NHC Director Bill Proenza re-assig,Ed Rappaport new director

[flwxwatcher]

One question I have-what happens to the 27 people on the staff that did NOT sign the petition? How much ostracism will they have to go through from those who won? Morale isn't going to just improve overnight. I'm sure that close relationships and friendships within the staff have been strained if not ruptured over this affair. Even more importantly, how will the end users-particularly those in the Emergency Management Field feel about this? Finally, FEMA and DHS were already smarting from the post Katrina comments by Max Mayfield, what are they going to think about what some in the Admin (and yes, I'm treading close to the line here and this is as far as I will go)might characterize as an out of control organization? Then there is the Public perception. THIS is the fallout, not the fall from grace by someone who, by all acounts, royally screwed himself.

Steve

Very well put... I don't think anybody came out a winner at all ( except maybe some private forecasting companies) in this cat fight .

[canetracker]

One question I have-what happens to the 27 people on the staff that did NOT sign the petition? How much ostracism will they have to go through from those who won? Morale isn't going to just improve overnight. I'm sure that close relationships and friendships within the staff have been strained if not ruptured over this affair. Even more importantly, how will the end users-particularly those in the Emergency Management Field feel about this? Finally, FEMA and DHS were already smarting from the post Katrina comments by Max Mayfield, what are they going to think about what some in the Admin (and yes, I'm treading close to the line here and this is as far as I will go)might characterize as an out of control organization? Then there is the Public perception. THIS is the fallout, not the fall from grace by someone who, by all acounts, royally screwed himself.

Steve

The 27 people who did not sign the petition were probably "Afraid" of losing their jobs. Don't get me wrong, I value your opinion as I am sure others on this board do. However, I have seen take overs with power hungry leaders go down. I am not 100% sure this is what happened at the NHC, but with people like Franklin and Avila at the lead of this revolt I have a good feeling they were not doing this as some sort of power play. These men are truly respected in the weather community and the pain on their faces was obvious when they were being interviewed. This is just my 2 cents and again I do respect your opinion. : )

[vacanechaser]

The 27 people who did not sign the petition were probably "Afraid" of losing their jobs. Don't get me wrong, I value your opinion as I am sure others on this board do. However, I have seen take overs with power hungry leaders go down. I am not 100% sure this is what happened at the NHC, but with people like Franklin and Avila at the lead of this revolt I have a good feeling they were not doing this as some sort of power play. These men are truly respected in the weather community and the pain on their faces was obvious when they were being interviewed. This is just my 2 cents and again I do respect your opinion. : )

i could not agree more about the forecasters... i see where folks are coming from with the possible power plays and what not, however, you have to look at who we are talking about... and for those of us who know them and have spent time with them, feel like we know better... i am not saying that that did not come into play, but my opinion is i doubt it very seriously... but people here want to continue to hammer away at them not knowing what really happened... i also continue to see people say that they should have handled it behind the scenes... well, from what i herd from the forecasters, they did... however mr. proenza was misrepresenting things to the media that had been discussed or said... i guess they were tired of it and felt they needed to fight back within the media since they were being quoted wrongly...


Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

[Janie2006]

If I see another college junior or senior using Wikipedia as a research source I'm going to do three things:

1) Flunk him.

2) Go stark raving mad.

3) Quit my job and find Jimmy Buffet. It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Wikipedia is good for something you might be interested in, but don't exactly need all the objective material you can find. It isn't good for much else.

Yeah, but at least Wikipedia has Jimmy Buffett's name spelled correctly:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_buffett

How nice. I'll be sure to keep that in mind for future reference.

[Aslkahuna]

There is one other point-and this comes from dealing with the Press for MANY years. There are times when what you tell the press is not what comes out in the report. I have spoken to the Press about things (nothing in this realm to be sure) and have read the newspaper the next to see where I either read like a blithering idiot or what I was quoted as saying was nothing like what I said.

Steve

[Aslkahuna]

The point here is not how well one knows the forecasters personally or what friendly people they are but what the end user thinks about all this and what are their perceptions and from what we have seen here some of the end users are very much concerned to the point where NHC now has no margin for error. Was this possible loss of customer credibility and satisfaction worth pushing the issue instead of waiting for the IG report which very likely would have resulted in the same action being taken?

Steve

[Toadstool]

I'm pleased with this decision...it is definitely appropriate, IMO.

I think it's a good decision, and we'll all be rooting for Rappin' "Baby-face" Eddie to do a good job. It will be interesting in the post-season to see how things shake out (both for the director and the rebellious forecasters).

