Cities of Laguna Hills Signing Final Commitment to Move Mission Viejo for Animal Care Services - April 12, 2016. City of RSM to Follow!!!

   

THE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER HAS NOW BEEN OFFICIALLY VOTED OUT FOR Laguna Hills AND for Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM), AND OTHER CITIES MAY FOLLOW BUT THE COUNTY SHELTER WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!  THE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER HAS BEEN VERY PUBLICLY EXPOSED, IS NOW BEING CLOSELY MONITORED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED IN THE FUTURE FOR HARD EVIDENCE OF SIGNIFICANT CORRECTIONS TO ANIMAL CARE SERVICES AND EFFORTS TO PLACE MORE ANIMALS IN GOOD HOMES.  ITS SERIOUS LACK OF TRANSPARENCY FOR THE RESIDENTS AND PETS IT IS SUPPOSSED TO BE SERVING IS BEING CHALLANGED AS WELL.  THE RSM CITY COUNCIL MEETING WAS A NAILBITER BUT, IN THE END, THE RSM CITY COUNCIL CAME THROUGH STRONGLY FOR RSM RESIDENTS AS WELL AS FOR US IN LAGUNA HILLS, BECAUSE THIS WAS A 2 CITIES TOGETHER OR NOTHING PROPOSITION.

MORE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ON APRIL 12, 2016 THE FINAL MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) WAS SIGNED BY LAGUNA HILLS

On April 12, 2016, Mayor Barbara Kogerman signed the Memorandum of Understand approved by the Laguna Hills City Council between Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo for Animal Control and Shelter Services.  She said, Watch for news of a signing ceremony at the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter with Laguna Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo. Mayor Kogerman said she was so grateful for the votes from all three city councils.  The total vote, from all three cities, was 14 Yes votes for the benefit of our residents and pets. there was only one No vote.

Laguna Hills' Assist. City Manager Don White said 3 weeks ago the Laguna Hills City Council directed us to approve the contract for animal care services with Mission Viejo if the RSM (Rancho Santa Margarita) City Council would also agree to contract with Mission Viejo.  Mayor Kogerman and Assistant City Manager Don White attended the RSM City Council Meeting on 3/23/2016 where RSM unanimously approved the 3 year agreement to contract with Mission Viejo for both cities.  Laguna Hills agreement goes to the Mission Viejo City Council on 4/26/2016 then to RSM on 4/27/2016. Following that, there will be a notice to terminate services with OC Animal Care effective January 1, 2017.

Mayor Kogerman asked if there was any possibility that this agreement would not go through and when will the final contract be signed?

Assistant City Manager Don White responded - Can't speak for other cities but Laguna Hills has done it's part.  The final contract could be signed as early as the end of the month, possibly in a joint signing ceremony. 

Mayor Kogerman added that Mission Viejo is coordinating that joint signing celebration.

HUGE THANK YOU'S FOR LAGUNA HILLS' MAYOR BARBARA KOGERMAN WHO WORKED SO HARD FOR OUR RESIDENTS AND PETS ON THIS ISSUE, AND FOR ALL THE LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND CITY STAFF WHO GOT IT ROLLING AS WELL AS FOR ALL THE RSM CITY COUNCIL AND STAFF WHO COMPLETED THE PROCESS FOR OUR 2 CITIES AND FOR MISSION VIEJO'S CITY COUNCIL, and STAFF AND SHARON CODY, THE FOUNDER OF THE MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHETER,  A FORMER MAYOR OF MISSION VIEJO AND THE PRESIDENT OF DAWG (DEDICATED ANIMAL WELFARE GROUP) - THE INCREDIBLE FUNDRAISING ARM OF THE MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER AS WELL AS GAIL DE YOUNG, THE DIRECTOR OF THE MV ANIMAL SHELTER AND ALL THE MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS. WE ALSO WANT TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO A VERY SPECIAL CITY ATTORNEY, GREG SIMONIAN, WHO SERVES BOTH LAGUNA HILLS AND RSM FOR SO COMPENTANTELY GUIDING BOTH OF OUR CITIES THROUGH THE LEGAL BOTH OF OUR CITIES THROUGH ALL THE LEGAL ISSUES AND QUESTIONS.

