[00:00:08]
[CALL TO ORDER]
UM, I'M, UH, COMMISSIONER JOANNE NORTON.UH, COMMISSIONER CLINTON IS NOT HERE TONIGHT.
AND COMMISSIONER LINDER IS ON ZOOM AND THE RULES REQUIRE THAT THE CHAIR HAS TO BE HERE.
AND SINCE I'M PARLIAMENTARIAN, THAT FALLS TO ME FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, UM,
SO, UH, THE FIRST THING WE'RE GONNA DO IS, UM, UH, TAKE A ROLL CALL.
I DO WANNA MENTION THAT COMMISSIONER HERRERA, UM, MIGHT BE ON, JOINED IN, BUT, UM, HE IS, UH, NOT ELIGIBLE, ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE UNTIL HE TAKES THE OATH FOR OFFICE.
HE WAS REAPPOINTED, SO HE'LL JUST BE HERE, BUT HE WON'T BE ABLE TO VOTE OR ANYTHING.
SO, I KNOW COMMISSIONER CLINTON IS NOT HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER FERGUSON PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER HUDDLESON PRESENT.
AND COMMISSIONER AHMED PRESENT.
[Additional Item]
AHMED, WELCOME, UH, TO THE COMMISSION.THIS IS YOUR FIRST MEETING AND, UM, WHAT WE USUALLY DO IS OFFER YOU THE OPPORTUNITY, IF YOU'D LIKE TO SAY A WORD OR TWO ABOUT, UM, YOURSELF AND YOUR BACKGROUND.
UM, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
UH, I AM BASED IN AUSTIN, OBVIOUSLY WORKING FOR THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, SO I HAVE A PROFESSIONAL ABILITY TO, UH, HELP WITH CONSERVATION, BUT WANTED TO INVEST IN PERSONAL PASSION TO BETTER THE WELFARE OF ANIMALS.
SO, APPRECIATE EVERYONE FOR WELCOMING ME TO THE COMMITTEE FOR MY FIRST MEETING.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
THE SPEAKER SIGN UP.WE HAVE, UM, SEVEN SPEAKERS SIGNED UP, UM, WHO CAN SPEAK FOR, UH, THEIR THREE MINUTES, UP TO THREE MINUTES.
WE ALSO HAVE THREE SPEAKERS ON AGENDA ITEM FIVE AND ONE ON AGENDA ITEM SEVEN.
AND YOU COULD EITHER WAIT TO SPEAK ON THAT AGENDA ITEM OR YOU COULD SPEAK AT THE BEGINNING IF YOU PREFER.
SO, UM, WELL, I'LL ASK YOU WHEN YOU'RE DONE.
SO OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS, UH, HEATHER MYERS.
I'M AN ATTORNEY, A VOLUNTEER AT AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER, AND AN ADVOCATE WHO HELPS COMMUNITY MEMBERS NAVIGATE THE, THE CHALLENGES OF A MUNICIPAL SHELTER CLOSED TO PUBLIC INTAKE.
TONIGHT, I AM HERE TO RAISE THREE CONCERNS FOR THIS COMMISSION.
A A C IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS BUILDING COOL IN ITS ONLY JUNE THIS AFTERNOON, IT REACHED AT LEAST 90 DEGREES IN THE FIVE HUNDREDS BUILDING, WHICH IS WHERE A A C HOUSES THE DOGS THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE HEAT, THOSE RECOVERING FROM UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS.
THIS IS UNSAFE AND SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.
TO RESOLVE THIS IMMEDIATELY, I RESPECTFULLY URGE YOU TO DEMAND A PLAN OF ACTION AND TO FOLLOW UP ON EXECUTION.
SECOND, OVER A YEAR AGO, A A C LAUNCHED THE URGENT PLACEMENT LIST AND PROMISED VOLUNTEERS AND OTHER ADVOCATES A MATRIX EXPLAINING HOW DOGS ARE SELECTED FOR THAT LIST.
THAT TRANSPARENCY HAS YET TO COME WITHOUT IT, WE'VE BEEN LEFT UNINFORMED ON THE BASIS OF AACS DECISIONS AND UNABLE TO ADVOCATE EFFECTIVELY.
I RESPECTFULLY ASK THE COMMISSION TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT LONG OVERDUE COMMITMENT.
THIRD, I WANNA ADDRESS THE RECENT EUTHANASIA NOTICES BEING SENT BY A A C.
AT LEAST FOUR WERE ISSUED TODAY.
THESE NOTICES PROVIDE FIVE DAYS FOR ADVOCATES TO FIND PLACEMENT FOR DOGS.
WHILE THIS MAY COMPLY WITH LOCAL ORDINANCE IN PRACTICE, IT OFFERS VERY LITTLE TIME, ESPECIALLY WHEN DOGS ARE GIVEN RESCUE ONLY STATUS.
AND THERE ARE MINIMAL BEHAVIOR NOTES MAINTAINED BY A A C.
TODAY'S YOUTH NOTICES INCLUDE, DO DOG TWO DOGS, SPECIFICALLY SAGE AND BILLY GIRL, WHICH HAVE BEEN DEEMED A PUBLIC SAFETY RISK.
THESE TWO DOGS EACH HAVE A SINGLE BITE ON THEIR RECORDS.
BOTH OF THOSE BITES OCCURRED DURING EFFORTS TO BREAK UP A DOG FIGHT.
ANYONE EXPERIENCED WITH DOGS KNOW THAT BITES INCURRED WHILE BREAKING UP A DOG SCUFFLE ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF AGGRESSION TOWARDS HUMANS.
THEIR INSTINCTUAL, FEAR-DRIVEN REACTIONS, AND ALSO GENERALLY INADVERTENT TO THE HUMAN INVOLVED IN BILLY GIRL'S CASE A'S RECORDS AREN'T EVEN CLEAR THAT SHE'S THE ONE WHO BIT.
[00:05:01]
CLEAR IS THAT SHE WASN'T THE INSTIGATOR OF THE INITIAL DOG FIGHT, YET BILLY GIRL'S LIFE IS NOW AT RISK FOR A BITE, WHICH BY ALL ACCOUNTS WAS AN ACCIDENT.BOTH OF THESE DOGS HAVE OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER NOTES AND ARE DEEPLY LOVED BY THOSE WHO WORK WITH THEM.
YET THEY'VE BEEN PLACED ON A FAST TRACK FOR EUTHANASIA WITH LIMITED OPTIONS FOR FOSTER ADOPTION.
THIS IS NOT IN LINE WITH AUSTIN'S NO KILL VALUES.
WE NEED MORE TIME, MORE TRANSPARENCY, AND MORE HUMANE DECISION MAKING BASED ON ACTUAL FACTS AND COMMON SENSE.
AND WE NEED THIS COMMISSION TO DEMAND IT AND TO HOLD A, A C ACCOUNTABLE TO DELIVER.
I KNOW THERE'S A LOT GOING ON WITH THE STRATEGIC, UH, PLAN, SO OBVIOUSLY, UM, I DO THINK THIS COMMISSION HAS MY MY EMAIL, SO I'M HAPPY TO ENGAGE IF, IF, IF YOU'D LIKE TO.
NEXT UP IS, UH, MS. ROCHELLE VICKI.
UM, I WANT TO THANK, UH, AUSTIN PETS ALIVE.
AND Y'ALL DON'T HEAR THIS OUT OF ME VERY MUCH, BUT I TOOK, UH, SOME LITTLE BABIES TO THEM THAT I GOT OUT OF JOHNNY MARS MOBILE HOME PARK BECAUSE THE MAMA HAD THE BABIES IN, IN A WATER METER THING.
AND I TOOK 'EM OUT AND I PUT 'EM IN A TRAP, PUT 'EM IN A CARRIER, PUT A TRAP, SOMEBODY LET MAMA OUT OF THE TRAP, AND IT WAS BEING WATCHED.
UH, SO I PUT THE BABIES ON THE GROUND AND, UH, ONE DIED AND ONE DISAPPEARED, AND THERE WAS TWO.
I TOOK 'EM IMMEDIATELY TO A, A C TO, TO GET SOME HELP.
AND THEY HADN'T EATEN IN A DAY AND A HALF.
AND I WANNA THANK AUSTIN PETS ALIVE FOR TAKING THOSE BABIES.
'CAUSE I TRANSPORTED THEM OVER TO, TO THEIR PLACE.
THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY WAS COMING.
AND I JUST HOPE AND PRAYED THAT THEY LIVED IN THAT SITUATION BECAUSE THAT'S, THAT'S THE QUICKEST WAY THEY COULD GET THERE.
I WAS THERE, I HAD 'EM THERE, AND I WILL GET 'EM OVER THERE.
AND I WANNA THANK THEM FOR THAT.
SECOND OFF, I, UM, I'VE ALREADY SPOKE TO MR. GARZA ABOUT, UH, WE GETTING IN SO MANY KITTENS AND I, I'VE SAT THERE ONE DAY THIS LAST WEEK WITH A CAT, A YOUNG CAT THAT WAS IN A CAR AT JOHNNY MARS MOBILE HOME PARK, AND IT WAS BROUGHT TO THEM IN TURN.
I I, YOU HEAR THEM SAY, WE ARE SPECIAL US TNR.
AND I DO A LOTS FOR, LOTS OF, FOR LOTS OF CATS.
WE DON'T, WE DON'T WANNA SIT THERE 45 MINUTES, SIT THERE FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF.
AND SOME OF US HAVE, WHEN WE HAVE FOUND KITTENS, AND I'M WANTING TO FIND OUT A WAY THAT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, GET THAT WHERE OUR TIME HAS ALREADY BEEN OUT TRAPPING, MUCH LESS FINDING KITTENS.
BUT I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS SITTING THERE AND AT LEAST 25 KITTENS CAME IN WHILE I WAS SITTING THERE IN THAT TIME.
AND I WANNA KNOW THE ZIP CODE, AND I UNDERSTAND THERE'S SOME THAT'S IN DALE VALLEY.
AND HE SAID, I, I WANNA WORK WITH HIM.
AND I WILL CHECK THOSE OUT BECAUSE EVERYBODY SAYS, I DON'T KNOW WHERE MAMA IS, BUT IF YOU GO TO THEIR HOUSE, THERE'S FOOD BOWLS AND WATER BOWLS THERE, YOU KNOW, AND MAY, LET'S GET THAT GIRL AND STOP THIS SITUATION.
SO THAT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, I I JUST WANNA, WE HAVE A GOOD PROGRAM, BUT IT'S, IT'S OVERWHELMED.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE ON THE AUSTIN ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION.
I WANNA TAKE A MOMENT TO REMIND US ALL OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES ENTRUSTED TO THIS BODY UNDER CITY CODE SECTIONS TWO DASH ONE DASH 1 0 2.
YOUR ROLE IS NOT ONLY TO ADVISE THE CITY COUNCIL IN TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT ON COMPLIANCE WITH STATE AND LOCAL ANIMAL WELFARE LAWS, BUT ALSO TO HELP SHAPE POLICY, PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY, AND ENSURE THE COMMUNITY'S VALUES ARE AFFLICTED IN THE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS IN OUR CARE.
YOU ARE TASKED WITH IDENTIFYING PROACTIVE CREATIVE APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORTING PROGRAMS THAT FOSTER ANIMAL WELFARE.
THIS ENSURES, THIS INCLUDES ENSURING ETHICAL PRACTICES WITHIN SHELTERS AND ADVOCATING FOR HUMANE TREATMENT THAT ALIGNS WITH BOTH LEGAL STANDARDS AND PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS.
MY CONCERNS REGARDING THESE TOPICS ARISE FROM A MAJOR INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED TODAY.
FOUR EUTHANASIA NOTICES WERE SENT OUT FOR DOGS WHO EACH HAVE A BITE HISTORY, BUT HAVE BEEN INTERACTING WITH VOLUNTEERS SINCE THAT BITE HISTORY AND HAVE NOTHING BUT GOOD NOTES SINCE
[00:10:01]
THEN.SPECIFICALLY ONE OF THESE DOGS, DUDLEY.
UM, I, MYSELF AND MY MOM MENTOR NEW VOLUNTEERS AT THE SHELTER.
AND DUDLEY IS ALWAYS THE FIRST DOG THAT WE INTRODUCE THESE NEW VOLUNTEERS TO.
THESE ARE TECHNICALLY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, AND DUDLEY HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING BUT FRIENDLY AND JUST GENERALLY PERFECT AROUND THESE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
HE'S NEVER SHOWN AN OUNCE OF AGGRESSION OR EVEN LIKE FEAR OR TIMIDITY TOWARDS THESE PEOPLE.
AND I JUST, I, BECAUSE OF THIS, I THINK THAT HIS EUTHANASIA NOTICE IS SIMPLY JUST DUE TO THE SPACE CRISIS AT S AND ANIMAL CENTER.
I URGE YOU TO USE YOUR AUTHORITY AND ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY, HUMANE PRACTICES AND COMPLIANCE TO CITY AND STATE LAW.
THE PUBLIC DEPENDS ON YOU TO ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS, ADVOCATE FOR THE VOICELESS, AND HELP BUILD A CULTURE OF COMPASSION AND CARE IN OUR CITY'S ANIMAL WELFARE SYSTEM.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND COMMITMENT.
MY NAME IS JULIE OLIVER AND I AM JUST A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO VOLUNTEERS MY EXTRA TIME ABOUT 20 HOURS A WEEK WITH AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER.
