew well before Katrina hit that one-fifth of New Orleans’ population had no cars and therefore no way of easily escaping the disaster. She could not, even with that forewarning, create a plan for this eventuality. So, when the Katrina nightmare arrived, evacuation buses were spread out over hell and gone.

In addition, bus drivers, most of whom were women, were too scared to drive into New Orleans, which had fallen into lawlessness.

The lack of law and order also came as no surprise. The state disaster plan identified it as an area of big concern. But again, inept local politicians failed to provide the leadership necessary to fix the problem in advance. So, when night fell at the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center, authorities were unable to maintain safety. Refugees huddled in evacuation centers were easy prey. People were raped and murdered.

In the middle of the disaster, Gov. Blanco’s leadership consisted mainly of complaining about a lack of federal help and pointing the blame at President George W. Bush. She whined while her people suffered.

While disasters may differ in scope and detail, the principles of leadership remain the same. In fact, leadership is sometimes all people have in a crisis. Louisiana got little during Hurricane Katrina.

California’s getting a full portion.

For those of you who think I’m being too hard on Louisiana politicos and too laudatory of California’s, let me ask you one question: Why were California fire evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium fed, well-cared for and safe? No murders, no rapes?

You can start with these two answers — preparedness and leadership. Had there been violence in California, you can bet the first instinct of the “Governator” wouldn’t have been to point blame at Uncle Sam. He’d double the National Guard troops and, then, spend the night at Qualcomm Stadium.

That’s what leaders do.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com) is publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.