GSA names emergency response chief

The General Services Administration named a nationally recognized emergency management expert its chief emergency response and recovery officer, the agency announced today.Effective April 29, Richard Reed is leading GSA’s Office of Emergency Response and Recovery (OERR), which coordinates GSA’s resources to support first responders, emergency workers and recovery teams across the government.Previously, Reed was director of continuity of policy for the Homeland Security Council at the White House.In that role, he developed and coordinated continuity-of-operations policy. He was the senior policy representative for the Homeland Security Department on interagency organizations relating to COOP.Earlier in his career, Reed was director of the operations division in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of National Security Coordination, where he was responsible for continuity-of-government programs for the federal government. He also headed the interagency advisory group.“Richard’s broad experience in emergency and crisis management will strengthen GSA’s mission to support the government’s emergency response efforts across the United States,” said GSA Administrator Lurita Doan.Doan established OERR in November 2006. She brought its central hub to Washington to allow GSA to make the most of its resources and react more effectively to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. GSA Chief of Staff John Phelps had been acting OERR chief.Doan, a native of New Orleans, has said one of her top priorities as administrator is improving GSA’s response to national emergencies. She has said the 2005 hurricane destroyed her childhood house in New Orleans' 9th Ward.