On March 20, 2009 the Los Angeles City Clerk entered the following Council Agenda item for the Council Meeting to take place on Friday, March 27, 2009 (downloadable PDF here):
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO ATTEND THIS MEETING.
AN APPROXIMATE TIME FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM
WILL BE POSTED HERE LATER TODAY.
AN APPROXIMATE TIME FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM
WILL BE POSTED HERE LATER TODAY.
AGENDA
LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 10:00 A.M.
JOHN FERRARO COUNCIL CHAMBER
ROOM 340, CITY HALL
200 NORTH SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
INTERNET: www.lacity.org; click on Council file number for background documents
ITEM NO. (19)
Council File number 09-0601
MOTION (CARDENAS - ALARCON - ZINE - ET AL.) relative to the Spay and Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program. Recommendations for Council action:
1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services (DAS) to immediately reinstate the Spay/Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program funded through the Animal Spay and Neuter Trust Fund.
2. INSTRUCT the DAS, with the assistance of any other pertinent city department to report to the Public Safety Committee on Monday, March 23, 2009 on the status of the Spay/Neuter Voucher Program including the status of the high volume spay and neuter clinics.
3. REQUEST the Controller to perform a follow up audit of the 2008 Spay/Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program with the emphasis on the outreach and effectiveness of the program to reach out to low-income residents.
4. INSTRUCT the General Manager, DAS, to take into consideration the preliminary recommendations of the Spay and Neuter Advisory Committee’s Preliminary report to the Council due on March 30, 2009 and consult with the advisory committee members in moving forward with assuring the spay and neuter voucher program is made available to the city’s low-income residents and effective strategies are in place for outreach.
5. INSTRUCT the DAS to report back to Council on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 on the requested
We at BW are grateful to Councilmembers Cardenas, Zine, Alarcon and Garcetti for sponsoring this motion and for their continuing dedication to the animals and the People of Los Angeles (notwithstanding the horrendous vote to keep Billy the Elephant imprisoned at the Zoo. We expect them to reverse this decision and will lobby them accordingly.).
If you are also appreciative of the actions of Councilmembers, we urge you to call or write to them and thank them. You are of coure encouraged to say whatever else you think about the mismanagement of Animal Services under the current management by Boks and Barth. Leaving comments here is an easy way to do that. They do read this blog.
If you are needing the email addresses of any Councilmember, please email us at laboardwatch@gmail.com and we will gladly provide them. We have found that publishing email addresses on this site leads to spam being sent to those addresses and will no longer publish email addresses here. Probably.
BW.
This city will have a huge party when Boks and Barth are gone! The only way to ever reach no-kill in this city is to get rescuers involved as much as possible instead of keeping them out which is what Boks has done.
ReplyDeleteThe City Council is doing what the Mayor should have done a long time ago.
Re: Fur flies over halting spay-neuter aid - By Rick Orlov rick.orlov@dailynews.com 213-978-0390 Staff Writer
ReplyDeleteA City Council panel rebuked the head of Los Angeles' Animal Services Department on Monday as it recommended resurrecting the city's $150,000 spay-neuter voucher program. View Full Story
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So many in the animal community ask how to "go public" about the Department of LAAS's management/shelter issues. So many who are affiliated with the Department fear repercussions if they speak out. I think this article may have opened the door and is affording everyone the opportunity to speak out. Whether or not the paper/public has an interest in what is going on remains to be seen, but it can't hurt to vent. Do it anonymously if that makes you more comfortable.
The article deals with spay/neuter aid, but it also discusses other complaints in the Department that were brought up by a few council members. Note the last paragraph of the Daily News article wherein Ed Boks is quoted: "This is a tough job. Do we make mistakes, yes. Are we committed to making corrections, yes. I am committed to making this department more credible to the community."
I wonder if Mr. Boks will correct the decision his assistant made to FIRE me as a VOLUNTEER because I wrote and went public with a "Tribute to Guapo and Friends," as if it contained top-secret information. I am neither allowed in the shelters to help the animals nor can I participate in the mobile adoptions. While I was advised that I should have spoken to someone in the Department and gotten permission before writing the Tribute, what's interesting to note is that I've actually spoken publicly, on video, at several workshops that LAAS held and at City council meetings expressing in much greater detail what was contained in the Tribute. Talk about going public! In fact, I encourage everyone to go to www.lacity.org/lacityvew35 and click "On Demand Video," "Public Meetings/Town Hall," and then "Town Hall." Specifically, if you have some time, watch the workshops for "Medical/Behavioral" (especially listen to the volunteers after the panel speaks); "Volunteers"; "Rescue Groups"; and "Adoptions." So many great suggestions were offered (mostly by volunteers) and so little implementation has been undertaken.
Please let Boks and the Department know how little credibility they have when they see fit to fire the very people ("unpaid employee," as I was defined) who want to help the animals and make a difference in their lives. And do consider sharing any experiences you may have had with LAAS. Now is the time to be the voices for the animals. Now is the time to go public.
Volunteer