Is this like recruiting Sheriff Taylor from Mayberry?
I don't really feel like writing about this. Linda Barth will eat her alive if she's not smart or even if she is. I wish her luck, but predict that she will soon long for her quiet life on the boat at Lake Union. At her new salary, she could dock at Marina del Rey...
Waiting for Nathan reaction...and Pam's. Small dogs will have a friend. What about the pit bulls?
Photo: Dan Shclatter
Nathan should like her, they've worked together pretty closely here in Kings County. However, in addition to no govt. experience and no enforcement experience (the staff should "love" her) some things to check out: She's reported to be a dog breeder, and a supporter of NAIA - which opposes mandatory s/n,supports AKC and breeding, and has rodeo's and animal researchers as members...why does this appointment make sense? Oh yeah, she's run a couple small, closed admission, non-profit animal rescue groups - guess that's qualification enough.
ReplyDeleteBrenda Barnette is a breeder of poodles, that is why she has so many. She is a legislative rep for an AKC kennel club. Just released this morning from the ACO Guild in King County is a letter written to the Executive Manager Constantine saying that Barnette and the other two women of KCACC Exposed actually conspired to undermine animal control in King County so SHS could take over. Pretty damning. It hurt the shelter animals but she doesn't care about the shelter animals.
ReplyDeleteBarnette continued to import dogs when her own local shelters were still euthanizing for time and space. Then she lied about it, denying an agreement with Kern County when the agreement is online at the county website. The ACO Guild organized the employees at the Seattle Humane last year and then the truth started coming out about her leadership or lack of. Seattle Humane has an out of control staff turnover rate.
http://kcanimalcontrol.blogspot.com/ has quite a bit about this woman. She is a poor choice, worse than Boks.
Barnette is the legislative liason for the Seattle Kennel club, which is a member of AKC - she is pro-breeding and anti s/n. Didn't LA just pass a mandatory s/n law? Glad she's leaving. Look it up yourself.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering what happened to the 6 dogs which were her "life." Either she's leaving them in WA, no longer has them, or she will do the smart thing and hide them...like the rest of L.A.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I want her to do well. I'll give any new person a fair chance, but the odds and the cards are stacked against her here. She would need to be bold, decisive and courageous to do what needs to be done here.
We shall see if she really does meet with everyone she says she'll meet with. And how to you get one of those meetings?
Let's give her a chance! She obviously loves animals which has not always been truly considered in these appointments. And she KNOWS dogs and the challenges a "special" dog can present to all concerned. Now, I wonder about her kitty experience! If she needs help, I hope all the cat rescues will be there! Team work and collaboration can take LAAS from the killing fields to REDEMPTION.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that she actually shares her personal life with animals is a plus. We haven't seen that in a GM, since...um...must be before my time.
ReplyDeleteI want to give her a chance. Does the City? If you know the story and true structure of LAAS and who is in charge now, there would have to be some real changes for her to even HAVE a chance.
1. The City is broke.
2. Linda Barth will not give up power and is a master of deception and scheming.
3. The mayor's "liason."
4. This job sucks. You have to be head dog catcher and carry a badge (and supervise a bunch of other badges, many who should be fired) AND...at the same time, be a shelter manager with little or no resources.
5. The laws we have which were supposedly designed to reduce the killing are unenforced and/or unenforceable.
6. The public relations and marketing plan that would really achieve no kill has never been tried here and we don't have the money for it. Maybe she can raise it.
7. Politics and labor contracts. I truly don't think either allow a successful resolution to the plight of our animals.
For any GM to succeed here, the system needs a complete revamp. "Animal Control" must be severed from "Animal Care" and shelter operations. When that happens, let me know. As much as I despise Ed Boks, this job is nearly impossible to do under the current system.
Ms. Barnette is a fund raiser. I think she's here to begin the transfer of shelter operations to a non-profit...and that she will be the CEO of a new non-profit to be established to take the shelter system off the hands of the City, which has proven that it cannot and will not do the job at hand.
The staff at LA Animal Services should start looking for new jobs now! She'll clean house as soon as she can. You are either w/ her or against her. There is no room for discussion or alternative opinions to hers.
ReplyDeleteIf only she could. The staff are union employees and deeply entrenched city employees. This is not a non-profit humane society. This is government.
ReplyDeleteAs on the AKC site, she's a legislative liasion directly for AKC.
ReplyDeleteAs for the AKC, this is what Barnette works for http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Kennel_Club
They lobby to oppose laws like anti cruelty laws so their mills can keep providing them with registration income.