Washington – Utah’s commissioner of public safety was appointed Monday to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s regional headquarters in Colorado, filling a position that’s been vacant for more than two years.
Robert Flowers, a former police chief in St. George, Utah, was named director of FEMA’s six-state Region VIII. He is to begin his new job Monday, according to Utah officials.
The FEMA region administered from its Lakewood headquarters covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The empty Region VIII post and similar vacancies elsewhere in the agency have been cited in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as an example of the Bush administration’s inattention to the beleaguered agency.
FEMA’s Region VIII has been run since June 2004 by the Lakewood office’s top career staffer, Doug Gore.
Government experts and former FEMA officials said prior to Monday’s appointment that the absence of a permanent director could hinder operations and reduce the region’s clout within the agency.
“Bob has served Utah tremendously well from the 2002 Winter Olympic Games to the floods of southern Utah,” Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said in a statement.
Flowers, 52, began his service as commissioner when appointed by former Gov. Michael Leavitt in the fall of 2000. He was reappointed by Huntsman in 2005.
“It has been an honor to serve as Utah’s commissioner of public safety, and I am looking forward to new challenges and opportunities at FEMA,” Flowers said in a statement.
As public-safety commissioner in Utah, Flowers oversaw the highway patrol, three crime labs and the creation of the state’s homeland-security operation after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
He also directed security for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, coordinating public-safety personnel from more than 40 federal, state and local agencies.
Flowers on Monday said FEMA is better organized than people realize and needs to promote its role to the public.
“I think you’ve got to be careful about judging all of FEMA on what happened in the South,” Flowers said.
His tenure in Utah was not without controversy. He has been criticized for flying frequently in Utah’s state plane.
Flowers also was criticized by a taxpayer group because he continued receiving retirement checks from his 20 years as a police officer while commissioner.
Nate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune contributed to this report.
Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