BUT I'M HERE TONIGHT AS MANY OF MY, UH, COLLEAGUES FROM WHO ARE VOLUNTEERS AT THE ANIMAL CENTER BECAUSE FOUR EUTHANASIA NOTICES HAVE BEEN ISSUED TODAY.
FONDUE BILLY GIRL, SAGE AND DEADLY.
THESE DOGS HAVE BITE HISTORIES.
YES, BUT THEY ARE FROM MONTHS AGO.
SINCE THEN, THEY'VE CONTINUED TO SAFELY INTERACT WITH VOLUNTEERS, PAID DOG WORKERS, AND EVEN THE PUBLIC.
I'VE INTRODUCED DEADLY TO FAMILIES MYSELF.
THESE ARE NOT AGGRESSIVE DOGS.
THEY'RE VICTIMS OF A SHELTER UNDER PRESSURE.
AND LET'S BE CLEAR, THIS IS NOT, THIS IS NOT ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY.
AND WE ARE A NO KILL SHELTER, YET PUBLIC SAFETY IS NOW BEING USED TO JUSTIFY KILLING DOGS THAT HAVE SHOWN NO RECENT INCIDENTS.
THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THESE DOGS BEST ARE IN THIS ROOM.
IT IS NOT DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP.
THEY'RE THE VOLUNTEERS AND THE PAID DOG WALKERS WHO WORK DIRECTLY WITH THESE ANIMALS EVERY DAY.
IN ONE CASE, A DOG REDIRECTED.
YOU HEARD ABOUT HER SAGE DURING A DOG FIGHT IN JANUARY DURING PLAYGROUP AND BIT A STAFF MEMBER ON THE CALF.
BUT STAFF ARE GIVEN NO PROTECTIVE GEAR.
THEY ARE NOT GIVEN ANY PROTECTIVE GEAR.
THEY WERE SHORTS AND TENNIS SHOES EXPOSING THEIR LEGS.
AND WHEN WE DON'T EQUIP STAFF FOR SAFETY, THEY PENALIZE DOGS REACTING, REACTING UNDER STRESS.
WE'RE NOT MANAGING BEHAVIOR, WE'RE SHIFTING BLAME.
THIS CULTURE OF MISPLACED ACCOUNTABILITY IS ALSO REFLECTED IN OTHER TROUBLING INCIDENTS.
I PERSONALLY WITNESSED YESTERDAY MORNING A VETERINARY SERVICES STAFF MEMBER.
I EMAILED YOU DR. NELSON ABOUT THIS.
CROUCHED DOWN TO A YELLOW.DOG.
LEMME TELL YOU WHAT, A YELLOW.DOG IS FEARFUL BARRIER, REACTIVE AND STRANGER WARY, SAY TWICE TO THIS DOG.
YOUR BARKING ISN'T GOING TO MAKE ME LEAVE.
THIS IS TAUNTING OF VULNERABLE ANIMAL AND DISTRESS.
THE SHELTER IS ALSO AT CRITICAL CAPACITY FOR LARGE DOGS.
LAST WEEK, 48 DOGS WERE NOT WALKED AT LEAST ONE DAY OUT OF THE WEEK.
ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE PUBLIC FACING DOGS IN OUR KENNELS.
DOGS LIKE FINN AND PADME IN BUILDING 500, BOTH ORANGE DOT BEHAVIOR DOGS WEREN'T WALKED THREE OUT OF SEVEN DAYS, HALF OF THE TIME THEY, THEY WERE THERE LAST WEEK.
WE ARE NOT EVEN MEETING THE MOST BASIC ENRICHMENT STANDARDS.
AND AS I PREVIOUSLY REPORTED TO YOU IN AN EMAIL, VETERINARY SERVICES PERFORMED A SPAY ABORTION ON A VISIBLY PREGNANT DOG WITHOUT NOTIFYING RESCUE PARTNERS, WHICH IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF CITY ORDINANCE.
THAT DOG WAS NEVER EVEN GIVEN A CHANCE.
I DON'T HAVE TIME TONIGHT TO GET INTO THE ONGOING FAILURES WITH THE SOFTWARE MIGRATION OR TO OFFER CREATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SHARE WITH LEADERSHIP, LIKE REPURPOSING, DECOMMISSIONED A ISD PORTABLES FOR EXTRA SPACE, WHICH I'VE SHARED WITH BOTH OF THESE PEOPLE TO MY RIGHT BECAUSE THE IMMEDIATE ISSUES THREATENED EUTHANASIA, AVOIDABLE STRESS BEHAVIORS, LACK OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND LEGAL VIOLATIONS ARE TOO URGENT.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR CLARIFICATION.
FOR CLARIFICATION, DO YOU KNOW, WAS THE TECHNICIAN ADMINISTERING MEDICATION TO THAT DOG? I HAVE NO IDEA.
I WALKED IN WHEN HE WAS TAUNTING HER.
SO HE MAY HAVE BEEN STANDING THERE ADMINISTERING MEDICATION AND NEEDING TO MAKE SURE SHE ATE IT.
I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT I I HE DID SAY YOUR BARKING IS NOT GONNA MAKE ME LEAVE.
YOUR BARKING IS NOT GONNA MAKE ME LEAVE.
[00:15:01]
HEY EVERYBODY.UM, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH FOR GIVING YOUR TIME AND ENERGY.
UM, I KNOW THIS IS, UH, A SACRIFICE.
AND, UM, WE HAVE LOVED GIVING OUR TIME AND ENERGY AT THE CITY SHELTER.
I'M JUST HERE TO, UH, SUPPORT THEM TONIGHT.
AND I ALSO JUST KIND OF WANNA VOICE MY CONCERNS.
WHAT I'VE OBSERVED THESE LAST FEW MONTHS, ESPECIALLY KIND OF REACHING AHEAD TODAY WITH THESE EUTHANASIA NOTICES THAT JUST KIND OF SEEM LIKE, UM, SYMPTOMS OF A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM.
CLEARLY THE NUMBER OF DOGS THAT NEED SPACE IS GOING UP.
THE AMOUNT OF SPACE IS NOT, SO THAT'S A SYSTEMS PROBLEM, AND IT'S GONNA REQUIRE SOME CREATIVITY.
UM, THERE ARE SOME WONDERFUL IDEAS TO GET THE PUBLIC OVER TO A A C SO THAT WE CAN GET MORE DOGS ADOPTED FASTER, WHICH IS THE SOLUTION TO THE ROOT CAUSE.
UM, BUT JUST ON THE, ON THE EUTHANIZATION NOTICES, I WILL SAY THAT THOSE, THOSE THOSE D***S WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ARE NOT PUBLIC HEALTH.
UH, S THIS FEELS VERY MUCH LIKE A BUREAUCRATIC BOX TICKING EXERCISE AIMED AT CLEARING UP SOME SPACE.
UM, AND I THINK, UH, I WOULD URGE Y'ALL TO, TO PLEASE, UM, UH, STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT THAT'S POSSIBLE, I APPRECIATE IT.
I WANTED TO SHARE AN ANECDOTE THAT MAY BE A SIMPLE MISUNDERSTANDING CAUSING FOSTERS TO BE TURNED AWAY THAT COULD BE CORRECTED.
SO, AT THE BEGINNING OF LAST MONTH, THERE WAS A SKID ASTRAY GERMAN SHEPHERD TYPE DOG IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD THAT EVENTUALLY FOLLOWED A NEIGHBOR HOME.
AND SHE WAS ABLE TO FOSTER HIM, WHICH IS VERY LUCKY,
UM, I DIRECTED HER TO THE A A C FINDER TO FOSTER PROGRAM.
SO, SO THAT SHE COULD GET HIM LISTED ONLINE AND RECEIVE A WELLNESS EXAM FOR HIM.
AND WHEN SHE CALLED ON MAY 3RD, SHE WAS DIRECTED TO 3 1 1 DUE TO THE VOLUME OF CALLS THAT THE SHELTER WAS GETTING.
AND WHEN SHE WENT, WHEN SHE REACHED 3 1 1, THEY TOLD HER THAT THEY DIDN'T NEED HER TO FOSTER, AND THAT THERE WAS ROOM FOR HIM AT THE SHELTER
SO LUCKILY FOR THIS DOG AND FOR US, SHE KNEW THAT HE WOULD DETERIORATE IN THE SHELTER.
AND WE'D BEEN TRYING TO CAPTURE HIM FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, PUTTING OUT FOOD AND SUCH.
BUT I WONDER HOW MANY OTHER POTENTIAL FOSTERS HAVE BEEN TURNED AWAY IN THAT WAY? I THINK THE CORRECT THING TO DO PROBABLY WOULD'VE BEEN FOR THE SHELTER STAFF TO DIRECT HER TO THE ONLINE FORM.
BUT I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW OF THAT BECAUSE I THINK IT COULD BE CORRECTED PRETTY EASILY, WHETHER IT BE THE WAY IT'S HANDLED BY STAFF OR THAT EXTREME MISINFORMATION BY 4 1 1.
BUT AT THAT TIME, I KNOW THAT THE SOFTWARE TRANSITION WAS HAPPENING, UM, BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT IT'S WORSE NOW.
BUT AT, ON THAT DAY, 40 MEDIUM TO LARGE DOGS, YOU WERE 40 TO ME, MEDIUM TO LARGE DOGS, EVERY CAPACITY.
AND I WAS RECEIVING MULTIPLE EMAILS ASKING ME TO FOSTER EACH DAY FROM A A C.
SO I KNOW FOSTERS WERE NEEDED.
SO EVEN IF THERE IS ROOM, WE ALWAYS NEED FOSTERS.
WE ALL KNOW THAT DOGS DO BETTER IN FOSTER THAN IN THE SHELTER, THAT THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO GET ADOPTED.
SO I WANTED TO BRING THAT TO ATTENTION.
I DON'T THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS MEANT TO HAPPEN.
SO I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT IT'S HAPPENING SO IT CAN BE FIXED.
SORRY, I JUST HAVE A CLAR CLARIFYING QUESTION.
SO SHE FOUND THE DOG AND KIND OF HUNG ONTO IT TO FOSTER, YOU MENTIONED FIND HER TO FOSTER.
AND THEN SHE CALLED THE SHELTER.
SHE CALLED A-A-C-A-A-C TOLD HER THEY HAD SUCH A LARGE VOLUME OF CALLS THAT THEY TRANSFERRED HER TO 3 1 1, OR TOLD HER TO CALL 3 1 1.
SO SHE CALLED A CAC SENT HER TO THREE.
ONE, ONE SAID, SAID, OH, JUST TAKE HIM TO THE SHELTER.
BECAUSE I HAD TOLD HER I'D PUT OUT A FOSTER PLEA BEFORE I THOUGHT, TRAPPER WORTH GONNA HAVE TO COME GET HIM.
AND NO ONE RESPONDED TO MY, MY PLEA, BUT I'D PUT, LET ME KNOW, I'LL HELP YOU NAVIGATE WHOEVER STEPS UP TO FOSTER.
SO WHEN SHE DID, I SAID, REACH, REACH OUT TO ME.
AND SO I WAS HELPING HER NAVIGATE THESE.
AND SO I THOUGHT, OKAY, SHE'LL DO THIS.
SO THAT WAS HER TRYING TO DO THAT
I'M A RESIDENT OF ALL SINCE, UH, 2001.
[00:20:01]
VOLUNTEERING AT THE SHELTER SINCE, UH, 2023.UM, I THINK THAT A LOT OF WHAT WAS SAID HERE IS WHAT I WOULD SAY.
UM, I'M DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE EUTHANASIA NOTICE THAT SEEMS THAT MAYBE COMING OUT FOR SOME DOGS THAT ARE CONSIDERED SAFETY RISK.
UH, FOR ME, THE MAIN PROBLEM IS LIKE, WHAT IS THE MATRIX THAT'S BEING USED TO DECIDE WHEN A DOG IS SAFETY RISK? ONE OF THEM, FOR EXAMPLE, BILLY GIRL, UH, THERE'S A BITE THAT IT WAS WHILE SEPARATING A DOG FIGHT.
UM, IT SEEMS THAT STAFF DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHO, WHICH DOG THAT BITE, BECAUSE IT'S DIFFICULT.
YOU'RE SEPARATING A DOG FIGHT, YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU PUT THEM.
I DON'T THINK THAT THAT SHOULD EVEN BE CONSIDERED, YOU KNOW, LIKE A BITE TO BE CONSIDERED A SAFETY RISK.
BUT THE THING IS THAT WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS THAT.
AND THEN IT GOES LIKE THE DUNBAR SCALE WE STARTED BEING USED.
UM, WHO KNOWS? OH, HOW DEEP IT IS, WHO MEASURES THAT BITE, ET CETERA.
SO I THINK THAT WE SHOULD START THINKING ABOUT, UM, WHAT THE MATRIX IS TO CONSIDER WHEN AN ANIMAL IS A SAFETY RISK.
AND THERE ARE SOME SITUATIONS THAT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, I AGREE THAT THERE'S SOME SITUATIONS THAT THE DOGS UNFORTUNATELY HAVE TO BE EUTHANIZED.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S THE CASE WITH SOME OF THE DOGS THAT ARE AT RISK OF EUTHANASIA RIGHT NOW.
UM, IT'S ALSO, THE TIMING'S A LITTLE BIT WEIRD WHEN YOU'RE SO OVERCROWDED.