THANK YOUS TO ROSE TINGLE AND HER GROUP - CITIZENS FOR ANIMAL SHELTER, ORANGE COUNTY (on facebook) AS WELL AS ON VOICE OF OC, THE BRAVE LADY, SHARON LOGAN, WHO SUED THE COUNTY SHELTER FOR ITS EUTHANASIA PRACTICES, DR. JIM GARDNER, (Lake Forest Patch at  - http://patch.com/california/lakeforest-ca) WHO FERRETED OUT SO MUCH MISREPORTING FROM THE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER AND EXPOSED IT.  WE THANK VALERIE BROMBERG, TOM EPPERSON, JAMES VAUGHN and ALL THE GROUP FROM SOUTH COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER COALITION AND ALL THE DEDICATED RESIDENTS OF ALL OC CITIES WHO HAVE DOGGED THIS ISSUE FOR SO MANY YEARS, AS WELL AS ALL THE WONDERFUL AND DEDICATED OC GRAND JURY MEMBERS WHO LISTENED TO RESIDENTS, INVESTIGATED AND REPORTED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE COUNTY SHELTER.

1999-2000:  We Can Do Better...Improving Animal Care in Orange County

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/GJAnimalCare.pdf

2003-04: The Orange County Animal Shelter  - Are Improvements Needed?   http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/animalshelter.pdf

2007-08: Is Orange County Going To The Dogs?

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/dogstudy/dog-study.pdf

2014-15:  If Animals Could Talk About the Orange County Animal Shelter

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/2014_2015_GJreport/Shelter_Performance_V8R2_web.pdf

2014-15:  The Orange County Animal Shelter: the Facility, the Function, the Future

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/2014_2015_GJreport/OC_animal_shelter.pdf

ALSO, A HUGE THANK YOU TO ORANGE COUNTY'S OWN COUNTY AUDITOR, WHO WAS BRAVE AND HONEST ENOUGH TO TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH IN THE MOST SCATHING OF ALL THE REPORTS ON THE COUNTY SHELTER'S BEHAVIOR. The Performance Audit of Orange County Animal Care done by Philip Cheng, the Orange County Performance Audit Director - Final Report on March 24, 2015 at:

http://cams.ocgov.com/Web_Publisher/Agenda03_24_2015_files/imagesO00315-000276A.PDF

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE AND GROUPS WHO CAME OUT, CAME TOGETHER, AND FOUGHT FOR THIS THROUGH THE LETTERS THEY WROTE AND MEETINGS THEY ATTENDED AND ALL THEY DID OVER THE YEARS WITHOUT EVER GIVING UP.  WE ARE IMMENSLEY GRATEFUL FOR THE

WONDERFUL MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER WHO WAS KIND ENOUGH TO GIVE OUR LUCKY CITIES AN OPTION FOR DEDICATED KINDNESS AND CARING FOR OUR RESIDENTS AND THE PETS THEY LOVE!!!

** PLEASE SCROLL DOWN to see the next 2 blogs containing the closing comments from each of the City Council Members of Laguna Hills and Rancho Santa Margarita regarding their final votes in favor of contracting with the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter.  We are so very proud of all of them!!! 

Jean Bland, South County Animal Shelter Coalition 

Rancho Santa Margarita's City Council's Final Comments and Vote on Contracting with the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter on 3-22-2016

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA'S CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS' CONCLUDING COMMENTS ON THEIR 5-0 VOTE FOR CHANGING THEIR CITY'S ANIMAL

CARE SERVICES FROM OCAC TO THE MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER,FOR THEIR RESIDENTS ON MARCH 23, 2016

Council Member Bradley McGirr said the last Grand Jury Report that severely criticized OC Animal Care was the 5th Grand Jury report that criticized them and although the county recognized the findings they specifically, didn't just ignore them, they chose not to implement any of those Grand Jury Recommendations.  There had been multiple investigative reports on the OC Animal control and a number of legal challenges including the Logan case complaint with its 24 page report which he read. He added that the County has been fined, and been found to violate OCEA.  There have been employees that have sued the OC Animal Control due to unsafe conditions. They have received written and verbal complaints for years from veterinarians, former employees, members of the public and various organizations including poor morale, unfair hiring and promotion practices, and most importantly mistreatment and mishandling of the animals.

