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Sun. Sep 25, 2005

Sonny Steps In It

Georgia has been well removed from hurricane damage this season so far, but Katrina and Rita have still had quite an impact in the state, as they have in many southern states. In addition to tens of thousands who’ve relocated to Georgia, including over 7,000 new school students, people have been worried about fuel fluctuations due to Hurricane Rita.

We had a big one right after Katrina, almost all fear induced, and some stations got away with selling gas at $4-5 per gallon (a 35%-70% markup over the previous day’s price), until many stations had run dry. Gov. Sonny Perdue reacted pretty well to that one, quickly condemning the price gouging, and making it clear they’d prosecute (they quickly followed up on that, too). A couple days later they temporarily dropped the 15 cents per gallon state tax to try and ease pricing.

Overall, hard to complain. That’s why it’s astounding how deeply he stepped in it when Rita came around:

Gov. Sonny Perdue asked Georgians late Friday to remain calm as a hurricane again threatened to disrupt the state’s gasoline supply. It didn’t work.

Within minutes of his canceling school for two days next week and asking Georgians to conserve fuel in anticipation of a repeat of the Hurricane Katrina gas crunch, motorists began queuing up at gas stations, and anxious parents wondered what to do with their children on Monday and Tuesday.

Cars were 10 deep Friday afternoon at a Sam’s Club in Marietta, where regular unleaded gasoline was sold out by 5 p.m. Gas manager Steve Stephens predicted that the rest would be gone within hours.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Wilburn See, 70, of east Cobb County spent about $150 to fill up his Cadillac Escalade and his wife’s sedan.

“They told us they were going to stop the buses, so I figured I’d better come on and get some gas,” See said. “We’re worried about a shortage.”

AJC: Gas jitters close schools, jam pumps

Not exactly the desired effect. Of course, when you make an announcement you’re closing school Monday and Tuesday, and you wait to make it at 4:30pm Friday afternoon, you’ve set yourself up for trouble. The focus of the announcement was an effort to save 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel the buses would use those two days, as well as the gas teachers and staff wouldn’t be using.

My first thought was that the Governor probably had some inside knowledge I did not, and being human, logically, my second thought was “am I about to get caught with my pants down?” No, I’d just gotten gas the previous day at $2.54 per gallon. But thousands of people, many commuting home from work, heard the announcement, and hit the pumps. Hard.

My second thought? “This is one time I’m glad I don’t have kids.”

Gov. Sonny Perdue’s move to close schools as a gas-saving measure sparked grumbling — and even outrage — as parents all over Georgia scrambled Saturday to figure out what to do with their kids Monday and Tuesday.

Perdue asked for calm, yet many parents went into panic mode as they grappled with limited child care options. Some lined up baby sitters, others leaned on stay-at-home moms willing to help, while others decided to skip work or lug their kids to the office.

Day care centers were having to scramble, too.

Robyn Stahn, owner of three drop-in centers, said her phones had been ringing almost constantly since the governor’s announcement.

“They are scrambling to find something to do with their kids,” said Stahn, who owns Kids’ Stay ‘n Play in Gwinnett, Dunwoody and Roswell. Her centers are offering a $69 discount for parents who need all-day care Monday and Tuesday.

AJC: ‘No school’ puts parents in a scramble

Many of these parents were greeted by this news when they got home from work on Friday. Happy Weekend, from Governor Perdue!

And no matter how they slice it, while the state gets to sit on their assets, it’s going to cost the parents money. Either from days of lost work, or potentially hundreds in unexpected child care costs. Not to mention the extra gas that will be burned by thousands of parents shuttling those kids around Monday and Tuesday.

When one of the parents says “I understand the governor was trying to be proactive, but I don’t think he thought this through,” I think that cuts to the meat of it. Leaders at all levels saw some of their peers being “cautiously reactive” (i.e., downright plodding) in response to Katrina, and they were savaged for it. So a leader who likes being a leader might be inclined to be proactive rather than reactive when Rita came around.

But the problem is that when you don’t fully think through your actions, before or after the fact … you’re going to get savaged for it by the people most affected by your lack of forethought.

Welcome to the club, Sonny.