Texas Politicians Warn against Donating to the Red Cross,: The Independent

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hurricane-harvey-texas-politicians-warn-112158760.html

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Politicians in the hurricane-hit city of Houston are warning against donating to the American Red Cross.

Houston City councilor Dave Martin told a district meeting: “I beg you not to send them a penny” and repeatedly branded the Congress-endorsed charity “the red loss”.

Speaking two weeks after the devastating hurricane which left at least 70 people dead, Mr Martin claimed that local government had done most of the difficult work in the aftermath of the disaster as well as providing the majority of resources.

“Yet every time I turn on the TV, I see (the Red Cross) taking in millions of dollars in donations,” he said, branding the charity “the most inept, unorganized organization I’ve ever experienced”.

“Don’t waste your money. Give it to another cause,” added Mr Martin, an independent member of the council who has a background working in private sector management.

Other members of the council told local media after the meeting that they were grateful for the work of thousands of Red Cross volunteers across the region who have helped set up shelters for those forced to leave their homes after the hurricane caused severe flooding.

Other public officials have expressed concern about the organisation, including Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who reportedly asked a local charity to set up a shelter for those displaced by the hurricane because he did not trust the Red Cross to do so.

“The Red Cross could not have done this. They wouldn't have had the wherewithal to do it,” Mr Emmett reportedly said. “Don't get me wrong, they're out there on the front lines, but I had already seen the difficulty and we needed to get this set up quickly.”

The charity has been criticized for failing to ensure supplies reached shelters quickly enough after one of Houston’s two Red Cross shelters could not accept evacuees at all because of high water levels and the other had just 200 beds for what turned out to be more than 2,000 people.
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There are a variety of opinions about the Red Cross. This article seems to be mostly negative, but I urge you to read the entire article. Also, read other articles about the Red Cross..

I have found another article on the Red Cross from the Houston Press, far more complete than the above..
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http://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-councilman-martin-tells-houstoninans-to-avoid-donating-to-red-cross-9767571
from the above article, these two paragraphs..
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Just a week ago, NPR pressed American Red Cross executive Brad Kieserman about what percentage of the money people donate for Hurricane Harvey relief will actually end up helping the flood victims — but he did not know.

Elsewhere along the Texas Gulf Coast, some have criticized the Red Cross's approach to operating relief centers where hundreds of people need food, water and a place to sleep. Over near Beaumont, a woman's post on Facebook went viral after she complained about how the Red Cross tried to put 400 warm hamburgers into an ice chest after a pilot had just flown them all the way from Austin to Beaumont's regional airport. Jolei Shipley, an attorney and Harvey volunteer who witnessed the dispute, told the Houston Press the pilot — with the disaster relief nonprofit Sky Hope Network — had learned while delivering relief supplies that the hundreds of evacuees hadn't had a warm meal in more than 24 hours, subsisting on PB&J sandwiches and snacks like pretzels. The Red Cross, however, wouldn't allow the burgers to be distributed because the people had just eaten sandwiches a few hours earlier, Shipley said.