Georgia’s top emergency official, who weathered a series of mishaps during the icy blast that brought metro Atlanta to a standstill in January, will be replaced in a significant staff shake-up of Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration.
Charley English, who has led the Georgia Emergency Management Agency since 2006, will become the office's deputy director. He is to be replaced by Jim Butterworth, a former Republican state senator who has helmed the Georgia National Guard since 2011.
English was on the hot seat in late January after the icy wave that left thousands of motorists stranded on gridlocked North Georgia streets. But he seemed to have redeemed himself in the eyes of Deal and other top state officials by adeptly handling another blast of wintry weather that struck just two weeks later.
The move is part of a broader wave of staff changes set in motion by Deal’s re-election victory earlier this month.
Joe Jarrard, a 20-year Army veteran who was Butterworth’s deputy, will now lead the Georgia National Guard. Gretchen Corbin, who heads the Department of Community Affairs, will helm Georgia’s tech school system. And Camila Knowles, retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ top aide, is taking Corbin’s job.
English, a decades-long public servant who came to GEMA in 1996, took responsibility in January for the near-simultaneous release of students, office workers and government employees that turned minutes-long commutes into hours-long ordeals.
He apologized for failing to awaken Deal early Jan. 28 when national forecasters updated winter warnings and urged drivers to stay off the road. He shouldered the blame for waiting until hours after the gridlock seized metro Atlanta's streets to open a command center to respond to the mess.
And he vowed to treat incoming weather with more urgency after a series of documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggested a lackadaisical approach to the coming storm. One email he sent the day before the storm noted it "sure is warm outside" to a deputy asking about the approaching bad weather.
"In the future you can rest assured that when the forecasts change, there will be a much more aggressive response," English said at a Jan. 30 press conference.
English's allies pointed to his effective leadership during other disasters, including tornadoes, floods and a 2011 winter storm. Deal stuck by English amid mounting criticism, which included a Change.org petition calling for his ouster. The governor would later say his faith in the veteran administrator had paid off.
English earned praise from many of his critics weeks later with a much more robust response to a new wave of bad weather in early February, including plans to open a command center long before forecasters expected the first snow to fall.
“This is exactly the type of action needed from GEMA,” Chris Riley, Deal’s chief of staff, wrote in a note to the governor.
English, who is also the immediate past president of the National Emergency Management Association, is set to stick around to help Butterworth lead the agency, which coordinates with local, state and federal responses to disasters.
Butterworth, too, is no stranger to scrutiny. A former captain in the Air Guard, his promotion raised concerns in military quarters, and several former Guard members criticized the move. Democrat Jason Carter, who lost his bid to oust Deal this month, highlighted Butterworth as an example of the "politicization" of the state's military.
A whistleblower lawsuit filed against Butterworth in July by a former Guard spokeswoman claims that he displayed “unethical and inappropriate” conduct, citing a trip to Paris with Deal and the free use of a suite at an Atlanta Braves game. The Guard has denied any wrongdoing and said the former staffer was fired for refusing an assignment.
Butterworth has also been a constant presence in the state's disaster response. He huddled with Deal and English to prepare for the winter storms, and he stood behind Deal during his weather-related press conferences. He also sat on the state task force aimed at preventing another traffic debacle from paralyzing Georgia.
About the Author