UH, AND I FORGOT TO SAY, FIRST OF ALL, LET'S GO.
I MEAN, I KNOW THAT, UH, I HAVE BEEN, IT'S MY FIRST TIME TALKING HERE.
I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING, UH, ONLINE, YOU KNOW, AND I DEEPLY APPRECIATE WITH THE WORK THAT YOU DO.
I DEEPLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT, UH, LOTS OF STAFF AT A SC, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE IT IS UNDERSTAFFED ANIMAL CARE NOW AND DOG WALKERS ARE WORKING LIKE CRAZY.
SO, UH, SINCE I'M IN A PUBLIC RECORD HERE, I WANT TO MENTION THAT BECAUSE IT'S NOT THAT THE PEOPLE AT A A C ARE BAD OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT I THINK THAT YOU NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE SOLID MATRIX FOR CONSIDER A DOG A SAFETY RISK.
UM, WOULD ANY OF THE THREE SPEAKERS ON ISSUE FIVE WANNA SPEAK? NOW? IF YOU DO COME UP TO THE MICROPHONE OR SEVEN.
WE'LL WAIT FOR THE TOPIC THEN.
I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT COMMISSIONER EMER HAS JOINED ONLINE.
HI, THIS IS CHRISTIE, THE LIAISON.
I JUST WANTED TO ASK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENDANCE SHEET OR YOUR STATEMENT OF CONFLICT IN ORDER TO COUNT YOU HERE.
CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN? LUIS IS ON MINE.
HE CAN'T, SHE DOESN'T REALIZE HE CAN'T PARTICIPATE.
UM, YES, HE'S ON, BUT HE CANNOT PARTICIPATE UNTIL HE TAKES HIS OATH OF ARVIS.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
IS, UM, THE MINUTES FROM, UH, APRIL.UM, IS THERE, ARE THERE ANY DISCUSSION ITEMS ON THE MINUTES? I, I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
UM, ALL IN, UH, IN FAVOR OF ACCEPTING THE MINUTES FROM APRIL 14TH, 2025.
[2. Staff briefing regarding monthly reports provided by the Animal Services Office.]
UP IS, UH, THE STAFF BRIEFING OF THE MONTHLY REPORTS BY, UM, ANIMAL SERVICES.GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, JASON GARZA WITH ANIMAL SERVICES.
SO ON THE STATISTICAL REPORTS THAT WERE SHARED WITH Y'ALL AND THEN PUBLISHED ONLINE, UM, YOU'LL SEE FOR MAY, 2025, AS YOU KNOW, WE WERE HAVING THE TRANSITION FROM CHAMELEON TO SHELTER BUDDY.
SO THERE'LL BE TWO DIFFERENT GRAPHS THAT ARE PRESENTED TO Y'ALL.
ONE THAT WILL SHOW THE FIRST FIVE DAYS OF THE MONTH, WHICH, AND MARKED BY CHAMELEON.
AND THEN THE LATTER PART OF THE MONTH, UM, WHICH WILL, WILL SHOW SHELTER BUDDY.
UM, WE ARE BUILDING OUT SORT THE ORDINANCE DASHBOARD SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST.
OUR IT ANALYST HAS BEEN DOING THAT, WORKING PRETTY HARD ON IT.
AND THEN ALSO SORT OF THE OTHER REPORTS THAT WE HAVE ONLINE, LIKE WITHIN OUR, UH, OPEN DATA PORTAL.
SO, UM, MAY WAS A ROUGH MONTH FOR US AT LEAST WITH, WITH SORT OF INTAKE.
WE HAD A TOTAL OF 1300 ANIMALS.
UM, THE LIVE OUTCOME THOUGH, UH, CUMULATIVELY
[00:25:01]
'CAUSE WE'LL HAVE TWO DIFFERENT OUTCOMES FOR BOTH THINGS WAS 90%, 9.13 TO BE EXACT.UM, WE HAD A TOTAL OF 500 ANIMALS THAT WERE ADOPTED AND A TOTAL OF 80 CATS AND DOGS THAT WERE RETURNED TO THEIR OWNERS.
UM, AS ALWAYS, OUR VOLUNTEERS SHOWED UP FOR US.
WE HAD OVER 500, UH, 520 VOLUNTEERS WITH OVER 6,880, UH, HOURS DONATED TO US.
WE WERE ABLE TO DO, UM, FOUR ORIENTATIONS WITH 118 POTENTIAL MORE, UH, UM, UH, VOLUNTEERS COMING TO, TO, UH, SERVE FOR US.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE, UH, 656 MEMBERS IN FOSTER THAT ARE REPRESENTING, UH, 474 ANIMALS IN FOSTER VET SERVICES.
THEY DID SEE A LOT OF EMERGENCIES, A LOT OF ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY KITTENS AND CATS THAT KITTENS THEMSELVES AS, AS MS. BICKERY WAS SAYING, WE HAD, WERE BEING BROUGHT IN THAT WERE EITHER TOO YOUNG TO MAKE IT OR, YOU KNOW, THE VETERINARIANS MADE THE DECISION TO, TO EUTHANIZE.
SO IF YOU DO LOOK AT OUR EUTHANASIA NUMBERS, I MEAN, A GOOD PORTION OF THOSE, UM, UH, SOME RECEPTIVE TO HALF IS, IS, IS KITTENS AND CATS THAT, THAT WERE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, EITHER DIED OR HAD TO BE EUTHANIZED, WHICH THEN WITH OUR OVERALL OUTCOMES, UM, YOU KNOW, WE TOOK A BIG HIT FOR, FOR, FOR THAT WITH OUR LIVE OUTCOME RATE.
UM, THEY WERE ABLE TO GET 420 SPAY NEUTER SURGERIES DONE.
UM, AND WE HAD 326 ANIMALS THAT WERE TRANSFERRED TO OUR RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, WE DID HAVE A LOT OF, UH, MARKETING DONE AND, AND SOCIAL MEDIA VIEWS.
UH, WITHIN JUST FACEBOOK ALONE, WE HAD 1.26 MILLION VIEWS.
UM, UH, WE DID DO VARIOUS POSTS, SORT OF, YOU KNOW, ARTICULATING SPACE OR TAKING THE NEED FOR FOSTER, YOU KNOW, GIVING SOME, UH, WHAT WE'RE DOING IN A HAPPY TAIL SEGMENT.
SO WE'RE SHOWING, SHOWING, UH, ADOPTIONS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, RESULTED IN, IN, YOU KNOW, OUTSTANDING THE FAMILY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, BUT, UH, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT IN A NUTSHELL.
I'M HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR, UH, COMMENTS MAY HAVE.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UM, FOR MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA, UM, WHY WAS THE DECISION MADE TO NO LONGER UPDATE THE NATIONAL SITES THAT PEOPLE USE, UM, TO LOOK FOR PETS, UH, SPECIFICALLY 24 PET CONNECT AND ADOPT A PET, AND ALSO TO LEAVE OLD DATA ON THE SITE? SO THERE ARE PETS THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED FROM A EC, BUT THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE STILL APPEARING ON THE SITE AS THOUGH THEY'RE AVAILABLE.
BUT ANYBODY, THERE ARE NO NEW PETS GOING TO EITHER SITE.
I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT IF WE CAN MAKE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SHELTER BUDDY AND, AND, AND THOSE SITES THEN.
'CAUSE WE'VE BEEN UTILIZING PETCO LOVE, UM, TO, TO SORT OF HAVE THAT INFORMATION OUT.
YEAH, IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO USE THEM, IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO NOT HAVE ANYTHING YEAH.
UM, I ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, SINCE I'VE WORKED IN THE MEDIA TEAM, UM, I, WE TRY TO PUT THE DOGS UP 'CAUSE WE KNOW PEOPLE LOOK ONLINE AND THEY DO FALL IN LOVE.
SO I'M CONCERNED THERE'S APPROXIMATELY 70 ANIMALS.
UM, SOME OF THEM MAY HAVE BEEN CORRECTED THAT, UM, HAVE COME BACK TO THE SHELTER AND THEY'RE NOT BEING ACTIVATED.
UM, I TESTED FOR TODAY, UM, OSCAR, WHO CAME BACK ON SIX TWO, WHO'S IN AN APPROVED STATUS.
UM, SKYLER WHO CAME BACK ON FIVE 15, UH, SPENCER ON FIVE 15, I THINK IT WAS A PUPPY AND THATCH ON FIVE FIVE.
AND THEY'RE NOT IN, UM, THE A, A C SIDE OF PET LISTING.
AND, UM, THEY ALSO DON'T APPEAR IN, UM, OUT OF PETS.
SO, UM, I'M KIND OF CURIOUS WHAT'S GOING ON OR CAN YOU LOOK INTO IT? YEAH.
AND SEE WHY THEY'RE NOT I'LL GET AFTER ME AND I'LL GET THOSE SPECIFIC ID NUMBER OR NAMES.
UM, I ALSO THINK A DECISION WAS MADE THAT ANIMALS UNDER VET CARE ARE NOT APPEARING TO THE PUBLIC, EVEN THOUGH MANY ANIMALS WHO ARE UNDER VET CARE ARE AVAILABLE FOR FOSTER AND ADOPTION, ESPECIALLY FOSTER SINCE THAT'S SOMETHING I DO.
UM, SO DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT DECISION WAS MADE? UM, SOMETIMES A VETERINARIAN WILL PULL AN ANIMAL UNAVAILABLE AS THEY'RE, AS THEY'RE TREATING IT.
SO IT'S NOT YET READY TO GO TO A FOSTER.
IT MAY NOT BE READY TO GO TO A DOCTOR, BUT WE'LL HAVE, SEEK FOR A FOSTER, SO MM-HMM
UM, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE SPECIFIC PROGNOSIS OF THE ANIMAL IS, IS WHY THEY MAY DEEM IT NOT TO BE, UH, AVAILABLE.
UM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WILL, WE WILL ASK THAT QUESTION, RIGHT? BECAUSE AGAIN, KENNEL SPACE IS SO YEAH.
THAT CAN, UH, BE OPENED UP AND PUT INTO A HOME.
WE'LL TRY TO DO THAT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
YEAH, IF I, I'M HEARING, AND IT'S 34, THAT'S A HIGH NUMBER COMPARED TO NORMAL.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OH, UH, COMMISSIONER ES.
[00:30:01]
QUICK QUESTION.BASED ON THE, WHAT THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS HAVE MENTIONED ABOUT THIS JANISHA NOTICE, IS THERE ANY COMMENT THAT YOU CAN SHARE OR ANY BACKGROUND? I, WE CAN'T, THAT WASN'T A DISCUSSION ITEM, SO I DON'T THINK WE CAN DISCUSS IT.
SO WHEN, COULD, CAN, COULD I DO THAT OR ANYONE COULD DO THAT? UM, YOU CAN ADD IT AS A CON DISCUSSION ITEM, UM, FOR NEXT, NEXT TIME AS AN AGENDA ITEM.
SO, UM, YOU CAN ALSO HA REQUEST A WORKING GROUP AND YOU COULD LOOK INTO, UM, THE REPORTS AND THE URGENT PLACEMENT LIST.
IT'S, SO, IT'S SORT OF CONCERNING BECAUSE, UH, IT'S, AND I UNDERSTAND YOU GOT PARLIAMENTARIAN AND YOUR, UH, SHARING THE RULES.
AND IT'S CONCERNING BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING HERE ABOUT FOUR DAYS BEFORE THERE'S
SO I WAS GOING TO ASK IF HE COULD TELL, SHARE WHAT THE PROCESS IS FOR GETTING AN ANIMAL ON THE EUTHANASIA.
SO, UM, SO, UH, AN ANIMAL CAN, SO THE CODE REQUIRES THAT BEFORE AN ANIMAL IS EUTHANIZED, IT NEEDS TO GO THROUGH A NOTIFICATION PROCESS.
THERE'S ONLY TWO DAYS REQUIREMENT PER CITY CODE.
SO SPECIFICALLY WITH LIKE A, A, A VETERINARY SERVICE, MEDICAL CARE, LIKE IF WE PUT OUT A NOTICE THAT AN ANIMAL'S GOING TO BE EUTHANIZED, THEN A NEW RESCUE CAN COME IN AND PULL THAT ANIMAL.
UM, SIMILARLY WITH BEHAVIOR, USUALLY, I MEAN, THAT TAKES A LONGER PROCESS BECAUSE WE'RE ASSESSING A DOG'S BEHAVIOR AND WHATNOT.
UM, GETTING NOTES WHERE WE CAN, LOOKING AT THE ANIMAL'S INFORMATION, USUALLY WE'LL PLEAD IT TO PARTNERS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN THE ANIMAL BEFORE A DECISION IS MADE IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE EUTHANASIA NOTICE.
SO, UM, IN, IN THESE PARTICULAR CASES, YES.
THE ANIMALS WERE, WERE THERE, THEY'VE GONE THROUGH SORT OF A DISCUSSION PROCESS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE BEHAVIOR TEAM LEADERSHIP, AND THEN A, A NOTICE IS PREPARED AND THEN SENT OUT TO INTERESTED STAKEHOLDERS.
SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A FORMAL DISCUSSION PROCESS, YOU SAID, WITH THE BEHAVIOR TEAM AND LEADERSHIP MEMBERS.
SO YES, IT'S, IT'S THE BEHAVIOR TEAM SUPERVISOR AND LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS.
