Reply #8: It seems, by way of this article from Washington State, directors

[Spazito]

are appointed federally not via the state which would make them, imo, answerable to the federal agency as opposed to the state. It is a red herring, surprise, surprise, to point fingers at the state for the action of federal appointees.

"Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Bush appointed Pennington to head the Region 10 office of FEMA, overseeing the government's disaster response in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. He makes $138,000 a year."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002484649_pennington10m.html