No good deed goes unpunished
The latest scandal that has shaken our little trailer is the Jefferson Davis County Recovery Times. It is a little newsletter, four pages, that the citizens wanted our help in sending out. The first edition is written, paid for, and at the printer. It covers happenings in the county, deadlines, vital information, etc. For the longest time, the hold up was getting addresses for the displaced residents.
FEMA is extremely controlling about the addresses. They guard them under lock and key. They threaten to sue anyone that gets the names.
The outreach staff has spent over 100 hours trying to sort out the mess. They tried getting the addresses from FEMA, but it was a wash. They could not get through the first line of defense, some stupid bureaucrat. He said he did not think it was a good idea, but would take it to the lawyers. Of course, with him as our advocate, the lawyers said no, it would violate privacy rules. We also suggested that FEMA take the newsletters and addresses and do the mailing themselves, and our donor would pay for it. No go.
The next angle was the county. The county said they had the addresses, but what they meant was they were planning on getting the addresses. When they got them there was a thick stack of legal forms. They were allowed to use them for county purposes only. They freaked out and refused to release the names.
The printer wanted to get paid. The donor wanted his money back.
I offered to help. I started working on FEMA again, this time through a friend. My friend found an advocate to push the lawyers.
The outreach staff began working on the county again and arranged appointments with the lawyers. The county lawyers decided they could help us. The newsletter had enough county business in it that it passed muster.
I told my friend to withdraw the request from FEMA. I also told her to keep it on the down low. We did not want to attract any attention to the County giving us the addresses.
So, many confidentiality forms later and after much post office paperwork, the printer was ready to go. Then, everyone freaked out.
The county decided they wanted to re-evaluate, but could not find the forms they signed that governed the use of the addresses. They asked an outreach person to go the printer’s office and watch the printer delete the files.
Today, the latest, FEMA’s general council has heard something. We do not know what. He is coming to pay us a visit.
All my co-workers are freaking out.
No initiative goes unpunished.
FEMA is extremely controlling about the addresses. They guard them under lock and key. They threaten to sue anyone that gets the names.
The outreach staff has spent over 100 hours trying to sort out the mess. They tried getting the addresses from FEMA, but it was a wash. They could not get through the first line of defense, some stupid bureaucrat. He said he did not think it was a good idea, but would take it to the lawyers. Of course, with him as our advocate, the lawyers said no, it would violate privacy rules. We also suggested that FEMA take the newsletters and addresses and do the mailing themselves, and our donor would pay for it. No go.
The next angle was the county. The county said they had the addresses, but what they meant was they were planning on getting the addresses. When they got them there was a thick stack of legal forms. They were allowed to use them for county purposes only. They freaked out and refused to release the names.
The printer wanted to get paid. The donor wanted his money back.
I offered to help. I started working on FEMA again, this time through a friend. My friend found an advocate to push the lawyers.
The outreach staff began working on the county again and arranged appointments with the lawyers. The county lawyers decided they could help us. The newsletter had enough county business in it that it passed muster.
I told my friend to withdraw the request from FEMA. I also told her to keep it on the down low. We did not want to attract any attention to the County giving us the addresses.
So, many confidentiality forms later and after much post office paperwork, the printer was ready to go. Then, everyone freaked out.
The county decided they wanted to re-evaluate, but could not find the forms they signed that governed the use of the addresses. They asked an outreach person to go the printer’s office and watch the printer delete the files.
Today, the latest, FEMA’s general council has heard something. We do not know what. He is coming to pay us a visit.
All my co-workers are freaking out.
No initiative goes unpunished.
posted by JNA | 7:34 PM
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