Whitefish contract is the price of moving too quickly in a bureaucracy

The headlines scream that Puerto Rico’s governor wanted the $300 million “Whitefish contract” canceled. It should be canceled but not for the reasons the media claims. 

Virtually every aspect of governing in Washington is afflicted with the proverbial “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” thinking. This is especially true in the case of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When FEMA is responding to a natural or manmade disaster it is “all hands-on deck” with adrenalin flowing. The media puts every move and decision under a microscope. Members of Congress whose states or districts are involved demand that every constituent need be met — now. 

{mosads}Puerto Rico’s power grid was a disaster in-and-of itself. Corruption, malfeasance and poor maintenance had left the territory with a power system that was unreliable, subject to constant interruption and weak at its strongest point. A hurricane like Maria was certain to virtually destroy the entire system, leaving the island without power for months or longer.

With so many demanding that “something must be done,” a $300 million contract is awarded on a sole-bid, no-bid basis to Whitefish, a company whose largest previous contract for similar work had been $1.3 million in Arizona.

According to the Washington Post “FEMA said it had not approved the Whitefish Energy agreement.” Axios and The Hill reported FEMA had “reviewed and approved it.”

It is certainly possible that in the middle of responding to the disaster in Puerto Rico someone inside FEMA gave a quick verbal or written “OK” to the contract without considering all the ramifications of the contract. This is what happens when, in the midst of a major disaster, FEMA is put under pressure to do everything possible to return a geographic area to “normal.” 

But whether or not FEMA approved the contract is a distraction from the real issues the media should be investigating regarding this contract. FEMA’s role is more like a bank funding a project the governor of Puerto Rico has brought to them. The ultimate responsibility for this public relations disaster lies with Puerto Rico and who or what put pressure on Governor Ricardo Rosselló to approve the contract. 

The questions raised by the contract are straightforward:

• Who advised or suggested to the governor to use Whitefish?
• Is Whitefish capable of fulfilling contract?
• Why was the contract sole-sourced?
• Regardless of any answers to the previous questions, was/is Whitefish capable of rebuilding Puerto Rico’s power grid? 

The pressure from the media, Congress and citizens to rebuild Puerto Rico is tremendous, and appropriate. But the pressure should not create a damned if they do or damned if they don’t mentality that leads to questionable contracts. 

While FEMA may or may not have had a role in approving the contract, Congress should instead be asking how and why did this contract get approved without some sort of bidding process and why was it sole-sourced? Congress might find that the answer is Congress itself.

We need to realize that the pressure to get things back to normal as quickly as possible is inherently impossible with the rules and regulations Congress imposes on cabinet departments. If the bidding process is too restrictive, look for ways to streamline it while safeguarding taxpayer dollars. Sometimes sole-sourcing a contract is necessary and appropriate given the emergency nature of a given situation. Provide cabinet departments and agencies guidelines to make that process transparent when it’s used. 

And when a $300 million contract is sole-sourced, awarded without bids, from the home state of the Secretary of the Interior, maybe the focus should not be on whether FEMA approved or disapproved a contract, or even agreed to fund a contract, but whether or not someone was pressured to award the contract. Avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest should apply to departments and agencies — as well as Congress. 

The pressure to get Puerto Rico functioning is legitimate and justified. But if Congress and the media are going to keep questioning why things aren’t moving as fast as they would like, maybe they should be asking themselves whether or not the rules and regulations are the impediment.

Michael D. Brown is the former under secretary of Homeland Security and Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President George W. Bush from 2001-2005. He is the author of “Deadly Indifference – The Perfect [Political] Storm.” Follow him on Twitter at @michaelbrownusa.