UM, ARE, ARE VOLUNTEERS INVOLVED IN THAT IN ANY WAY? UM, NOT IN THAT PARTICULAR MEETING.
UHHUH, THIS IS WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE, UH, DOGS ARE BEING BROUGHT UP FOR DISCUSSION.
AND SO LEADERSHIP TEAM WILL THEN REVIEW THE NOTES, SEE THE, WHAT NOTES ARE PROVIDED BY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.
AND THEN WE, WE MAY MAKE A DECISION ON THAT.
SO WITH THESE PARTICULAR DOGS ON URGENT PLACEMENT LISTS? YES.
THE URGENT PLACEMENT LIST, THEY'RE ON THERE.
THEY HAVE WHAT WE'VE INCLUDED AS, YOU KNOW, SORT OF THEIR, THEY'RE CHALLENGES, BUT ALSO SORT OF, YOU KNOW, UM, THINGS THAT, THAT THEY HAVE THAT ARE POSITIVE AS WELL.
SO VOLUNTEERS CAN MAKE BEHAVIOR NOTES ON THEM THAT ARE CONSIDERED WELL OBSERVATIONS THAT THEY HAVE.
THEY WORK PRETTY CLOSELY WITH OUR ENRICHMENT AND BEHAVIOR TEAM.
AND THEN THERE WERE SEVERAL REFERENCES TO, UM, UM, A MATRIX.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, SO IS THAT A, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH WE CAN TALK ABOUT.
I WAS JUST GONNA ASK CHRISTIE.
I MEAN, IT SEEMS WE'RE GETTING INTO MORE OF A DISCUSSION THAT'S NOT ALLOWED.
BASED ON THE POSTED AGENDA ITEM, JUST BEING A MONTHLY REPORT, IF THERE WERE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THE REPORTS.
AND IT'S NOT FAIR TO COMMISSIONER ES IF WE DON'T GO THROUGH HER SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON THIS.
SO CAN CERTAINLY BRING IT UP FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. OKAY.
HEY, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME OKAY? I HAVEN'T, I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE UNRELATED TO THAT LINE OF QUESTIONING.
BUT IT WAS, UM, AT THE, UH, LAST YEAR'S, LAST YEAR, IT DOES FEEL LIKE A YEAR AGO, 'CAUSE WE DIDN'T GET TO MEET IN, UM, MAY, BUT IN APRIL YOU MENTIONED THAT, UM, YOU WOULD SEND TO THE, THE ELECTED, SO THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE, UM, REPORT OF THE LAST GOOD FIX AND DID YOU SEND THAT TO THEM? SO, UH, YES.
I BELIEVE A MEMO WAS BEING PREPARED.
UM, THERE WAS GOING TO DETAIL EACH OF THE, EACH OF THE GOOD FITS.
UM, WE'RE STILL COMPILING SOME INFORMATION JUST TO, TO BREAK, GIVE A BREAKDOWN OF SORT OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT WERE IMPACTED.
BUT YES, WE'RE PREPARING A MEMO FOR IT OKAY.
TO SEND TO ELECTED OFFICIALS AND WE CAN ENSURE THAT THE COMMISSION'S COPIED ON.
[00:35:01]
UM, THIS IS JUST SORT OF A, A PROCESS QUESTION.SO IT, IT MAY BE FOR CHRISTIE MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE, BUT I'M WONDERING, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, ARE WE ALLOWED TO, UM, SORT OF REDIRECT SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS AT THAT TIME? OR IS THERE ANY SORT OF MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH, YOU KNOW, I'M, UM, SENSITIVE TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE, UH, TIME SENSITIVE ISSUES THAT ARE, ARE BROUGHT UP HERE.
UM, AND SO IDEALLY, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE MECHANISM FOR THIS IS A WORKING GROUP THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, UM, TO FORMALLY ESTABLISH THAT AND THEN REPORT BACK DURING THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, BUT I'M WONDERING, I GUESS FOR, FOR THE FOLKS WHO TOOK THEIR, THEIR EVENINGS TO COME AND SPEAK THERE TODAY, UM, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A TIME DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT THAT WE COULD, UM, ADDRESS THEIR QUESTIONS THEN? OR, OR IS IT REALLY SORT OF, ARE, ARE WE JUST KIND OF LIMITED, UM, IN, UH, IN FACT AND FUNCTION TOTALLY BY THE, UM, THE, THE WORKING GROUP PROCESS AS OUR ONLY MEANS TO, TO DIRECT, UH, SORT OF QUESTIONS TO, UM, TO STAFF AT THAT POINT? THANK YOU.
VICE CHAIR LINDER FOR THE QUESTION.
THE PUBLIC COMMENT IS JUST FOR THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION.
AND SO IT ISN'T, UM, AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE OPEN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ITEMS. BUT I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN ABOUT IT BEING TIME SENSITIVE.
SO IT COULD BE THAT YOU AS A COMMISSIONER SAY, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME AT MY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS EMAIL TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION.
AND THEN IF IT'S POSSIBLE, THEN, YOU KNOW, THERE COULD BE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING.
THERE COULD BE, UM, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, WORKING GROUPS, ET CETERA, THAT COULD ADDRESS THE CONCERN.
I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, AARON? OKAY.
UM, JASON, SO BASED ON, ON YOUR REPORTS AND THE INTAKES THAT YOU HAVE, UM, IS THERE CURRENTLY A SPACE ISSUE? AND, AND WHERE ARE ARE THOSE, UM, WHERE'S THE OVERFLOW? SO WE ARE IN THE RED IN ALL CATEGORIES, UH, WITH LARGE DOGS, SMALL DOG AND CATS.
UM, BASICALLY IN THE RED, WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY MUCH AT CAPACITY.
SO WITH, WITH, UH, MEDIUM TO LARGE DOGS, I REMEMBER TODAY'S REPORT, WE WERE NEGATIVE 45, UM, DOGS.
WE WERE, I THINK IN THE SINGLE DIGITS, LIKE ONE, AND THEN CATS WERE LIKE IN THE NEGATIVE ONE.
UM, SO WE HAVE TO DO SOME CREATIVE, UH, SPACE MANAGEMENT.
SO IN AREAS, ESPECIALLY LIKE OUR BENAL KENNELS, IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN OUT, UM, WE'LL, WE WILL DO PLAYGROUPS TO ALSO, UH, DETERMINE IF WE CAN PAIR DOGS AND THEN PUT THOSE TOGETHER.
AND SO NOW 20 KENNELS BECOMES A CAPACITY OF 40 DOGS.
UM, IF ANIMALS ARE COMING IN TOGETHER AND WE WILL HOUSE THEM TOGETHER.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE ALSO DEALING WITH A LOT OF, UH, LARGER PUPPIES.
SO WE CAN PUT MAYBE FOUR OR FIVE TOGETHER AT THAT POINT.
UM, AND THEN, UM, SO THAT'S REALLY HOW WE SORT OF MANAGE SPACE WITH, WITH, WITH, UH, WHAT WE GOT.
SO WE HAVE A FINITE NUMBER OF CHEMICALS, BUT WE WILL EXCEED THAT IN ORDER TO TRY TO ACCOMMODATE.
SO, UH, UH, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT THE CREATIVITY.
I, I KNOW THAT IN THE PAST, UH, I KNOW EVERYTHING'S VERY FLUID, BUT I, I KNOW IN THE PAST THERE USED TO BE LIKE A LOT OF ACTIVITY OF, UH, WHEN YOU USED TO HAVE REDA, UM, ACTIVITIES, REACHING OUT TO THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, UH, A LOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA EVENTS.
UM, IS THERE A PLAN TO DO THAT BESIDES THE, RIGHT NOW SHORT TERM? I, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BUT IS THERE BEYOND THAT? I THINK WE NEED TO REALLY THINK OUT OF THE BOX AND MAYBE YOU'RE DOING THAT AND IT, IT'S NOT COMING OUT HERE DURING THE MEETING.
UH, WE'LL BE ACTUALLY HAVING AN ADOPTION EVENT THAT WE'RE DOING WITH, UM, SOME OF OUR PARTNERS.
SO WITH A-P-A-A-H-S, UH, WILCO, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER, WE WERE ABLE TO GET SAN MARCOS TO GET INVOLVED AND DO, BUT WE'RE DOING SORT OF A, A REGIONAL ADOPTION EVENT SO THAT WAY WE CAN TRY TO GET ANIMALS OUT.
'CAUSE THIS IS A, THIS IS A, A NATIONWIDE PROBLEM, BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY EXPERIENCING IN THE REGION AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE DOING SORT OF LIKE A NAME YOUR PRICE TYPE TYPE ADOPTION WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME IN.
WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD TO EXTEND A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE WITH OUR SPACE ISSUES, WE WENT AHEAD AND STARTED A LITTLE BIT EARLY AND TRYING TO SORT OF INCENTIVIZE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO RIGHT NOW IS, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE, WE HAVE DONE AND ARE CURRENTLY DOING INCENTIVIZING RESCUES TO PULL FROM US AS WELL.
[00:40:01]
A MEDIUM TO LARGE DOG, IT OPENS UP A KENNEL, WE'RE GONNA PAY YOU FOR IT.SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE UP TO SEVEN $50 IF IT OPENS UP A KENNEL.
UM, THE LAST TIME WE DID 500, WE DIDN'T GET ANY.
I DON'T BELIEVE WE GOT ANY TAKERS.
SO WE'RE UPPING THE MONEY A LITTLE BIT IN ORDER TO SEE IF THAT WILL HELP BUILD CAPACITY.
BUT, UM, AS OF RIGHT NOW, NOT YET.
SO, UH, AND QUICKLY JUST FOLLOW UP AND I'LL, I WANNA ASK ANYTHING ELSE.
SO DO YOU HAVE A PLAN? AND WE, WE ARE, OKAY, WE'RE IN JUNE.
DO YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR OR FISCAL YEAR? WHAT A YEAR DOING EACH MONTH TO GET THOSE ANIMALS ADOPTED OR GOING TO FOSTER? SO, UH, WE HAVE OUR OUTREACH STAFF GOING OUT AND, AND TRYING TO MAKE CONNECTIONS.
UM, WE TRY TO DO ALL WE CAN TO TRY TO DEFER INTAKES OF ANIMALS.
SO FINDING OUT WHY A PERSON MAY BE HAVING TO SURRENDER AND THEN PROVIDING RESOURCES SO THEY CAN KEEP THEIR PET IN THEIR HOME.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE HIRED A TEMPORARY PERSON TO SORT OF BE A, UH, A, UM, UH, EXTERNAL EVENTS PERSON.
SO THEY'LL GO OUT AND, YOU KNOW, TRY TO TAKE SOME OF OUR, SOME ANIMALS TO ADOPT.
UM, THEY'LL TAKE ANIMALS OR JUST EDUCATION OUTREACH JUST TO GET OUR NAME OUT THERE AND TRY TO GET PEOPLE TO COME INTO THE DOOR.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A MECHANISM TO TRY TO TRACK THAT.
MAINLY WHAT WE'RE THINKING OF AS JUST REALLY DOING, AND WE HAVEN'T, I HAVEN'T RAN THIS UP THE CHAIN YET, SO ROLANDO'S HEARING THIS FIRST TIME TOO.
IT WAS JUST SORT OF, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, PUTTING OUT FLYERS THAT MAY DISCOUNT AN ADOPTION PRICE SO THAT WHEN THEY BRING THAT, WE CAN NOW TA UH, MONITOR THAT TO SEE IF THOSE, THOSE PRACTICES ARE BEING EFFECTIVE OR NOT.
'CAUSE HOWEVER MANY FLYERS WE GET BACK SHOWS, YOU KNOW WHAT, PEOPLE ARE MAKING THE TREK OUT TO US.
HEY CHASE, CAN YOU HEAR ME A LITTLE BIT? EXCUSE ME.
HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? WE GOT YOU.
HEY, THIS IS, UM, GOOD EVENING Y'ALL.
I'M THE INTERIM ANIMAL SERVICE OFFICER.
I HAD A, A PRE-PLANNED VACATION.
UM, 'CAUSE I AM ENJOYING MY TIME AWAY FROM MY FAMILY.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE ACTUALLY, WHEN I SIGNED OUT OF THE OFFICE, UH, THIS MORNING HAD BEEN SINCE DECEMBER THAT I'D TAKEN TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS OFF IN A ROW.
SO I'M REALLY, UM, HAPPY TO BE OUT HERE WITH MY FAMILY AND, UH, VACATIONING.
BUT I STILL WANTED TO BE IN TOUCH WITH Y'ALL AND, AND HEAR YOU ALL.
THIS IS, UM, MY SECOND COMMISSION MEETING.
THE FIRST ONE I TURNED OUT WAS, UH, PRETTY, PRETTY SILENT.
UM, JASON TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF OUR EFFORTS IN RESPONSE TO THAT QUESTION THAT THE COMMISSIONER RAISED REGARDING WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, WHAT I'VE TASKED THE TEAM RIGHT NOW IS, YOU KNOW, TO KEEP DOING WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, RIGHT.
UM, WE ARE WORKING ON, UM, OUR, OUR OUR DRAFT MARKETING PLAN.
UM, IT'S CALLED, I'M ASKING, I'M CALLING IT A MARKETING PLAN, BUT IT MAY BE MORE THAN THAT.
I SHOULD HAVE A DRAFT BY, UH, MONDAY THE 16TH.
