Higher quality care, better service, and lower prices for 200,000 people and their pets in South Orange County came one step closer as the Laguna Hills City Council voted 5 to 0 to authorize working with their neighbors to explore a multi-city animal care service and shelter. Under the determined leadership of Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Kogerman, the Council discussed their court- mandated response to the recent Grand Jury report that found the 74-year-old County shelter “rundown, overcrowded, dilapidated, unsafe, unclean for staff, volunteers, visitors, and animals”. Even more compelling, The Grand Jury criticized “The County’s lack of leadership, commitment and priority in failing to address the need of new Animal Shelter facilities, despite the immediate need apparent for 20+ years, with nothing of substance accomplished during that time frame…”
Click here for a discussion of the Grand Jury Report
Click here for a discussion of the County Shelter.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Laguna Hills Councilman Don Sedgwick asked if there was any chance that after all this time, something had changed to give the Council hope that positive change was coming from the County. Mayor Dore Gilbert opined “Not in our lifetime.”
There was some heated discussion about whether or not to break completely with the County, but absent an alternative this didn’t appear to be a prudent choice. Councilwoman Melody Carruth was worried that by pursuing other alternatives, whatever influence the City had with the County would be dissipated. Councilman Sedgwick answered – “We should never commit to not having a Plan B.”
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Plan B for Laguna Hills will be to work with their neighbors, including Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM), and San Juan Capistrano (SJC) to explore locating, building, and operating a multi-city shelter. At some point this may involve co-funding a feasibility study to determine whether or not it makes sense financially.
Only a week ago, the City Council from RSM voted 5 to 0 to explore a similar path. Mayor Brad McGirr was present at the meeting last night along with Councilman Mike Vaughn.
Click here for a discussion of the RSM meeting.
Speakers at the meeting included Rose Tingle from Citizens for an Animal Shelter and long-time animal activists and Laguna Hills residents Tom Epperson, Julie Bierman, and Mike Bland. The meeting even brought residents from adjacent cities, including Randy Johnson (Lake Forest) and Amber Allison (RSM). County Supervisor staff member Sergio Prince was in the audience, as was April Josephson, a member of the County animal care committee. Lynn Gabrielson showed a brief video.
With Laguna Hills and RSM proposing a joint effort to explore a multi-city service and shelter, the baton is now passed to Lake Forest who will meet next Tuesday (July 21) to discuss the issue.
Right now 4 cities in South Orange County are served by the County – Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, RSM, and SJC. Last year about 1,100 animals entered the shelter, which is a number remarkably similar to the number who entered the Mission Viejo shelter that serves Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and Aliso Viejo.
But comparing Mission Viejo with the County is like night and day. The MV facilities are far superior and the place is teeming with volunteers. The euthanasia rate at MV has consistently been well below 10% while at the County it has consistently been about 40% and sometimes above 50%. More telling, the costs to taxpayers for licenses and fees are much lower for people living in the 3 cities served by Mission Viejo.
One resident summed it up –
“What a pleasure it was to watch the Laguna Hills Council in action tonight. Like a fine oiled machine. Despite the variety of personalities and beliefs, all of them admitted a problem exists and it was time to work together in order to solve it. All egos were temporarily placed on hold….What a marvelous performance.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.
Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on August 15 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.
“ŷ�졋