Council Member McGirr continued that he'd spent a lot of time on this issue and added that if we were going to rank OC Animal Control on a scale with Mission Viejo, Mission is an 11 and OC Animal Control is a 3.  He added that has nothing to do with the people at OC Animal Control.  He told a story about recently adopting a dog for his Mom and said they went to every shelter in the County looking for the right dog, because this was his Mom! They repeatedly went back to Mission Viejo because the people working there that were so smart, and educated regarding the animals.  He quipped that the animals at the MV Shelter were treated better than his own animals. They get walked constantly, there's a grass area for them where you can play with them, etc. He said they ended up going back to the OC Animal Control on a cold, rainy day in January.  The dogs were soaking wet and they adopted the smallest dog there, a little Chihuahua, that was shivering in the cold. In comparison, Mission has a roof over the kennels so the dogs are dry and there's a cattery that he said he didn't think any cat would want to leave.

Council Member McGirr confirmed that he completely supports staff's recommendation to go with the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter. He recalled that he and City Manger Cervantes were at a meeting of the Community Association of Rancho about a year ago and Dr. Jennifer Hawkins (The Director of the OC Animal Shelter), who was relatively new at that time, spoke and he was amazed when Dr Hawkins talked about being happy that the euthanasia rates had gone from 50% to 33%.  The head of the HOA of Canyon, at that time, said they had a dead deer sitting out on Bell Canyon Rd. for a number of days and had called the County repeatedly about this but couldn't get anybody to pick it up. She was told that was the lowest priority they had at the County Shelter which made him think more about what services they were getting for $119,000 a year. He noted that Mr. Bland mentioned his dead skunk and continued that he'd had a bat in his house, with a 2 year old child also in the house, so he called Animal control and was told it would be 3 days before they could respond so he had to call the local Sheriff's department who then called animal control who then came out that night and got the bat. Council Member McGirr also recalled a story about a dog off the leash mauling a lady's mother. The people who reported that said they were getting no help from OC Animal Control about investigating this so the City staff got involved and they investigated it.  He added that recently there were dogs off leash who bit a horse out by Robinson Ranch and concluded that they just weren't getting satisfactory service.

He stressed that , "Our Job is to do what's best for out residents". He noted there are a lot of pet owners in RSM and he recognizes the additional cost but, as of this week, the County raised it's cost by $14,000 and about 3 months ago they wanted an additional $30,000 because they weren't recovering their licensing fees. He added that the new county shelter was originally estimated to cost $25 million and now the county is estimating $35 million, but if it comes in for under $35 million he doesn't expect any refunds. He said he doesn't have any faith in the County of Orange fixing costs at any point in time. Their contract costs have gone up 150% over the last year and new costs will be incurred with the new shelter so he believes the currently stated $125,000 differential cost of service for MV over OC will not remain. He reported that he had put this issue out on social media and received 98 comments with No Negative Comments and added that people love their dogs and cats.  He noted all the good services from Mission Viejo and all the great opportunities for volunteer service plus the close proximity and concluded that Mission Viejo has far better services to render to our City than the County ever could. He also concluded that Animal Care Services is one thing that has always been lacking in this City and we have the money so residents will be getting far better services for their money, and to quote Amber Allison, that's what a City of excellence is all about.  His vote was for the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter. He added he would be honored to move this item.

