FEMA's Acting Administrator Holds Forth on Disasters and Resilience

Who is Pete Gaynor? You can get the basics from the linked interview I did with him below. His bio was drastically shortened to accommodate being "online" so let me add that he was a U.S. Marine Officer (Infantry — yes!) and before becoming the Rhode Island State emergency management director, he led the city of Providence, Rhode Island's emergency management program.

Pete and I linked up at the Executive Leadership Course at the Naval Post Graduate School a number of years ago (March 16, 2012, to be exact) when he was "just" a city emergency manager. He is as common-sense as his crew-cut hair would allow him to be. He exemplifies someone wanting first to serve and not thinking about what is next for his career or income. A true public servant.

Here is the interview I did with him via a series of written questions, FEMA’s Gaynor Delves into Resilience, Response and Recovery.

I did not ask about GMM, but I expect that is something that is driving the staff at FEMA to get a better hold on when administering the billions of dollars that go through the multiple programs they control.

And, I still say — disaster resilience is all about mitigation!