UH, WE'RE ALSO, UH, TRYING TO AUGMENT THE RESOURCES WITHIN OUR COMMUNICATIONS MARKETING TEAM.
UH, WE BROUGHT IN ON AN INTERN, UM, UH, TO ASSIST THAT GROUP.
IT'S THAT THAT GROUP HAS BEEN A PA TWO PERSON TEAM, UH, SINCE I'VE BEEN THERE.
AND I THINK IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT FOR QUITE A WHILE.
AND SO I'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THIS WHEN WE INTRODUCE THIS STRATEGIC PLAN, BUT KNOW THAT WE ARE TRYING TO JUST KEEP DOING WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, UH, SEE WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T FROM THERE.
BUT WE HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN BEING DEVELOPED.
UM, I'VE ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE CORPORATE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE.
SO THE CITY'S COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE.
UH, I'VE ASKED THEM TO LOOK AT THAT DRAFT PLAN TO SEE, UM, WHAT RESOURCE THEY CAN AUGMENT US.
UM, BECAUSE WE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A SMALL TEAM AND IF I'M GONNA GET ANY MORE RESOURCES, I'M GONNA PUT THOSE IN THE OTHER DIVISIONS.
WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEED MORE CAPACITY.
AND SO, UM, I'M TRYING TO BUILD THE MARKETING TEAM THROUGH INTERNSHIP THROUGH MAYBE SOME SWITCHES OF PEOPLE AROUND THE, THE OFFICE, BUT ALSO REALLY NOT THE LOOKING AT THE CORPORATE OFFICE TO PROVIDE SOME, UM, ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON, ON, UH, STAFFING EQUIPMENT, UM, THAT THEY CAN GIVE US.
SO I, I, I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT PLAN TO SEE HOW I CAN LEVERAGE, YOU KNOW, YOU ALL AS A COMMISSION AND VOLUNTEERS AS WELL.
UM, SO JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE THAT, THAT INFORMATION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE A A C MONTHLY REPORT? OKAY.
[3. Staff briefing regarding an update on the implementation of the Animal Services Office Strategic Plan 2025 to 2030. Presentation by Juany Torres, Strategic Plan Project Manager, Animal Services Office. ]
MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, UH, THE STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANIMAL SERVICES OFFICE.STRATEGIC PLAN FROM 2025 TO 2030 BY, IS IT JOANI? JUANI? JUANI JUANI TORRES, WHO'S THE STRATEGIC PLAN PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE ANIMAL SERVICES OFFICE.
AND I THINK, ROLANDO, DID YOU WANNA KICK US OFF? I DO.
UM, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME OKAY? YES.
HE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THE PRESENTATION WITHOUT THE ECHO.
OH, HE'S NOT DOING THE PRESENTATION.
YEAH, I'D JUST LIKE TO, UH, I JUST LIKE TO INTRODUCE ANI AND A LITTLE BIT OF THE STUFF THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, ASIDE FROM THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
YOU KNOW, SO JUANI, UH, CAME ON BOARD, UH, WITH ME AND ALSO MELISSA POOL.
OUR, UH, CHIEF INTERIM CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, UH, JUANI HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR, UH, LEADING US IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE,
[00:45:01]
YOU KNOW, 18, 19 MONTH DEVELOPMENT OF A STREET PLAN.SO NOW WE'RE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, AND SO JUANI WILL WALK YOU THROUGH THAT.
BUT BEFORE SHE WALKS YOU THROUGH THAT, I WANTED TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT, THAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO WITH THE TEAM SINCE I'VE BEEN THERE.
AND I THINK I'M ON MY SEVENTH WEEK.
I'M NOT GONNA COUNT THIS WEEK 'CAUSE I'M NOT GONNA BE THERE PHYSICALLY, BUT STILL WORKING SOME.
UM, THERE ARE FIVE AREAS THAT I'VE BEEN FOCUSED ON SINCE I'VE BEEN THERE.
UM, NUMBER ONE IS THE TEAM CULTURE.
I'VE HEARD MANY OF Y'ALL TALK ABOUT JUST THE CAPACITY OF THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE.
WE HAVE, UM, A SMALL BUT VERY, VERY MIGHTY TEAM.
UH, I WOULD SAY THAT WE HAVE 124 FULL-TIME FD 128 FULL-TIME FTES.
WE HAVE ABOUT 40 TEMPORARY POSITIONS.
WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE VACANT RIGHT NOW.
UH, AND THEN CERTAINLY WE RELY ON THE VOLUNTEERS A A LOT.
AND JASON TALKED ABOUT THE NUMBER OF VOLUN VOLUNTEER HOURS THAT WE HAVE, UH, ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
AND SO REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THE VOLUNTEERS THAT COME IN AND DO THE WORK.
UM, BUT I'M REALLY GRATEFUL ABOUT THE GREAT WORK THAT OUR STAFF DOES.
BUT IT'S, IT'S A LOT, UH, SINCE I'VE BEEN IN THIS DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN OVER CAPACITY, UH, FOR A WHILE, UH, IN BOTH, UH, THE LARGE MEDIUM TO LARGE DOGS, PUPPIES AND CATS.
AND, AND LATELY, UM, I THINK THE HIGHEST NUMBER THAT I'VE SEEN ON THE DAILY RATE, WE WERE LIKE AT 67 OVER CAPACITY.
YOU KNOW, JUSTIN JAMES HAD MENTIONED THAT WE WERE LIKE AT 45 TODAY.
UM, SO WE'VE BEEN, THEY, THEY, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING THEIR, THEIR, YOU KNOW, HARD, UH, TO DO THE WORK THAT THEY DO.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THAT KIND OF TAKES THIS TOLL ON OUR, UM, APPROACH TO WORK AND, AND HOW WE, UH, TREAT THE WORK THAT WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, HOW WE WORK WITH ONE ANOTHER, HOW WE WORK WITH VOLUNTEERS.
AND SO I CERTAINLY WANNA, YOU KNOW, IMPROVE THE CULTURE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, UM, VISION, VISION GOALS, AND, AND BE FOCUSED ON TAKING CARE OF THEM, UH, WHO, YOU KNOW, DO THE GOOD WORK OF TAKING CARE OF THE ANIMALS THAT WE'RE, ARE HERE TO SERVE.
AND I ALSO WANNA FOCUS SOME OF THAT ON HOW WE WORK AND TREAT VOLUNTEERS.
AND CONVERSELY, HOW, YOU KNOW, VOLUNTEERS WORK WITH STAFF.
YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE HEARD, AND I NOTICED QUITE HONESTLY, YOU KNOW, SOME, UH, EXCHANGES BETWEEN, UM, BOTH THE DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THEY DO THE JOB THAT THEY DO BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT THE ANIMALS.
NOBODY'S HERE TO BE RICH AND GET MONEY OFF THE WORK THAT WE DO.
'CAUSE IT DOESN'T, IT DOESN'T PAY THAT GREAT.
I, I, I'LL, I'LL ATTEST TO THAT, BUT THEY'RE THERE BECAUSE THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT THE ANIMALS THAT WE, THEY SERVE.
AND SO I THINK THAT'LL BE SUPER IMPORTANT AND THAT'LL CONVEY OVER TO ALL THE OTHER AREAS THAT WE WANNA MAKE BETTER AT THE, AT THE OFFICE AFTER TAKING CARE OF THE TEAM CULTURE AS WELL AS WE WORK ON THE TEAM CULTURE.
I WANNA FOCUS ON OPERATIONS AND PROCEDURES.
UM, ACROSS THE BOARD, EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, WE WANT HAVE DOCUMENTED EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, WE HAVE, WE WANNA HAVE TRAINING ON.
UM, I ALSO WANNA ADDRESS QUESTIONS THAT, UH, COMMISSIONERS AND VOLUNTEERS HAVE HAD ABOUT THE CRITERIA FOR TUNISIA.
SO DOWN THE ROAD, I WANT TO, UH, COME BACK AND PRESENT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT TO YOU.
AND WHEN I, WHEN I MEAN PRESENT IS ANY UPDATES TO THAT CRITERIA, YOU KNOW, THE CRITERIA THAT'S BEEN UTILIZED TO DATE SINCE I'VE BEEN THERE HAS BEEN THE CRITERIA THAT'S BEEN IN PLACE, YOU KNOW, BEFORE I GOT THERE.
AND SO, UM, I, I WAS, I'M SURPRISED THAT THERE'S QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
AND, AND THE DEPARTMENT HASN'T DONE A, A JOB, OR MAYBE THEY DO.
AND IT'S BEEN A WHILE THAT PEOPLE FORGOT WHAT THAT CRITERIA LOOKED LIKE AND WHAT THAT PROCESS IS.
SO I'M HAPPY TO COME DOWN AND, UM, THE ROAD, UH, INTO THESE COMMISSION MEETINGS AND PRESENT YOU THAT INFORMATION AND ALSO DO IT IN THE, IN A WRITTEN MEMO OR COMMUNICATION THAT, YOU KNOW, SPEAKS TO THAT.
UM, I WOULD ECHO WHAT JASON SAID TODAY IN TERMS OF, IT'S A COLLECTIVE PROCEDURE THAT HAPPENS IN TERMS OF HOW ANIMALS ARE DETERMINED FOR EACH IN ASIA.
UM, THERE ARE NOT VOLUNTEERS IN, IN, IN THAT PROCESS AND NOT DON'T FORESEE VOLUNTEERS BEING PART OF THAT PROCESS, BUT IT IS A STAFF, UM, UM, PROCESS.
AND IT'S INFORMED BY VARIOUS STAFF MEMBERS IN OUR, IN OUR OFFICE FROM VARIOUS AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY.
AND WE LOOK AT ALL THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEEN CAPTURED BOTH BY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS, UM, IN, IN THAT DETERMINATION.
BUT, SO I, I WILL COME BACK TO THAT, BUT THAT IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE MANY PROCEDURES THAT WE WANNA LOOK ACROSS THE BOARD IN OUR OFFICE.
OPERATIONS, MEANING ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THING? ARE WE DOING THAT RIGHT THING? WELL, AND IF WE ARE THEN, AND WE'RE STILL, YOU KNOW, HAVING CHALLENGES, MEETING THOSE PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT WE'RE GONNA SET UP, THEN THAT BECOMES A MATTER OF MORE RESOURCES, RIGHT? AND, AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AND THE RESOURCE IS THE NUMBER THREE THING.
SO, AS I MENTIONED IN THIS EXAMPLE, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT AS THE DEPARTMENT, WE ARE ONLY DOING THE FO THE, THE AREAS THAT WE HAVE TO FOCUS ON, ON AS THE MUNICIPAL CIVIL, UH, MUNICIPAL SHELTER FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING THOSE THINGS THE RIGHT WAY, THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE EFFICIENTLY.
UM, AND, UH, PART OF THAT IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, I SPENT A DAY WITH THE ANIMAL CARE ON MEMORIAL DAY, UH, CLEANING THE KENNELS.
AND I WANNA, THAT'S REALLY HARD WORK, UM, MAN, UH, PHYSICALLY, UH, REALLY HARD WORK.
AND I WANT TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO MAKE THAT MORE, UH, EASIER FOR THEM, RIGHT? SO THAT THEY CAN GET THROUGH IT BEFORE WE OPEN UP AT 11 O'CLOCK FOR OUR, OUR, UH, CUSTOMERS TO COME IN AND LOOK AT THE ANIMALS, RIGHT? UM, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THE RIGHT WAY, THE BEST WAY FOR ADOPTIONS, FOR FOSTERING, FOR RESCUING.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT ALL THOSE THINGS.
AND SO THINGS ARE SET IN MOTION RIGHT NOW, AND I'LL COME BACK AND TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO DO THOSE THINGS.
UH, AND OUR RESOURCES, UH, RESOURCES ALSO IS, UH, PERTAINS
[00:50:01]
TO THE VOLUNTEERS.YOU KNOW, HOW CAN WE WORK BETTER WITH THE VOLUNTEERS? HOW CAN WE, WE RECOGNIZE THE VOLUNTEERS FOR THE TREMENDOUS WORK THAT WE DO.
AND I MEAN, THERE ARE VOLUNTEERS THAT I SEE THERE ON A DAILY BASIS THAT GO ABOVE AND BEYOND ANY CALL SERVICE THAT YOU CAN, UM, EXPECT FROM A VOLUNTEER.
SO REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, OF THAT.
UM, BUT AGAIN, I MENTIONED EARLIER, I, I, I WANNA WORK ON THAT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.
I DON'T WANT EITHER, OR FEELING LIKE SOMEBODY'S NOT GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND IN THE WORKER RESPONSIBILITY.
AND I THEN I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE RECOGNIZED FOR THE GOOD WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING.
AND I SEE VOLUNTEERS AS, AS AN EXTENSION OF OUR WORKFORCE.
WE DON'T HAVE SUFFICIENT RESOURCES RIGHT NOW TO DO EVERYTHING THAT'S REQUIRED OF US, UH, UH, FOR OUR, FOR OUR ANIMALS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, VOLUNTEERS RECOGNIZE THAT THEY'RE, THAT THEY'RE CARED ABOUT, THAT THEY'RE, THEY, THAT THEY'RE VALUED.
BUT THERE IS A DEMARCATION BETWEEN STAFF AND, AND, AND VOLUNTEERS AND SORT OF SORT OF APPROPRIATELY DEFINE THAT DEMARCATION AND COMMUNICATE THAT, UH, DEMARCATION ROLE TO BOTH PARTIES IS, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT I REALLY WANT TO DO.