Council Member Michael Vaughn said he too was leaning toward Mission Viejo and was all in favor of making decisions that benefit residents and animals because he thinks they do deserve world class care. He said he believes they are more likely to get this from Mission Viejo than from the county. He added that they do have the money, however he did admit to having some reservations related to local control as a city regarding the terms of the Mission Viejo contract giving RSM enough say.  He encouraged the staff to keep working with Mission Viejo toward that goal. He noted the observations on the contract that troubled him to be that Mission Viejo could terminate the contract at any time on a year's notice without cause whereas the County's contract is for no termination without cause.  If terminated by Mission Viejo RSM may not be so quickly admitted back in to the county's system. He added he doesn't like vulnerability. The description of the services in the contract states that they are at the discretion of Mission Viejo.  He said he was curious about how this would effect RSM's low cost vaccination program. He said however that he was looking forward to the residents and animals having more care.

Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Gamble said this was a pretty exciting day for her. She recalled that from 1995 to 2000 when RSM was exploring cityhood they called on a friend in Laguna Hills as well as others in South County to assist them. She added that when they became a city they transferred services from the county into the city, because that's what's done in the beginning. One of the driver's for this for incorporation, that occurred on January 1, 2000, was to make lives better for the residents of RSM whether they had 2 legs or 4. So they began to enhance services such as law enforcement, etc.  She added that it's time now to pay attention to their 4 legged residents and they understand their obligations and costs now. She added that she gave her ire to the county when they were here, so she's not going to do that again tonight. She said she was grateful to Mission Viejo that they would consider a collaboration and RSM as a customer and wanted to thank them and their staff for that and for the consideration they showed to their neighbors in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel and said she wholeheartedly supports this plan.  She added that she'd like to help out with some type of fee study.

Council Member Jerry Holloway said they looked at cost and fee levels of services for those who own animals and those who don't.  He said it's unfortunate that some services of the county are talked about in negative ways but that's the reality of it and sometimes it's literal numbers like those they saw related to the animal shelter. He expressed curiosity as to why they didn't talk to Mission Viejo sooner than this? He asked Jennifer, RSM City Manger, if they would always hear about complaints regarding the county animal services and she responded not unless the complaints came to the City rather than being directed to the county shelter as complaints from residents about service are not reported to us from the county shelter. He said this is going to be money well spent and he hoped they could talk about the fee structure sooner related to being able to control their own animal licensing fee structure. He said he would like to see some formal process through which they could communicate with Mission Viejo regarding any concerns such as the licensing fee structure. He closed by expressing the need for public input for the council on all matters.

Mayor Anthony Beall thanked all the speakers and people who wrote to the council members, not just tonight but over the years as well.   He said over the years he's noted that often times there are impassioned pleas from folks and often times speakers are motivated by self interests such a making some money or other personal benefit. He said in general, those who have approached us on this issue and those who've taken the time to do that over this long period of time are motivated by the purest of motivations. He said it's out of love and he appreciates that. It speaks well to all of you and the big hearts that you have. When it comes to a shelter and euthanasia rates there's a moral issue that's involved and it shouldn't be ignored in the name of money. 

Mayor Beall admitted that he now "gets" pets but didn't used to. He'd had animals growing up over the years but didn't really get it when he'd see people whose dog or cat would pass away and they acted like it was a member of the family. He said now he gets that animals can become part of our family and to Amber who is sad about her cat being so sick tonight, he feels for her. He said he wanted to salute everyone for their commitment to making this a better community. He added there are so many reason's why the Mission Viejo proposal is better including being much closer to home and the level of service. He added that the council and staff all try to deliver the highest levels of service to residents with a smile and he's confident that's what we'll find in Mission Viejo. The increased level of expense is related to getting what you pay for and there is a higher level of financial certainty with Mission Viejo, because there's an awful lot of uncertainty now related to county cost increases and unknown costs for the new shelter and so forth. Costs may end up being higher at the county, or maybe they won't, but we will end up getting a higher level of service. Public safety will be enhanced, faster response times, etc. He said the County has probably done the best they could with the resources they've had available, however for all the reasons we've all heard tonight we could do better and can afford to do better toward improving the quality of life for our residents and pets.

THE VOTE WAS 5-0 in FAVOR OF GOING WITH the MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER and there was much applause from the audience.

