Salena Bonola, 50, was recently fired from her job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Denver, one of the thousands of government workers fired by the Trump administration.
Bonora administered a grant program focused on preventing damage caused by natural disasters. She worked at an agency for over four years, but last summer she was promoted. She worked on projects in several states, including Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Dakotas, to reduce damage caused by floods, wildfires and droughts. From an interview with NBC News:
“We are working on these projects and may not have a direct impact on you at any point in the future, or at any point in the future. As these projects are no longer funded and will not be carried out in the future, the public will feel the impact of an increase in natural disasters.
I was fired on Monday (February 17th) so I left all these balls in the air and told them I had finished work on Tuesday, so I couldn’t get the chance to tie up the loose ends, hand the work to others and explain to others that I didn’t finish it. …
You have a personal connection to what these people are trying to do to help their community, and it’s not just the project on paper you’re trying to send money to. We have visited many of these projects. We met with local representatives and asked why they really need a particular project… You become people who are personally involved in the job and are really fighting to get the job done. ”
Read more profiles of federal workers fired by the Trump administration here.