UH, FACILITY, UH, I HEARD EAR ONE OF OUR, UM, CONSTITUENTS TALK ABOUT THE TEMPERATURE IN OUR KENNEL SPACE, RIGHT? UM, SINCE DAY ONE, FACILITIES HAS BEEN AN, A MAJOR CONCERN OF MINE, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO BRING UP BOARD ONBOARD A ADDITIONAL STAFF MEMBER FROM BUILDING SERVICES TO WORK ON OUR FACILITY.
UH, PRIOR TO VIR, WE HAD ONE PERSON THAT PROVIDED 20 TO 30 HOURS ON THE ENTIRE CAMPUS.
BEN DUNKLEY CAMPUS, NOT JUST IN OUR BUILDING, BUT THE OTHER BUILDINGS IN THE CAMPUS.
AND SO WE MET OFTEN, UH, WE'VE BEEN MEETING OFTEN WITH OUR BUILDING SERVICES.
SO JASON AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A SHORT-TERM PLAN, UH, TO MAKE OUR FACILITY BETTER FOR OUR ANIMALS, BETTER FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THAT FACILITY, BETTER FOR VOLUNTEERS, BUT ALSO WORKING ON DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM PLAN AS PART OF OUR BOND PROGRAM.
AND AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME THAT THAT IS, UH, WE'RE ALLOWED TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH Y'ALL.
UH, WE, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO BE IN FRONT OF YOU AND PROVIDING YOU INFORMATION.
'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA NEED YOUR SUPPORT, UH, WHEN WE MOVE FORWARD ON THAT, ON THAT, UH, BOND DEVELOPMENT.
UH, ON THE SHORT TERM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN MAKING A LOT OF FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS.
I THINK WHEN I FIRST CAME ON BOARD, WE HAD ABOUT 47, UH, WORK ORDERS, UH, SOME OF THOSE ITEMS ON OUR WORK ORDER FOR BUILDING SERVICES THAT HAVE BEEN IN THERE FOR TWO YEARS.
AND WE'VE BEEN SLOWLY, UM, IMPROVING THOSE AREAS.
THE ONE AREA FOR SURE IS THE HVAC THAT, UM, BUT I THINK PART OF THAT IS ALSO THE OPERATION IN TERMS OF HOW THE KENNEL WORKS, RIGHT? WITH THOSE SWING DOORS.
UM, AND SO YOU'RE, YOU'RE TRYING TO COOL THE FACILITY THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT AN ENCLOSED FACILITY.
UM, BUT WE'LL CERTAINLY WORK WITH ALL BUILDING SERVICES STAFF THAT HAVEN'T COME IN, UH, AND HAVE SOME HVAC PERSONNEL COME IN AND SEE HOW WE CAN MAKE THAT BETTER.
UM, AND, AND LONG TERM, UM, WHERE WE WE'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT SYSTEM FAILING, UH, FOR OUR ANIMALS AND THEN ALSO FOR OUR STAFF.
WE HAD SOME ISSUES OVER THE WEEKEND, UH, WITH SOME OF OUR SPACE IN, IN THE OFFICE, NOT COOLING SUFFICIENTLY, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE REACHED OUT TO THE BUILDING SERVICE OFFICER OVER THE WEEKEND AND WE'RE TRYING TO GET THOSE, UH, REPAIRED.
UM, SO A LOT MORE ON THE BUILDING FACILITIES, BUT JUST KNOW THAT IT'S A MAJOR FOCUS OF OURS.
AND, AND WE'RE GONNA TRY TO DO THAT AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.
AND THE LAST ITEM, THE FIFTH ITEM IS COMMUNITY RELATIONS.
SO COMMUNITY RELATIONS IS AN ITEM ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
ALL THESE ARE ITEMS IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
BUT COMMUNITY RELATIONS IS ONE THAT I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN AND HAVE ALREADY BEGUN WORK.
I'VE BEEN MEETING WITH A LOT OF OUR, UH, PARTNERS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE RESOURCES TO US AND I WANNA ESTABLISH REALLY GOOD RELATIONS WITH THEM.
I ALSO WANNA CLEARLY, UH, DENOTE SORT OF LIKE, HERE IS WHAT THE ANIMAL SERVICES OFFICE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR.
HERE'S WHAT WE DO AND WE'RE GONNA DO IT REALLY AWESOME.
AND THEN WHEN SOMEBODY NEEDS SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T DO, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO CONNECT THEM WITH AN ORGANIZATION, THAT PARTNER OF OURS THAT DOES THAT REALLY WELL, SO THAT ANIMALS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE OWNERS OF THOSE ANIMALS, RIGHT, HAVE SOMEWHERE TO GO FOR WHATEVER NEED THEY HAVE.
AND SO THAT'S THE LONG-TERM PLAN, BUT WE STARTED ALREADY HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND, AND TRYING TO BUILD REALLY GOOD RELATIONS WITH OUR, OUR PARTNERS.
WE CAN'T, THE ANIMAL SERVICE OFFICE OFFICE CANNOT BE THE ANSWER FOR EVERY ITEM THAT OUR COMMUNITY MAY NEED FOR THEIR ANIMALS, RIGHT? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.
UM, WE ARE STRETCHED REALLY THIN RIGHT NOW, UH, AND EVEN IF WE GOT ALL THE RESOURCES, IT, I DON'T THINK IT'S A GOOD THING FOR US TO BE LIKE, SPREAD OUT SOANE AND ALL THESE AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY.
WE REALLY HAVE TO WORK, RELY WITH, UH, ON OTHER PARTNERS AND HAVE STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM, YOU KNOW, A GIVE AND TAKE.
AND SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUE ON THAT EFFORT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT AGAIN, THOSE FIVE THINGS THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON AS A, AS A LEADERSHIP TEAM.
YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR CULTURE, OUR PROCEDURES, UH, AND OPERATIONS, OUR RESOURCES, OUR FACILITY, AND OUR, OUR COMMUNITY RELATIONS ARE THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT I HAVE ON MY LIST.
AND ALL THOSE THINGS INFLUENCE THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
I FELT LIKE IF WE DIDN'T START WORKING ON THESE, WE WEREN'T GONNA HAVE THE FOUNDATION TO MOVE RAPIDLY WITH THE DELIVERY OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH Y'ALL.
IT'S BEEN A REALLY BUSY SEVEN WEEKS AND, UM, IN THE NO SHELTER SERVICE.
UM, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WAS JUST BUSY AS A PROFESSIONAL IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, RIGHT? UM, I HAVE A HEART FOR THE WORK THAT WE DO.
UM, I HAVE, I HAVE A HEART FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WORK
[00:55:01]
IN OUR OFFICE.AND, AND, AND THE ONE THING THAT I'M GONNA REQUEST FROM FOLKS THAT COME IN AND, AND VOLUNTEER AND YOU ALL AS THE COMMISSIONERS, IS TO, WE MAY NOT BE PERFECT, RIGHT? WE'RE GONNA MAKE MISTAKES.
IT'S NOT OUR, WE'RE NOT GONNA GO IN THERE WANTING TO DO THAT, RIGHT? UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE GIVING RESPECT AND COURTESY TO THE FOLKS THAT ARE REALLY WORKING HARD EVERY DAY.
LONG HOURS ABOVE AND BEYOND, FOR SURE, ABOVE AND BEYOND ANY EXPECTATION THAT ONE WOULD HAVE OF AN EMPLOYEE, OF A TEAM MEMBER, UH, IN THEIR PERFORMANCE OF THE DUTY.
I WALK AROUND EVERY MORNING, I WALK AROUND BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY WHEN I, BEFORE I GO HOME, UH, I'VE COME IN, IN MY, YOU KNOW, EXTRA TIME.
AND YOU HAVE A DEDICATED, UH, PROFESSIONAL STAFF, UH, THAT CARES ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY DO.
WE'RE GONNA MAKE SOME MISTAKES.
UH, WE'RE GONNA MAKE THINGS BETTER.
AND I JUST WANTED TO LAY THAT OUT BEFORE WE GO INTO THE COMMISSION, I MEAN, INTO THE STRATEGIC PLAN CONVERSATION THAT JUANI WILL LEAD US THROUGH, UM, ON THIS AREA.
JUST KNOW THAT WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE INTENTLY WITH, UH, WITH PURPOSE.
UH, IT IS A FIVE YEAR PLAN, AND JUANI WILL KIND OF SHOW YOU WHAT WE'VE DONE THUS FAR.
AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO COMING BACK ON A REGULAR BASIS AND COMMUNICATING WITH YOU ALL IN THE COMMITTEE, NOT JUST THROUGH THIS, UH, COMMISSION, BUT ALSO THROUGH, UH, WRITTEN FORMAT.
SO, JUANI, I APPRECIATE YOU ALLOWING ME TO KICK YOU OFF, AND I, I FEEL LIKE I WENT A LITTLE LONGER, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT.
UM, WE'VE NOT BEEN STANDING IDLE, RIGHT? WE'VE BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD SINCE, SINCE I'VE BEEN PART OF THIS TEAM, SINCE JUAN BEEN PART OF THIS TEAM.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE JASON AND THE REST OF THE TEAM IN A O JUST STOPPING WHAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING AND ALLOWING ME TO ASK QUESTIONS AND CHALLENGE THE STAFF, RIGHT? BECAUSE I, I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF THAT, AND I THINK WE'RE COMING AROUND.
SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE MYSELF AND JUST PROVIDE THAT, UH, HIGH LEVEL OVERSIGHT OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN FOCUSED ON.
ORLANDO, COULD YOU PULL UP THE SLIDES PLEASE? THANK YOU.
OH, WHERE'D IT GO? OKAY, SO AGAIN, MY NAME IS JUANI TORRES.
I'M THE STRATEGIC PLAN PROJECT MANAGER FOR, UM, A SO.
I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO BE HERE, AND I, UM, ASK FOR YOUR GRACE.
THIS IS MY FIRST TIME PRESENTING TO A COMMISSION EVER
UM, SO I AM LEARNING A LOT HERE AS WELL, BUT I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO BE HERE AND I LOOK FORWARD TO ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS AT THE END.
ALL RIGHT, SO JUST SOME BACKGROUND, UM, TAKING US TO THE BEGINNING.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY, UM, OF AUSTIN'S ANIMAL SERVICES OFFICE LAUNCHED A STRATEGIC PLAN IN JUNE, 2024.
SO WE'RE AT OUR ONE YEAR SINCE THE KICKOFF OF THAT.
UH, BUT THE PLANNING PROCESS ACTUALLY BEGAN AFTER, UM, THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ANIMAL SHELTER EVALUATIONS HAD SOME REVIEWS IN 2023.
SO BETWEEN THEN AND NOW, UM, IN MARCH, 2025, CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THIS PLAN.
AND SO I'LL JUST GO QUICKLY THROUGH THIS BRIEF TIMELINE, UM, FOR THIS YEAR, 2025.
SO IN JANUARY, WE FINALIZED AND DESIGNED THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
IN FEBRUARY, WE CAME HERE TO THE ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING.
SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES ARE HERE IN FRONT OF YOU, SHARING, UM, DISCUSSING AND ASKING FOR YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON THAT PLAN.
UH, MARCH 5TH, WE WENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE BRIEFING AND HEARD FROM COUNCIL, PRESENTED SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION, UM, AND UPDATED THAT PLAN TO INCLUDE THE FEEDBACK, NOT ONLY OF THE COMMISSION, BUT MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS, STAFF MEMBERS, UM, AND DIFFERENT RESPONSES THAT WE RECEIVED FROM PUBLIC INPUT SURVEYS AS WELL AS INTERVIEWS.
UM, MARCH 27TH, 2025, WE, UM, WENT TO AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
AND AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, UH, CONSIDERED AND ADOPTED THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
ON APRIL 29TH OF THIS YEAR, WE WENT TO THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT AND PRESENTED THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL APPROVED STRATEGIC PLAN.
AND THEN IN MAY, 2025, LAST MONTH ON MAY 19TH, THAT WAS MY FIRST FULL DAY, UH, WE LAUNCHED THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
AND NOW HERE WE ARE, JUNE, 2025, AND THIS IS THE FIRST UPDATE TO THE AUSTIN, UM, ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION.
SO AGAIN, JUST AN OVERVIEW OF HOW, UH, MUCH WORK WENT INTO THE PREPARATION.
I WON'T BE GOING THROUGH EVERYTHING, BUT I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT AGAIN THAT, UM, WE DID INTERVIEW, OR THERE WERE INTERVIEWS DONE OF 10 A SO LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS, 11 DIFFERENT COMMUNITY PARTNERS, 40 A SO VOLUNTEERS, UM, LISTENING SESSIONS WITH 94 A A SO STAFF MEMBERS, A COMMUNITY SURVEY WITH OVER 2000 PARTICIPANTS.
UM, AND A REVIEW OF PRIOR AUDITS, REPORTS, SURVEYS, AND DIFFERENT BENCHMARKS THAT HELPED US GET TO WHERE WE ARE NOW.
