Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the department is still working on “getting it right” to a sold-out crowd in the Jack Morton Auditorium Tuesday night.

In a relaxed conversation with Media and Public Affairs professor Frank Sesno, Ridge talked about the Iraq War and state of homeland security. Ridge served as the first Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. The newest Cabinet-level position was established after the Sept. 11 attacks and the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

“We are not as secure as we want to be, need to be, and will be,” he said.

Ridge was critical of several current policies relating to homeland security, particularly the decision to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said a fence should act as a funnel to push people toward checkpoints. He also stressed the need for increased technology and personnel along the border.

We should “legitimize the ability of Mexican workers to cross the border” to work, he said.

Ridge said one of the biggest failings of homeland security is the lack of a single national system for communication between emergency response groups. With Hurricane Katrina, he said, “collaboration didn’t exist.”

While he criticized the state of communication between first responders, Ridge remained positive about the War in Iraq.

“I think we’re making a heck of a lot of progress there,” he said, referencing the successful elections held in the country. The first elections were held in Iraq in January 2005.

He also expressed support for maintaining troops on the ground of the war-torn country.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “you have to have boots on the ground.”

Planning and preparedness were two issues Ridge focused heavily on during his time as secretary, and he said it became one of his most frustrating experiences. Reporting on the use of duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect from biological weapon attacks reached the point of ridicule, he said.

“We let that story go on too long,” he said. “I let it define us.”

Sesno presented Ridge with a gift to celebrate the fourth birthday of the department. Inside were colored Post-it notes, “monogrammed travel” Ziploc bags for airport security and color-coded duck tape in silver, blue, green and red.

“Few have done as much for duct tape as Tom Ridge,” Sesno joked.

Ridge is now a senior adviser in state government practice at Deloitte, a major consulting firm.