After Snowstorm, A Call for Reform from Big Government Detractors

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has taken a lot of the blame. At a press conference Thursday, GEMA chief Charley English took responsibility for not coordinating action sooner, saying he put Gov. Nathan Deal in an “awful position.”

“I got this one wrong. I got it wrong by at least six hours,” said English.

Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, was forced to sleep in his office Tuesday night. He remains convinced government could have only done so much, but citing the 2011 and 2014 snowstorms, he said there are lessons to be learned.   

“Moving forward I’m hopeful that this will create the tie together between GEMA, school districts, and local authorities in a more urgent way,” said Setzler. “I think our lesson out of ’11 was coordinate. I think our lesson out of ’14 is coordinate rapidly and hours count.”

Another metro Atlanta Republican, Rep. Buzz Brockway of Lawrenceville, wants the snowstorm to trigger a new conversation about regional transportation.

“I don’t know what potential policy implications have really sunk in yet but we have to. We’re not two Georgias. We shouldn’t be two Georgias. We’re one Georgia,” said Brockway. “I’m not saying we need to raise taxes. I’m just saying we need to sit down and have a serious conversation about what we’re doing and how we’re going to pay for it.”

House Speaker David Ralston said Friday he didn’t see a connection between metro Atlanta’s broader traffic issues and what happened this week. Rather, he attributed the issues to an area simply not accustomed to snowfall and forecasting that, he said, changed in the hours leading up to the storm.