UH, BEGINNING IN AUGUST OF LAST YEAR, OF 2024, THAT IS WHEN THE WORKSHOPS BEGAN THROUGH WORKING GROUPS, UM, THAT HELPED RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND, UM, REFINE THE PLAN AND ENSURE THE ALIGNMENT
[01:00:01]
WITH THE WORK OF A SO, THE GOALS AND, UM, PRIORITIES OF THE CITY OF BOSTON AND THE EXPECTATIONS THAT THE COMMUNITY AND STAFF HAD.UM, AND THEN IN JANUARY OF 2025, THIS YEAR TO MAY IS WHEN WE SHARED THE FINAL PLAN WITH THE STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING ALL OF YOU.
WE RECOMMENDED, UM, MODIFICATIONS FROM THE ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION TO COUNCIL, UH, AS WELL AS PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE, AND, UH, PRESENTED TO TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT BEFORE COMING HERE NOW.
OKAY, SO WHERE ARE WE NOW? UM, FROM MAY 19 TO TODAY? UH, SO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITIES FOR, FOR MYSELF AND FOR THE STAFF, HAS BEEN TO ESTABLISH A STRONG BASELINE AND FORMULATE THE MEASURES AND TARGETS UNDER THE STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS AND STRATEGIES.
AS YOU MIGHT RECALL, WHEN WE PRESENTED THE FINAL STRATEGIC PLAN, IT COMES WITH VARIOUS DIFFERENT, UM, FOCUS AREAS.
IT HAS SIX FOCUS AREAS, 18 GOALS, AND 64 STRATEGIES.
BUT UNDER THESE DIFFERENT BUCKETS, UH, WE ARE DEVELOPING WHAT THAT BASELINE WILL BE.
WHERE ARE WE NOW? WHERE ARE WE STARTING AND WHERE ARE WE GOING WHEN IT COMES TO THE MEASURES AND THE TARGETS THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARD? UM, SORRY, I'M GOING BACK.
SO, UM, FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION, OR FROM THE DAY OF THE APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL, WE HELD STAFF FACILITATED WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS WHAT WORK IS ALREADY UNDERWAY BY A SO THAT IS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, THIS IS WORK THAT IS CURRENTLY IN ALIGNMENT, BUT IT'S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND HELP IMPROVE, UH, TO REACH THE GOALS AND TARGETS AND THE STRATEGIES OF THE PLAN.
WE SHARED THE COUNCIL APPROVED AND ADOPTED FINAL 20 25, 20 30 STRATEGIC PLAN WITH ALL A SO STAFF.
AND WE SET THE EXPECTATION THAT WE HOPE ALL STAFF AT A SO WILL BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THIS PLAN.
WE ARE HOPING THAT ALL FROM THE BOTTOM UP, ALL OF US ARE INCLUDED IN THIS PLAN AND THE IMPLEMENTATION, AND WE ARE SETTING THAT EXPECTATION WITH OUR STAFF.
WE INTRODUCE A NEW LEADERSHIP TO OUR ESO STAFF, AND WE BE, WE HAVE BEGUN WEEKLY MEETINGS, UM, TO BEGIN CREATING THAT BASELINE FOR GOALS AND STRATEGIES IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
WE ALSO HAVE CREATED AN INTERNAL TRACKER THAT BREAKS DOWN THESE GOALS AND STRATEGIES AND HAVE BEGUN THE DATA COLLECTION TO INFORM AND ESTABLISH A BASELINE FOR TARGETS AND MEASURES.
WE ARE CURRENTLY FORMULATING STAFF SURVEYS TO GATHER FEEDBACK ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN, AND THAT WILL HELP INFORM THOSE TARGETS AND MEASURES THAT WE'RE AIMING TOWARDS.
AND THEN WE ARE ALIGNING THE STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES LIKE ORLANDO SHARED OF OUR DIFFERENT TEAM MEMBERS, AND THEN ALIENATING ROLES FOR ACCOMPLISHING, MEASURING, TRACKING, AND REACHING TARGETS UNDER EACH GOAL AND STRATEGY.
SO TO REMIND US OF THE DIFFERENT FOCUS AREAS, IT'S HUMANE CARE, SPAY AND NEUTER, OPEN INTAKE, LIVE RELEASE, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.
AND HERE I JUST BROKE DOWN HOW MANY GOALS AND HOW MANY STRATEGIES ARE UNDER EACH OF THESE FOCUS AREAS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS OF WHAT EACH OF THEM MEAN IS AT THE TOP.
SO, UM, THIS IS WORK THAT YOU ALL HAVE SEEN.
IT'S THE DIFFERENT BUCKETS, AGAIN, THE DIFFERENT FOCUS AREAS AND THE STRATEGIES.
AND UNDER EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES IS WHERE WE ARE WORKING TO CREATE TO ONE, GATHER THE DATA, HAVE A REALLY STRONG, UM, BASELINE, AND THEN DEVELOP THOSE TARGETS AND MEASURES THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARD REACHING, SO THAT WHEN WE GIVE YOU FURTHER UPDATES, YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE.
AS I MENTIONED, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE DID AFTER THIS PLAN WAS, UM, ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL, WAS TO MEET WITH, WITH STAFF WITH A SO STAFF.
AND, UM, SORRY, LET ME GET MY NOTES.
SO, ASOS, A SO STAFF HAS BEEN HARD AT WORK ON VARIOUS TASKS AND PROJECTS THAT CURRENTLY ALIGN WITH THE GOALS AND STRATEGIES UNDER THE PLAN.
UM, BELOW IN THIS, ON THIS SLIDE ARE THE EXAMPLES GATHERED FROM A SO STAFF OF GOALS AND STRATEGIES UNDERWAY THAT ALIGN.
A NEXT STEP WILL BE TO COLLECT AND FURTHER ESTABLISH A BASELINE AND UNDERSTAND WHERE WE ARE BEGINNING FROM.
THIS WILL SET THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MEASURES THAT WILL BE USED TO TRACK PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING THOSE GOALS WE ARE CURRENTLY COLLECTING.
AND THEN I'M ALSO IN CHARGE OF VERIFYING THAT DATA DURING MY DUE DILIGENCE AND WORKING HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE MOST ACCURATE AND FULL DATA AND RELIABLE DATA TO START FROM.
UM, A SO STAFF WILL THEN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING THE TARGETS AND MEASURES THAT WILL BE AMENDED THROUGHOUT THE PLAN.
AND WE DO HOPE THAT, UM, THIS COMMISSION WILL BE PART OF THAT BY PERHAPS CREATING A COMMITTEE THAT CAN PROVIDE SOME INPUT AS WE DEVELOP THESE TARGETS AND MEASURES.
UM, AND JUST, SORRY, I CAN'T READ THROUGH IT, BUT, UM, JUST TO GO THROUGH SOME OF THE WORK UNDERWAY THAT ALREADY ALIGNS WITH THIS WORK.
UNDER HUMANE CARE, WE ARE EXPANDING THE PLAYGROUP IN CANADA, ENRICHMENT AND WALKS AND PLAY WITH HUMANS POPULATION ROUNDS, UM, HELPS PUT EYES ON EACH ANIMAL AND CAT PORTALS, INCREASE CAT SPACE FOR THE HUMAN HUMAN CARE,
[01:05:01]
AS WELL AS MODIFY CLEANING PROTOCOLS FOR SEASONAL WEATHER, SPAY AND NEUTER UNDER THIS FOCUS AREA.UM, ALONG WITH GOAL ONE AND TWO, WE ARE WORKING WITH THE GOOD FIX CLINIC, NEW LOCATIONS AND EXPANDED OUTREACH AND UPDATED SPAN UTER, UM, SERVICES TO FAST TO FOSTER, UM, FASTER PROCESSES FOR THE CAPS OPEN INTAKE TO ALIGN WITH GOALS ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
WE HAVE CREATED A GREATER POSITION.
WE HAVE EXPANDED THE PRC HOURS WE HAVE, UM, AND WE ARE WORKING TO, UM, INCREASE THE, THEIR CITY KITS, FOSTER DRIVE ADOPTION PARTNERSHIP WITH HUMANE SOCIETY AND AUSTIN PETS ALIVE WE'RE STREAMLINING OF THE ADOPTION PROCESS AND INCREASED RESEARCH FOR LOST AND FOUND RETURN TO OWNER.
WE HAVE THE GOOD P PARTNERSHIP AND FRIENDS OF VOUCHERS AND EXPANDED FRIENDS OF A A C, AS WELL AS DEVELOPING OUTREACH VIDEOS UNDER THE LIVE RELEASE FOCUS AREA TO ALIGN WITH GOAL ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
UM, THE GOOD PUB PARTNERSHIPS AND FRIENDS OF VOUCHERS ARE ALSO IN ALIGNMENT WITH THAT, AS WELL AS, UM, UPCOMING SOON WE'LL BE REDEVELOPING THE TRANSPORT PROGRAMS TO INCREASE OUTCOMES AND CHANGES IN THE VOLUNTEER ADOPTION APPLICATION PROGRAM.
WE ARE ALSO, UM, HAD ADDED THAT GREATER POSITION AND HANDLING TRAINING FOR ALL THE STAFF, INCLUDING THE ADOPTION TEAM, AS WELL AS NEW SHELTER SOFTWARE THAT YOU HAVE HEARD OF, SHELTER BUDDY AND EXPANDING A PILOT PROGRAM OF MICROCHIP SCANNING SERVICES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY, UH, TO ALIGN WITH GOAL ONE AND TWO, WE HAVE ARE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO FIND PUBLIC SAFETY SOLUTIONS.
AND WE, UM, HAVE LAUNCHED, AGAIN, SHELTER BUDDY TO HELP US, AS WELL AS DIFFERENT TRAININGS FOR STAFF AND USERS.
UM, FINALLY, ONE OF THE MORE EXCITING UPDATES FOR THIS BUCKET IS THE SAFETY PUBLIC SAFETY DESIGNATION THAT IS COMING FOR THE ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICE, UM, OFFICER VEHICLES THROUGH A RESOLUTION.
AND LASTLY, THE STAFF AND VOLUNTEER FOCUS AREA TO ALIGN WITH GOAL ONE AND TWO, WE ARE INCREASING STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS IN-HOUSE.
WE HAVE ROLLED OUT THE DISCORD APP FOR VOLUNTEERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
WE'RE OUTSOURCING AND STREAMLINING VOLUNTEER TRAINING THROUGH MENTORS AND CREATING AS SOPS ACROSS OUR PROGRAMS OR STAFF ONBOARDING AND TRAINING.
SO WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS? UM, SO BETWEEN MAY AND DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR, WE ARE DEVELOPING AGAIN, THAT BASELINE OF METRICS.
IN JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR, WE WILL BE LAUNCHING A DASHBOARD, UM, THE A SO WEBSITE THAT SHOWCASES THE STATUS UPDATES AND PROGRESS ON THE GOALS, STRATEGIES, TARGETS, AND MEASURES OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN IN MARCH.
SO ONE YEAR FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE PLAN, WE HOPE TO UPDATE MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
IN MAY, WE HOPE TO UPDATE YOU ALL, UM, ON THAT ONE YEAR PROGRESS.
AFTER, UM, MEETING WITH ALL OF YOU, WE HOPE TO PRIOR TO ASSESS THE PRIORITIZATION AND PROGRESS ON THE MEASURES.
THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY STEPS WE WILL BE TAKING IN COMMUNICATION.
SO ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN SEE THAT WE WILL BE HAVING QUARTERLY UPDATES, WRITTEN MEMOS TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL, WHICH WE WILL ALSO BE INCLUDING ALL OF YOU IN RECEIVING THOSE.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE, OR WE HOPE TO HAVE TWICE A YEAR IN PERSON PRESENTATIONS TO THE ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION, UPDATES TO A SO VOLUNTEERS TWICE A YEAR, AND THEN UPDATES ON THE WEBSITE WITH THAT DASHBOARD ON THE WAY.
UM, THANK YOU, UM, SO MUCH BOTH OF YOU, UM, FOR UPDATING.
UM, WHAT IS THE WORKING GROUP FROM THE COMMISSION YOU REQUESTED? OH, I WAS, UM, RECOMMENDING A WORKING GROUP IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PART OF OUR, UM, STRATEGIZING, BE BEHIND THE TARGETS AND MEASURES THAT WE, WE WILL BE CREATING TO MEASURE PROGRESS ON THESE GOALS.
IF YOU ALL WOULD LIKE TO CREATE THAT, IT IS SOMETHING WE WOULD RECOMMEND SO WE CAN HAVE YOUR INPUT.
SO IT'S A WORKING GROUP TO HELP WITH STRATEGIZING, CREATING THE ACTUAL TARGETS AND, AND STRATEGIES, OR AT LEAST OVERVIEWING PERHAPS HAVING ANY INPUT IF YOU ALL DECIDE TO DO THAT.
UM, WE'VE HEARD FROM, FROM YOU ALL FROM COMMUNITY THAT REGARDING THE TARGETS AND MEASURES THAT WE WILL BE WORKING ON, YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE A VOICE.
AND SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO OFFER IF THAT IS WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO DO.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS? OKAY, THANK YOU, HONEY.
[4. Discussion regarding the 2024-2025 Annual Internal Review for the Animal Advisory Commission. ]
NUMBER FOUR, UM, COMMISSIONER LINDER, DID YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS OR DO YOU WANT ME TO GO THROUGH THE, THIS IS THAT, UM, I'LL GO THROUGH IT.SO, UH, SO COMMISSIONERS, THERE'S A, AN ANNUAL INTERNAL REVIEW THAT IS, UH, A REPORT THAT COVERS THE TIME PERIOD FROM 7 1 20 24 TO 6 30, 20 24 FOR THE COMMISSION THAT SAYS WHAT THE COMMISSION HAS DONE KIND OF IN THE PAST YEAR.
