Gang Euthanizes Animal Care Proposal

The Gang of 3 exercised their 3:2 powers once again to kill the animal care proposal that would have brought better service, better care, and lower prices to the people of Lake Forest. Instead they chose to stay with Orange County, where the greatest single way to leave the shelter is by death, and where thousands of kittens and puppies are killed every year.

As a result of their vote, Lake Forest will be one of only two cities in the entire Southern Orange California area to stay with the County. From Costa Mesa and Newport Beach down to San Clemente and Dana Point, almost every city has their own service or contracts with a neighbor.

The Council chambers was standing room only, and every one of more than a dozen Lake Forest residents urged the Council to vote for the alternative proposal, which would provide local animal control, local Veterinary services, and a local adoption center.

Neither the City staff nor the OC Animal Shelter Director could provide any answers to some relevant questions about the 10 year contract that the Gang of 3 endorsed.

• How much will the City have to pay for construction costs? $600,000? $800,000?
• Why is it that our costs keep rising (between 2.5% and 5% per year) even though our admissions and field services keep declining (7% to 11%) every year?
• How much will we pay for the basic services?
• In light of the promises to do a better job (e.g. add more staff, increase training) how will this impact the costs of our services, given that we currently pay about $600,000 per year for minimal staff, poor training, and bad service?

The self-described fiscally conservative Gang of 3 didn’t bat an eye as it was apparently clear that they were virtually writing a blank check to the County for the next 10 years. And this was being done with no accountability.

• · Suppose the OC shelter continues to kill nearly 40% of the animals every year?
• · Suppose the OC shelter continues to kill thousands of kittens and puppies?
• · Suppose the OC shelter continues to present false information about their critical services?

The Gang of 3 voted for the City to hand over $600,000 or more to help build the new shelter, and then sign a blank check with no accountability, with a minimum of $600,000 a year in operating costs and no maximum that anyone could even estimate.

Councilman Nick and I asked for the staff to issue the RFPs so that we could determine whether or not there were viable contractors out there. At this and the previous meeting, several animal control agencies, adoption agencies, and at least one local Vet were present. But the Gang of 3 didn't even want to see what could happen.

The vote didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The Gang of 3 has been opposed to virtually any changes for which they have not received funds from special interests. In the area of animal care, the Gang

• · Allowed a developer to remove a dog park from their plans, even though it was in the Development Agreement.
• · Voted against a Dog Park Committee and any improvements to the dog park
• · Voted against an Animal Welfare Commission
• · Ordered the staff to stop looking for any alternatives to using the County shelter.

Despite the expectations, the animal advocates who remained in the chambers well after 11 pm before the final vote was taken, were infuriated. They called the actions of the Gang “disgusting” and disparaged the City staff for their poor report. Several of the animal advocates were involved in the recall effort, and they vowed to work in the coming months to insure that the Gang of 3 were voted out of office.

The recall effort has focused on the corruption by the Gang of 3 in accepting money from special interests and then voting to give those special interests whatever they asked for. The issue came up last night when Foothill Ranch resident Tracey Tingley revealed that Mayor Hamilton took $1,500 from a vendor who was asking for an extension and a raise in their fee. With a straight face, Hamilton said he didn’t believe he should excuse himself from the vote because the money didn’t influence his vote. Councilman Robinson, who takes even more money than Hamilton, agreed.

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 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on August 13 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.