Since August 2005, the Katrina Task Force (KTE) of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) has focused on understanding the successes and failures of the response to Katrina at all levels of government. Each year, the KTE submits a report to the ASPA membership summarizing the Hurricane Katrina research to date. In March 2008, the KTE presented its third annual report in the form of a panel discussion at the society's annual meeting in Dallas, a community with many Katrina diaspora residents. The 2008 panel discussed the obstacles that have arisen as the damaged areas along the Gulf Coast struggle to recover. It explored some of the political aspects of recovery and the implications of the upcoming change in administration. This summary includes information helpful to public agency leaders in improving recovery planning, an often overlooked aspect of the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.