Mayor Kogerman from Laugna Hills thanked all the RSM Council Members on behalf of herself and all the other LH City Council Members and staff.

Ms. Sharon Logan shared a Voice of OC story at: http://voiceofoc.org/2016/03/advocates-level-more-accusations-against-county-animal-shelter/ by Nick Gerda, who reported that Ms. Logan, Rose Tingle and Dr. Jim Gardiner, who attended the OC County Board of Supervisors Meeting on March 22, 2016, publicly challenged Dr. Hawkins report of a 6% kill rate in September at the County Shelter. The Supervisors then gave a directive to Dr. Hawkins, DVM, Director of Orange County Animal Services, to come back to them with data countering what had been said about her giving false statements related to a euthanasia rate of 6% at the County Shelter in September.

Ms. Logan thanked the RSM City Council for giving the animals a chance now to live more than  3 to 5 days. 

Laguna Hills City Council Members Final Comments and Vote on Contracting with the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter - 3/22/2016

LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS' CONCLUDING COMMENTS ON THEIR 5-0 VOTE FOR CHANGING THEIR CITY'S ANIMAL CARE SERVICES FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER TO THE MISSION VIEJO ANIMAL SHELTER, FOR THEIR RESIDENTS ON MARCH 22, 2016

Council Member Andrew Blount said In first grade, my class took a tour of the Humane Society.  We all got on a bus and drove to the Humane Society in Colorado, and as part of the tour, we toured the kill chamber. On the bus trip back, a couple of friends and I were trying to figure out just how it was that they killed the animals.  We didn't know if they shot them or if they suffocated them or if they burnt them, or whatever their process was, but it left a lasting impression on me, a very strong lasting impression. There is no way on earth that I would ever oppose, ever, any change out of the county and it gives me great pleasure today to be able to support the motion and, over the years, watching the very fine work that you've done that's one of the primary reasons that I came aboard the council in the first place. It's a wonderful night for me and I'm glad to be here.

Council Member Dore Gilbert said, I'd like to recommend that the city council direct staff to finalize all partner agreements with the City of Mission Viejo for view and approval at the April 12, 2016 City Council Meeting.  (*Motion Made to Accept Staff Recommendation.) Dr. Gilbert continued, The time has come and I think we have before us a very reasonable proposal and I'm confident that Rancho Santa Margarita will probably join us and we'll be able to provide our citizens with the kind of animal care that I think a city like ours should have.  Onward and forward.

Mayor Barbara Kogerman   Mayor Kogerman showed the audience a huge notebook/binder and said it was full of the Grand Jury information and all the information she'd been collecting over the years about the County Shelter and added there is so much information that is so damning about the OC Animal Shelter. But to speak about the positives, about our good neighbors, the City of Mission Viejo, I'm so grateful to the City of Mission Viejo for extending this offer to us and to Sharon Cody and to Gail de Young, for running such a great shelter and setting up the volunteers and our own community's Beth Hoss for being volunteer of the year. Beth sent out a wonderful letter to the community about how the children went over and read to the animals, this is the kind of thing you can do with the Mission Viejo Shelter that you can't do maybe anyplace else.  This is one of the happiest moments since I've been on the City Council. I thank you for sharing it with us tonight and I'm so excited to call for the question.  She also thanked staff for all their good work on this and for helping make this happen.

Those in favor of the recommendation please say Aye.  There were 5 Aye's, 
The vote was 5 - 0 in favor of the Staff Recommendation to go with the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter.  Everyone cheered!!!

