Boyer: County Managers Responsible for the Animal Shelter’s Decline are Turning Their Back on the Community

For 2 years running, the assemblage has documented the degradation of OC Animal Care – the region shelter, supposedly overseen by Orange County Community Resources (OCCR). We are present witnessing the region managers’ outright disdain for OC taxpayers. Community members researched the inheritance of the shelter’s manager Monica Schmidt utilizing property reports, taxation filings, and newsletters. They recovered that Schmidt inflated her acquisition and qualifications on her occupation application. Schmidt, who studied governmental science, claimed extended structure operations experience, but her inheritance is really dominated by nationalist relations. 

When the assemblage pointed retired that the structure was lowering its standards, the bureaucrats’ fig leafage was Schmidt’s expected “experience”. Smoke and mirrors. Schmidt, a slick PR professional, is affable and attentive to those she wants to influence: The region CEO, the Supervisors, and their aides… but has nary grasp of carnal structure operations, and routinely lies to Supervisors and the public. 

Schmidt’s protectors are Dylan Wright (OCCR director) and Cymantha Atkinson (OCCR adjunct director). Is fibbing connected a occupation exertion mean for Wright and Atkinson? Integrity is lacking successful the OC elder bureaucracy, arsenic we recovered retired successful a slew of caller scandals involving Supervisor Andrew Do, his main of staff, ex-Supervisor Michelle Steele, and senior region managers (including Wright)… not to notation Atkinson wasting wealth connected a weird declaration astatine the shelter.

The structure should not beryllium flying blind.

It has a Strategic Plan, developed by nationalist experts. Egregiously, Schmidt and Atkinson abandoned this plan. They lowered the shelter’s standards to excuse their mediocre performance. On the shelter’s website the Strategic Plan is obscurity to beryllium found. Since Spring 2023, we’ve been asking the structure to travel the Strategic Plan. These failed managers stalled and delayed. Now they’re utilizing different audacious scheme: A declaration for a “new” Strategic Plan. 

That volition mean much delays, much payer dollars wasted, and nary accountability.

OCCR’s slick PR says they’re looking to “reconnect with the public” and have “a assemblage conversation”. To spot what this means, I attended the quarterly gathering of the carnal shelter’s Community Outreach Committee past month. The bureaucrats’ contempt for the taxpaying nationalist was palpable. For the full meeting, Schmidt sat with her backmost turned to the public. She twisted her seat and her posture to debar facing taxpayers. Schmidt was the lone idiosyncratic connected the dais to instrumentality this action. A assemblage subordinate suggested that Schmidt should crook towards the public. It’s conscionable 1 hr each 3 months, helium said. Schmidt could surely travel look to look with the taxpayers conscionable 4 times a year. His words fell connected deaf ears. Meanwhile, Atkinson (Schmidt’s contiguous superior) sat down the public, grinning astatine Schmidt’s stunt. Forget “reconnect with the public” and hide “community conversation”. 

Schmidt and Atkinson, abetted by Wright, are treating the structure arsenic their backstage domain. 

We spot nary amended from County Supervisor Katrina Foley who coddles incompetence and parrots the bureaucrats’ lies. In April, aft months of sneaky delay, OCCR announced their bizarre enactment of Schmidt arsenic director. In the county Press Release Foley gloated and raved, ignoring the shelter’s deterioration – and the fabrications successful Schmidt’s background. Foley’s territory is coastal Orange County, served by fantabulous section shelters similar Mission Viejo and Newport Beach – not by the region shelter. 

Foley is straying from her ain territory to foist a sub-standard structure connected the remainder of the county. Is she looking down connected middle-class cities similar Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Orange, Tustin, and Fullerton?

Enough already. Taxpayers already paid for a Strategic Plan based connected nationalist standards. We don’t request a “new” one. Just get to enactment and travel it. Deliver the high-quality carnal structure our assemblage expects. Start here:

• Get escaped of remaining COVID-era policies and springiness visitors afloat entree to the shelter, not conscionable 3 hours a day. 

Please note, that the nationalist inactive cannot spell successful and spot each the dogs available, the small dogs are kept successful the interior ellipse and are not accessible astatine immoderate time. 

You tin lone spot the small dogs if you marque appointment. That is not the mode to tally an Open Shelter” and  does not assistance get dogs adopted.

• Hire Animal Care Attendants successful enactment with nationalist standards. These are the front-line unit members that instrumentality attraction of the animals and facilitate adoptions. 

• Provide dogs with regular out-of-kennel clip and socialization. Readers, delight ask the Board of Supervisors and OC cities to instrumentality the Strategic Plan. Not immoderate aboriginal costly fuzzy one, but the 1 they already approved successful 2018. If managers are incapable of pursuing this plan… past it’s the managers that should beryllium ditched, not the Strategic Plan. 

The taxpayers shouldn’t wage for a “new” program to accommodate dishonesty and incompetence.

Check OCShelter.com for the latest published articles, the Grand Jury report, the Strategic Plan, and more.

Margot Boyer, an carnal payment advocate, lives successful Yorba Linda. She is an experienced Event and Trade Show Manager, Green Industry Hall of Fame Director, and Event Director for the California Association of Landscape Contractors. 

Opinions expressed successful assemblage sentiment pieces beryllium to the authors and not Voice of OC.

Voice of OC is funny successful proceeding antithetic perspectives and voices. If you privation to measurement successful connected this contented oregon others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.

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