[Eyewall]

Accurate records? I think you just want something to track for a day or so. I don't really think someone 1000 years from now is going to give a rats hind-end about some weak TD that was SO weak you needed a satellite derived wind field to determine it was even there in the first place....before it dissipated 12 hours later (and don't kid yourself...if it was there for any longer...it would be upgraded

you know that if that "wave" was 100 miles from miami heading that way then they would have upgraded it

also if everyone was on bill's side and then did a 180... doesnt it sound like someone told them to shup up or get fired?
theres some major problems with the government these days and this shows it.

[Typhoon_Willie]

Well I hope that we can eventually sort this out to the benefeit of most people, and get back to the forecasting of dangerous weather. Which the Hurricane
Center has done a great job imho...

[DanKellFla]

I don't think it would that easy to replace senior Hurricane forecasters. They are a pretty specialized bunch. And, I hope they keep all of the experienced people at the NHC. INHO, they have been doing a great job.

So, is Bill P on leave or has he been reassigned? I hear conflicting information.

[HurricaneJoe22]

Some good follow-up articles/columns:

Hurricane chief's ouster is good news for festivities
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/cont ... _0711.html

Ex-Hurricane Center Chiefs: Job's Tough
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nation ... 1388.story

Deputy chief takes over National Hurricane Center as Proenza ousted
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 1388.story

Proenza: I have no regrets
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/166647.html

Senate Committee hears recommendations on weather satellites
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/167428.html

Future forecasts face uncertainty
http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/167885.html

[Frank2]

This never made into the local newspaper, so, thought I'd share it here, especially since the public seems to continue to jump on the "Good for him - he was interested in the public having a new satellite - the spoiled staff shouldn't have forced him out" way of thinking...



Dear Editor:

It seems that public opinion of the NHC's staff members' actions are being misinterpreted, not by any fault of their own, but, because the public are making critical comments based solely on information that has been made available to them - the reality is that the well-known "dying satellite" issue was apparently the final straw, for those who decided to insist on the former Director's removal.

When I worked at the NHC, we also had satellite problems (one in particular, that lasted off and on for quite some time), but, unlike the just-ended situation, we always were in agreement with the Director's manner of dealing with the situation, since past Directors, although making it understood that they were the person in charge, were also pro-actively involved on a more personal level, when it came to their employee's individual contributions to the mission of the organization as a whole.

However, as told by the staff last week, it seems that the Mr. Proenza did not handle the satellite issue [something previously known to the forecasting staff], or other "in-house" matters, with the staff in mind, but, was moving forward as a single entity - autonomy is not a leadership quality.

Similar to a coach, in order for any group of individuals to be successful, the person in charge must also be humble enough to also take into account the opinions - and experience - of those on his staff.

What is also not known to the public is the fact that a unique employer, such as the National Hurricane Center, is not only a job, in the monetary or career sense, but, is a way of life - those in professional sports, commercial fishing or agriculture would probably understand this better, and, would understand that it is very important for co-workers to have a level of trust among each other that is similar to the trust of family or friends.

Unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case with the recently-departed Director, and, while I'm always sorry to see someone forceably removed from their position, the outcome, as his superiors decided, seems to have been the correct decision in this case.

[artist]

Frank - that is just one view point - not necessarily all the truth. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall.

[gotoman38]

good letter Frank - thanks for posting it. I definitely agree - I particularly like the "coach" analogy.

[Frank2]

Thanks, gotoman, and, artist, since it's Miami, I'd have to say a mosquito...

[flwxwatcher]

Frank - that is just one view point - not necessarily all the truth. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall.

Agreed.. and to think Proenza was voted Manager of the year by the NWS in 1998.. imagine that

[Frank2]

Well, in all fairness that fact needs to be taken with a grain of salt - since that was likely based on his work of at least 10 years ago, as a person ages, so does their personality, for good or bad, and, at 62 years, perhaps other factors are present that weren't 10 years ago - I've seen it happen in more than one person his age...

Frank

[flwxwatcher]

I agree but in fairness this whole affair about Proenza being a poor director needs to be taken with a grain of salt as well since none of us know all the issues involved in this matter .. :)

[Frank2]

Too true, and, I mentioned that very thing in my letter, but, knowing the folks who spoke at the press conference, it was highly unusual to see them resort to something so drastic - it just wasn't like them, as one or two other folks who used to work there also mentioned...

[flwxwatcher]

but, knowing the folks who spoke at the press conference, it was highly unusual to see them resort to something so drastic - it just wasn't like them, as one or two other folks who used to work there also

Yes.... that point does stick in my mind .. Oh well, I am sure as the months pass tidbits of info will trickle out about some of the real reasons all this came about:):)