Mayor-Pro-Tem Don Sedgwick said, I also want to offer my support for the staff recommendation.  I think that all of us on the council have been hoping that somehow it would make reasonable financial sense for us to go forward with the more local, closer to home, Mission Viejo Shelter. I've always really liked the idea of being able to be part of a shelter that is smaller, more controllable, and more full of the use of volunteers who really care and are friendly.  That's a good reflection on the Mission Viejo Shelter, that it attracts so many people who want to be part of it, who care for animals and their well being. It's a reflection on what's going on at the shelter itself, after the report on what was going on at the county.  I spoke with so many friends who are residents of Mission Viejo and others who have been associated with that shelter. I gotta tell you that I just have not heard a negative word spoken, which is in such great contrast to the unfortunate perception that is out there for the County so I think we are all thrilled to see that there is a way in which we could prudently and reasonable go forward with this proposal that is more local, and provides us with what we believe to be better service and more localized service.  It's a great day for us and wonderful for them, as Mr. Breton brought up, in that they could go forward by adding another shift and expanding a little bit to increase what they are able to offer. I'm looking forward to the partnership.

Council Member Melody Carruth said, While we have always been one of the contract cities with the County of Orange, since incorporation, I think the hearts of many of our residents have always been with the Mission Viejo Shelter. Over the years watching how well the Mission Viejo Shelter has been managed having somebody like Gail de Young and with Sharon Cody's leadership and Bob Breton and the staff they have that have been there for years, making sound financial decisions.  She added that she'd had an opportunity to tour the Mission Viejo Shelter this week and was able to see the programs that were there where our residents could spend valuable time and know that they are needed, and are able to serve the community.  She added it's been a long journey and it's a great pleasure to make this decision. 

MANY QUESTIONS STILL NEED TO BE ANSWERED BY THE COUNTY RE: A NEW ANIMAL SHELTER

We now have ample documentation of the many years of very significant problems related to the facility and the function of the Orange County Animal Shelter as evidenced by the 5 most recent Orange County Grand Jury Reports on the Orange County Animal Shelter - all listed below - plus the 2015 Orange County Performance Audit Report also listed below. Thanks to the sustained efforts of these dedicated people, and many others, it appears that after 74 years the County is finally going to build a new Animal Shelter, but the function of a new shelter remains in serious doubt as does the ability of only one animal shelter to handle the pet overpopulation of a rapidly growing Orange County. The 2007-2008 Grand Jury Report entitled - Is Orange County Going to the Dogs? 

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/dogstudy/dog-study.pdf  states that: "Even if the new site in Tustin is approved, it may only be able to handle an increase in the animal caseload for a few years unless the pet population tsunami is stabilized or reversed. Based on county records and growth rates, according to OCAC, the future animal population projections would put the new shelter at maximum capacity in about five years. To lower the euthanasia count and reduce the overpopulation of unwanted animals in the future, some form of mandatory spay/neuter program may be required."

Also, because the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior the possibility for obtaining better function and services for residents and their pets for cities that choose to partner with the County Animal Shelter are bleak. In addition there are still too many unanswered questions about the proposed new County Animal Shelter's cost and function. Those questions need to be answered before OC cities can make any reasonable decision regarding remaining with the County Animal Shelter.  However, answers have not been made available by the County and the County is pressuring cities for a commitment by April 1, 2016.  When anyone, or any city, is considering making a substantial investment, a history of successful past performance is vital as is the most credible assurance of successful future performance as well as a lack of pressure to act quickly.

** Please see below re. the lack of answers from the County to questions about a new County Animal Shelter.

In contrast to the County Animal Shelter's 70 + year history of poor services to residents and pets, chronic lack of shelter maintenance and high kill rates for pets, the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter has existed for more than 20 years with a strong record of good services to residents and their pets and a low kill rate related only to pets that can't be saved. The Mission Viejo Animal Shelter has a strong history of keeping their shelter well maintained and has, over the years, earned the respect of the community through substantially growing their DAWG (Dedicated Animal Welfare Group) that provides substantial amounts of shelter volunteers and donations of financial support from residents of local communities for the pets at the MV Shelter who require medical care, training and other types of support to be adopted. The Mission Viejo Animal Shelter is currently serving Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo and has recently answered a request, from the City's of Laguna Hills and Rancho Santa Margarita, for a proposal to share their Animal Shelter.

Regarding Rose Tingle's recent request to, the County for public records information about the FOAB - Financial and Operational Advisory Board, that appears to have been a significant force behind the chronic underfunding of the Orange County Animal Shelter for so many years, the FOAB continues to be completely non-transparent to residents related to sharing no information regarding funding of the shelter with the public and no information regarding it's meetings. ** See more at -Citizens for Animal Shelter, Orange County on facebook.

