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Friday, October 24, 1997

Decision to close Weather Service's Texas headquarters shelved

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A controversial plan to shut down the National Weather Service's Southern region headquarters in Texas, which oversees field operations in 10 states, was shelved Thursday by Commerce Secretary William Daley.

Daley's decision came as Commerce, the Weather Service's parent, made public the results of an independent review that uncovered persistent management and budgetary problems in the agency.

Abandoning plans to close the 40-person Southern region headquarters in Fort Worth -- which oversees some 1,000 field personnel in 10 states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico -- Daley instead is dusting off an earlier restructuring proposal.

The Weather Service will retain all four of its regional offices in the continental United States, at reduced staffing levels. That proposal, floated months ago by the four regional directors but rejected by headquarters, calls for each region to have 45 staffers.

The regional directors' plan proved "operationally and managerially superior," according to the review by retired Brig. Gen. Jack Kelly, former director of the Air Force's weather service.

At a news conference with Daley, Kelly said he had been unable to find any studies documenting the benefits of closing the Southern region. "I do not believe closure of the Southern region is warranted at this time," he said.

With the agency in the midst of a $4.5 billion modernization -- one which years ago targeted the Fort Worth office for closure -- the region's long-term future "is probably an issue that gets addressed on a periodic basis," Daley said.

But, he added: "I don't want to leave the impression there is some sword hanging over people's heads."

At the root of the turbulence, which prompted Daley to oust agency director Elbert W. Friday in June, was a $41 million shortfall. Responding to that, Friday froze hiring, cut training and proposed 200 layoffs.

Word of the proposed regional office shutdown and staff cutbacks at the Tropical Prediction Center in Miami, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., and the Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, Mo., touched off a furor among emergency preparedness officials, meteorologists and politicians alike.

Hit by the wave of criticism, Daley halted the job cuts and delayed the Southern region shutdown pending completion of Kelly's review. And Friday was sacked amid charges that his agency was giving conflicting and unreliable information to his superiors.

Two lawmakers who battled to save the Texas office were delighted by Daley's action.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, termed the decision "a reprieve from a misguided policy that had manmade disaster written all over it."

Said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth: "I'm very glad they reconsidered their plan, which I thought was poorly conceived to begin with."

Ms. Granger questioned the initial shutdown decision. "That is of great concern that you start making decisions like that without doing the studies that are necessary," she said.

Beyond keeping the region office open, Daley is backing Kelly's recommendations to improve bookkeeping and management practices, and will ask Congress to increase the agency's budget by $20 million this year.

Daley blamed the upheaval on agency leaders in Washington."The problems which this report has uncovered are here in the headquarters, and that is where we will address them," he said.

At the Southern region, employees breathed a sigh of relief Thursday at the suspension of a plan few thought was warranted.

"This harsh action was totally unjustified and with that in mind, it really puzzled a lot of people," said region deputy director Bill Proenza.

Proenza took on his bosses over the restructuring, flying to Washington this summer to appear before a Senate panel in opposition to the plan.