Source:
Houston ChronicleGALVESTON — With a late evacuation, contradictory messages to her citizens and now a failed first attempt to give evacuees a chance to check their homes, it's been a tough week for Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas.
The four heady days were filled with Hurricane Ike's destruction and the reality that thousands of residents were reluctant to leave. Now there is the arduous task of keeping her promise to citizens that she would have them home soon while trying to combat a growing public health crisis.
Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with her tiny quorum of three council members early Wednesday for another seven days to try to pull Galveston out of what she herself called "Third World Country" status and onto a clear road to recovery following Hurricane Ike.
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By Wednesday, Thomas, the three-time mayor, was seated before City Council members Danny Weber, Elizabeth Beeton and Susan Fennewald making what was thought to be a procedural request: to extend her emergency management role another seven days.
'Please don't do this now'
Under the Texas Disaster Act, the local emergency management role falls to the mayor, who works with state and federal officials to coordinate and direct contractors and workers to what tasks need to be taken care of first. Without a seat at that emergency management table, the state could take over Galveston's recovery
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6006746.html