Politicizing Emergency Management

Is it better for Broward residents to die in a hurricane rather than receive emergency broadcasts from a radio station that in normal times features Rush Limbaugh? The Broward County Commission thinks so:

Rush Limbaugh has long been a thorn in the side of liberals, but now, because of him, some Democratic politicians don't even want to join with a local radio station to broadcast hurricane information.

Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to Limbaugh's talk show.

Commissioner Stacy Ritter said she did not want to support a station that's out of step with area politics. Ritter, a Democratic stalwart in the state Legislature before being elected to county office, cited talk shows hosted by Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and WIOD's partnership with Fox News.

"They have every right to speak, but we don't have to do business with them," she said.

Limbaugh has long been a fixture on WIOD, but no county official raised an issue about him or the other shows when the deal was approved for the first time a year ago.

The deal with WIOD would ensure that news conferences are broadcast start to finish live from the county Emergency Operations Center in Plantation. Emergency managers became concerned during hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 that radio and television stations preempted their announcements in favor of news out of Miami.

Limbaugh, who lives in Palm Beach, could not be reached for comment. Ken Charles, WIOD's director of AM programming, said the station's talk show lineup has no relationship with its news coverage and that the county should focus on the benefits of teaming with the station.

"It's a shame that people would let politics get in the way of saving lives in a hurricane," Charles said.

[Emphasis added -FC.]

According to Judy Sarver, the county's public communications director, she and other emergency planners preferred WIOD "because of its signal strength, numerous FM sister stations and willingness to give Broward top play." In other words, emergency planners put logic, practicality, and keeping citizens of the second-largest county in Florida informed and safe ahead of their own personal politics. I don't imagine any of them are commissioner material.

I wonder what these leaders would think if conservative counterparts somewhere refused to partner in broadcasting emergency information on a station because it features "Air America"?

UPDATE:
After getting dogpiled for their idiocy, the commission backs off.