*** Please see the 2015 PERFORMANCE AUDIT REPORT ON THE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER by Philip Cheng, the Orange County Performance Audit Director - Final Report on March 24, 2015 at: http://cams.ocgov.com/Web_Publisher/Agenda03_24_2015_files/images/O00315-000276A.PDF  for a lengthy but very complete report on the long term County Shelter Dysfunction with 34 recommendations and other very significant  information.

Some of the questions that require answers are as follows:

QUESTION 1 - What is the length of time of the land leases for the land on which the new animal shelter is to be built?  What will the costs be for the land leases, if any, to the Cities and the County  How are land lease costs going to be paid related to each city and to the county?  ** Steve Franks, Director of OC Community Resources, under which the County Animal Shelter service falls, spoke at the 1-12-16 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting and said the County of Orange and South OC Community College District signed a notice of intent in December 2015 for the County to enter into a ground lease to expedite land from South OC Community College District to the County.  6.7 acres is going to be owned by So. OC Community College District with no restrictions on development and will be leased to the County.  The balance of the property will be transferred under a sub-lease so the County will essentially have control of 10 acres. Terms and conditions of the Ground Lease have been agreed to in a closed session in Dec. of 2015. Lease documents are being mutually drafted and expected to be executed by March of 2016.

QUESTION 2 - The public and the cities need to know if the consultant who was hired by the County, JVR SHELTER STRATEGIES - Jyothi Robertson, DVM, has had any significant successes with turning very troubled animal shelters around to make them people and animal friendly and if so with what shelters?. ** Dr. Robertson, DVM looks great in print on the Internet but she appears to be the only source available for technical information, related to this quote from her web site, "Shelter Medicine is a relatively new and complex veterinary specialty and Dr. Robertson is the only known veterinarian qualified in Shelter Medicine offering consulting services". Dr. Robertson also appears to be consulting solely related to technical and legal functions of a shelter, which would be helpful related to the County Animal Shelter's function, but there is no information re. her knowledge of turning such a bad shelter around related to making it animal and people friendly.  Mike Arms at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego is a master at making animal shelters animal and people friendly and at bringing in a great deal of funding to help support animal shelters.  He has also made it his life's mission to consult with animal shelters all over the world when requested so his fee would be significantly low.  See more about Mike Arms at - http://www.animalcenter.org/about_hwac/our_president.aspx 

Question 3 - We need to know if the newest County Shelter Director Jennifer Hawkins, DVM has a history of significant managerial skills that are needed to support the County Animal Shelter's Performance, if and when it functions significantly better, and if she any experience in turning an animal shelter around to make it people and animal friendly.  ** Steve Franks told us about the shelter consultant being hired to address the current and future problems at the County Animal Shelter beginning in February, 2016, and introduced us to the County Shelter Director Jennifer Hawkins but failed to provide any information about the qualifications of the consultant or the qualifications of County Shelter Director related to turning bad shelters around to make them people and animal friendly.

QUESTION 4 - What are the County Animal Shelters plans for the future related to The Orange County Grand Jury Report's predictions of continued population growth in Orange County that will again overwhelm any new County Shelter in 5 years?

QUESTION 5 - Why did the County Shelter disclose and publish stats for "Euthanasia for TIME and SPACE only in the years 2011 and 2012 but not in 2010, 2013 or 2014?

QUESTION 6 - Specifically, what Community Outreach has the County Shelter done, where have they done it and how frequently they have they done it for at least the past 2 years- 2014 and 2015?  Also, how effective have specific Community Outreach Efforts they've done been, related to decreasing the number of shelter admissions?

