After the last snowpocalypse when it was uncovered by me that there were no women standing with the governor and his crisis team as they recounted the challenges of one of the worst snow/ice storms to hit Atlanta. Issues ranged from dragging his feet for not declaring a state of emergency to blaming local meteorologists for getting caught unprepared. I blamed his lack of women advisers included in his inner circle. Yesterday, Governor Deal had another press conference, surrounding himself with advisers from GEMA, DOT, the City of Atlanta, APD, GSP and other public service agencies. I counted 12 men, and wait…could it be? As Gov. Deal discussed the State of Emergency and the dual storms headed to Georgia, an unknown woman steps forward, holding a chart showing stats on both storms. Below is a screenshot.
It is easily one step above serving coffee. I guess we shouldn’t expect too much from an administration that still pastes paper to poster board instead of using an overhead projector showing the storm via Google earth attached to a laptop. Georgia’s lack of women in prominent positions means that we are lacking a diverse vision truly necessary if we are to compete on a global scale. Remember the lack of input from women when you vote in November and really think about it next week on February 20th, the 44th anniversary of Georgia’s ratifying the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Georgia was the first to reject it on July 24, 1919.