QUESTION 7- How can any correct "buy in number" for Laguna Hills be known, at this time, when we've been told that the total number of cities that choose to continue with the County Shelter Services will be used to determine the capacity and COST of the new animal shelter and the total number of cities that will stay with the County Shelter has not yet been confirmed? (**The target for a commitment by the cities is April, 2016.)  ** Laguna Hills Assistant City Manager Don White told us, after many different amounts of money for a Laguna Hills "buy in" to a new County Animal Shelter (ranging from $249,000 to $415,000) had been quoted to us in the past, this latest one of $185,102.00 is the correct one.

QUESTION 8 -  How will the system of funding the County shelter be changed to ensure sufficient funding and will the FOAB be made accountable to the public, if this shelter has any hope of future improvement?  At the 1-12-16 Laguna Hills City Council meeting Rose Tingle requested that the FOAB meetings be made public. ** In the documents, requested by Rose Tingle, the County refused to provide any meaningful information about the FOAB - Financial Operational Advisory Board that, from what we heard from Steve Franks and Jennifer Hawkins on 1-12-2016, appear to be a significant factor related to chronic underfunding of the County Animal Shelter for many years.

QUESTION 9 - Will there be an independent volunteer group from the community, served by the County Shelter, to monitor the activity of a new County Animal Shelter and provide input to the public? ** There was Citizens Advisory Committee that was disbanded under former Shelter Director, Jennifer Phillips, and was never replaced.  Only 2 Groups exist now and both of those groups consist of all APPOINTED members. The ACCOC (Animal Care Outreach Community) consists of 5 members who are APPOINTED by the 5 County Supervisorial Districts and the  FOAB (Financial Operational Advisory Board) consists of 7 members (6 members APPOINTED but the Orange County City Manager's Association and 1 member from the County.

QUESTION 10 -  How long has the incorrect reporting of "euthanasia stats" been going on and how has it been permanently corrected for the future?  Do we need to require an annual outside audit of the County Shelter to be able to trust their ability to provide accurate statistical information in the future?  ** In response to a question from Mayor Barbara Kogerman,  Dr. Hawkins, County Animal Shelter Director, admitted, at the Laguna Hills City Council Meeting on 1-12-2016, that the County Shelter's Public Statistics for euthanization of animals at the shelter were not correct in 2014 and the stats showed reflected a lower rate of euthanasia than was actually occurring. She did not say how long that had been happening before Dr. Jim Gardner, from Lake Forest found that problem and brought it to the attention of the County Shelter.

QUESTION 11- How will very significant threats to the health of animals be eliminated in a new shelter and what is the reason for the huge numbers of dogs and cats that came in healthy and got sick enough to have to be euthanized?  **The County 2015 Performance Audit Report states, that in 2014, 1,605 dogs and cats were normal when they came to the County Shelter and later euthanized because of medical conditions or contagious disease.

QUESTION 12 -  What will be the estimated total cost to hire all the staff needed for the new shelter to function appropriately and to bring all the shelter practices and procedures up to date?  **The County 2015 Performance Audit Report said the County was 44% understaffed.

QUESTION 13 - Will the small amount of canvassing contractually provided by to the cities that contract with the County Animal Shelter increase enough in the future to be useful to a city?  ** The City of Laguna Hills paid thousands of additional dollars for canvassing that reportedly produced some results.

Below are OC Grand Jury Reports on the deficits at the County Animal Shelter from the year 2000 through the year 2015. 

1. - If Animals Could Talk About the Orange County Animal Shelter 6/17/15

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/2014_2015_GJreport/Shelter_Performance_V8R2_web.pdf

2. - The Orange County Animal Shelter: the Facility, the Function, the Future 5/21/16

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/2014_2015_GJreport/OC_animal_shelter.pdf 

Three previous Grand Jurys also pointed out very significant deficits in this 74 year old County Shelter  - 

1. 2007-2008, Is Orange County Going to the Dogs?

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/dogstudy/dog-study.pdf

2. 2003-2004, The Orange County Animal Shelter – Are Improvements Needed?

http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/animalshelter.pdf 

3. 1999-2000, We Can Do Better…Improving Animal Care in Orange County - http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/GJAnimalCare.pdf 

Please see the two posts below this post to find additional information re. the Orange County Animal Shelter.