WHAT ARE THE STRATEGIES? UM, IT HAS TO BE, UM, DONE BY THE CHAIR.
UM, BUT I JUST WANTED TO GO THROUGH, UM,
[01:10:01]
WHAT'S ON THIS DOCUMENT AND IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR ANYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST YEAR THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED, UM, WE WANT TO GET IT ON THERE SO I COULD PASS IT ALONG TO THE CHAIR.UH, SO THE FIRST ITEM IS DESCRIBE THE BOARD'S ACTIONS SUPPORTING THEIR MISSION DURING THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR.
ADDRESS ALL ELEMENTS OF THE BOARD'S MISSION STATEMENT AS PER PROVIDED IN THE RELEVANT SECTIONS OF THE CITY CODE.
THE SECOND IS TO DETERMINE IF THE BOARD'S ACTIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR COMPLY WITH THE MISSION STATEMENT.
AND THIRD IS LIST THE BOARD'S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE NEW CALENDAR YEAR.
SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW, WHERE'S A GOOD PLACE TO START? UM, I SUPPOSE I WOULD SAY FOR THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE NEW CALENDAR YEAR WOULD PROBABLY BE TO HAVE A WORKING GROUP THAT WORKS WITH THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT GOAL.
UM, SO DOES ANY ANY OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR WAS ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR I COULD ADD? THANK YOU COMMISSIONER, UH, NELSON.
WELL, THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND IS ANOTHER GOAL, UM, AS WAS MENTIONED IN THE LAST, UM, ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING, THAT, UM, UM, I THINK IT'D BE GOOD FOR THE COMMISSION TO FOCUS ON HAVING SOME MEANINGFUL INPUT REGARDING THE BUDGET NEXT YEAR.
AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE INVOLVED IN THIS, BUT I THINK THERE'S ALSO A BOND PACKAGE THAT WILL BE GOING OUT THAT, UM, WILL HAVE THINGS RELATED TO ANIMALS AND A SO IN THERE.
SO WE'D WANNA LOOK AT THE BOND PACKAGE ALSO.
ANYTHING ELSE? WHAT WAS THE TIME SPAN AGAIN FOR, UM, THE REPORT COVERS THE PERIOD OF, UH, JULY 1ST, 2024 TO SIX 30 OF 2025.
OKAY, SO WE PROBABLY HAVE TO GO BACK AND DO SOME DIGGING.
I WASN'T HERE, SO, UM, CAN INTERJECT REAL QUICK.
UM, IT JUST
AND FROM EVERYTHING I HAVE HEARD, ANIMAL SERVICES IS LOOKING LIKE IT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THAT.
UM, IT ALSO IS LOOKING LIKE AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER IS WHEN IT WOULD BE TIME FOR VOTERS TO POTENTIALLY LOOK AT THIS.
I DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO KNOW FOR SURE THAT ANY OF THIS IS TRUE, BUT I JUST WANNA PUT IT ON OUR RADAR THAT WE, IF IN ORDER TO TAKE ACTION ON THAT, IT NEEDS TO BE ON AN AGENDA, I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE SPACE ON THE JULY AGENDA.
UM, WE MAY NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DISCUSS THEN, BUT THAT WAY IF WE DO, WE AREN'T HAMPERED BY AGENDAS, UM, AROUND THAT.
SO, UH, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER HOLT.
THERE, WE WILL, UM, BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. SO THAT'S ONE YOU COULD, UM, ADD.
ANY OTHER, UH, I, IT'S HARD TO SEE YOU.
SORRY THEY HAD THE THING UP SO I COULD BARELY SEE YOU.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU, YOU MENTIONED, I THINK THE THIRD ONE IN THE SLIDE THAT YOU SHARE, WHICH I'M GRATEFUL YOU DID, IS, UM, IT, IT WAS ABOUT THE LIST OF GOALS FOR THIS YEAR.
WHAT, AND YOU MENTIONED THAT IS US THE COMMISSION TO SUPPORT THE STRATEGIC, STRATEGIC, UH, GOALS OR PLAN.
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, AND I THINK IT GOES ALONG WITH WHAT I HEARD FROM DR.
UH, NELSONS AND ALSO FROM WHITNEY HOLT IS IN A WAY PUT A LITTLE BIT BROADER, THAT BESIDES THE STRATEGIC PLAN IS JUST LOOK FOR WAYS OUT OF THE BOX, HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR THE, THE ANIMALS IN OUR CITY.
I KNOW IT'S VERY BROAD, BUT
SO, SO MAYBE SHORT TERM GOALS? YEAH, POTENTIALLY THAT BECOME LONG TERM, SHORT TERM.
ALRIGHT, ANYTHING ELSE? OKAY, THANK YOU.
[5. Update from the Community Cats Processing Working Group regarding the work completed since February 2025. ]
ITEM NUMBER FIVE, UM, WHICH IS THE UPDATE FROM COMMUNITY CATS PROCESSING WORK GROUP REGARDING THE WORK COMPLETED SINCE FEBRUARY, 2025.WE HAVE THREE SPEAKERS ON, UM, ITEM NUMBER FIVE THAT WILL GO FIRST.
AND THE FIRST ONE IS, UH, DEBORAH
[01:15:01]
RO.MY NAME IS DEBORAH ROWE AND I'M SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY CATS WORKING GROUP.
WE'VE SUBMITTED FIVE FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR REVIEW, AND I'LL BE FOCUSING NOW ON THE FIRST TWO.
FIRST, WE'RE ASKING FOR A CLEAR COORDINATED PROTOCOL FOR SNR AND EMERGENCY CASES.
RIGHT NOW, THE EXPERIENCE OF TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING, WHETHER YOU'RE A VOLUNTEER OR A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WHICH STAFF MEMBER IS ON DUTY.
THE SNR TEAM AND THE COMMUNITY CATS PROGRAM ARE NOT OPERATING AS THE COORDINATED SYSTEM THEY NEED TO BE.
FOR EXAMPLE, TNR VOLUNTEERS COMMONLY BRING FRIENDLY CATS THAT WE PROMISE TO RETURN TO THEIR COLONY CAREGIVERS ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THEY'VE BEEN ADOPTED WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.
THIS COMMUNICATION FAILURE ERODES PUBLIC TRUST IN US AND THE PROGRAM.
MEANWHILE, 3 1 1 IS RELYING ON OUTDATED OR INCOMPLETE GUIDANCE FROM THE DEPARTMENTS THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT.
THEY IN TURN, PASS OFF THE WRONG INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC WITHOUT COMMUNITY ABOUT COMMUNITY CATS.
WE NEED A SINGLE SHARED PROTOCOL THAT IS USED CONSISTENTLY ACROSS PUBLIC FACING TEAMS. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING, SO I APPRECIATE THAT.
SECOND, WE'RE ASKING FOR A FINANCIAL REASSESSMENT OF THE MEDICAL VOUCHER PROGRAM.
THE $250 CAP HASN'T CHANGED IN OVER A YEAR, OVER A DECADE, DESPITE RISING VET COSTS.
MOST OF THESE CATS NEED A SEDATION EXAM, SOMETIMES FOLLOWED BY SURGERY.
SO THE GAP IN COST IS BEING COVERED OUT OF POCKET BY VOLUNTEERS AND GOOD SAMARITANS AT OFTEN MORE THAN TWICE THE VOUCHER AMOUNT.
NOT ONLY IS THIS UNSUSTAINABLE, IT CAN DISSUADE US FROM HELPING COMMUNITY CATS THAT TRULY NEED VET CARE.
A FISCAL REVIEW OF THE VOUCHER AMOUNT IS LONG OVERDUE AND WE URGE YOU TO, TO RECOMMEND IT.
FINALLY, I WANNA ADD THAT THE SHELTER IS NOT CURRENTLY ORGANIZED TO SUPPORT VOLUNTEERS WHO DO THEIR WORK ENTIRELY OFF CAMPUS AND AT ALL HOURS.
WHAT WORKS FOR IN SHELTER VOLUNTEERS DOES NOT TRANSLATE TO WHAT COMMUNITY CATS VOLUNTEERS FACE EVERY DAY.
IN SOME WAYS, TRAPPING IS THE EASY PART.
THE REAL CHALLENGE IS DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC, FEELING, CONFUSION, HOSTILITY, GRIEF AND JUDGMENT, OFTEN ALONE WITH LITTLE TO NO SUPPORT AND IT'S EMOTIONALLY DRAINING.
SO YES, IN ADDITION TO TRAPPING, WE OFTEN PLAY THE ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKER.
THAT'S THE PART NO ONE SEES, AND IT'S THE PART THAT WEARS US DOWN.
IN ANY GIVEN MONTH, THERE ARE ABOUT 15 ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS FOR ALL OF TRAVIS COUNTY.
INSTEAD OF ASKING US TO TRAP MORE CATS, THE QUESTION SHOULD BE, HOW CAN WE DO A BETTER JOB OF SUPPORTING CCP VOLUNTEERS WHO ALSO HAVE FULL-TIME JOBS SO THEY DON'T BURN OUT AND LEAVE THE PROGRAM? SO WE WERE RESPECTFULLY ASKED THAT YOU PLEASE ADOPT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
THEY'RE NOT DRAMATIC, THEY'RE REALISTIC AND OVERDUE.
OUR NEXT PERSON LOOKS LIKE JACOBY ALVAREZ.
I'M SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY CATS WORKING GROUP, AND OUR THIRD RECOMMENDATION IS FOR ANIMAL SERVICES TO EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF A DESIGNATED TRAPPER OR FIELD SUPPORT ROLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY CATS PROGRAM.
THIS WOULDN'T BE A BRAND NEW POSITION.
IT WOULD RESTORE SOMETHING THAT ONCE WORKED WELL, AND I'LL OFFER THREE REASONS WHY.
NUMBER ONE, IT WOULD PRODUCE VOLUNTEER RESENTMENT AND BURNOUT.
A SINGLE TRAPPING REQUEST CAN TAKE WEEKS OR MONTHS TO COMPLETE.
AND TRAPPERS LIKE ME NEED BREAKS IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN OUR ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY LONG TERM.
MAKING THE WORKFORCE NOT ENTIRELY VOLUNTEER BASED WOULD MATCH HOW A A C TREATS DOGS WITH STAFF MANAGERS AND VOLUNTEERS WORKING TOGETHER TO EXPONENTIALLY IMPROVE MORALE AND COLLABORATION.
A PROGRAM COORDINATOR, UH, RECENTLY SENT US THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE, WHICH MAY SOUND INSPIRATIONAL TO NON TNR FOLKS.
UH, THEY, THEY SAID, HEY, WE NOTICED THERE ARE ONLY A COUPLE CATS SIGNED UP FOR THE SURGERY AT A HS TOMORROW, AND WE DON'T WANNA MISS OUT WHEN WE KNOW THERE ARE CATS OUT THERE TO BE TRAPPED, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT IT IS KIDNEY SEASON.
IF YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO TRAP BUT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR AN APPOINTMENT, YOUR TIME IS NOW.
SO TO A VOLUNTEER, UM, THERE'S SOME RED FLAGS THERE BECAUSE TNR TYPICALLY INVOLVES CONTACT WITH THE REQUESTER, SITE VISITS, NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH, EDUCATION, WEATHER PLANNING, ALL PRIOR TO TRAPPING.
SO JUST THE SUBTEXT OF THE MESSAGE READS AS IF TRAPPERS COULD KIND OF GO OUT AND SPONTANEOUSLY START TRAPPING AFTER BEING ENCOURAGED.
SO A STAFF MEMBER WHO UNDERSTANDS TRAPPING IN THE FIELD WOULD BE MORE CURIOUS IN UNDERSTANDING THERE INSTEAD OF KIND OF INSINUATING THAT WE AREN'T TRAPPING ENOUGH.
[01:20:01]
NUMBER TWO, THIS WOULD INCREASE COMMUNITY RESPONSIVE RESPONSIVENESS IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS, SITUATIONS.SO A STAFF TRAPPER COULD SERVE THE COMMUNITY BETTER AND FASTER BY TRIAGING URGENT REQUESTS FOR SICK AND PREGNANT CATS, DROPPING SOME THEMSELVES ACTIVATING VOLUNTEERS IN SPECIFIC AREAS TO ASSIST.
THIS WILL HELP RESTORE TRUST FROM THE COMMUNITY.
THIRD, THIS WOULD CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT, LESS RISKY REQUEST PIPELINE SYSTEM.
SO THE CURRENT MODEL FOR TRAP POSTING, TRAPPING JOBS TO SIGN UP FOR DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON A SINGLE VOLUNTEER WITH NO FAIL SAFE PLAN IN PLACE.
MEANING IF OUR VOLUNTEER WHO CURRENTLY MAINTAINS THE REQUEST SPREADSHEET WERE TO STOP VOLUNTEERING, THERE IS NO WAY FOR STAFF MEMBERS OR VOLUNTEERS TO ACCESS THE REQUEST SHEET, UPDATE IT, AUTOMATE IT, ET CETERA.
SO IN CONCLUSION, WE HAVE TWO CCP STAFF MEMBERS CURRENTLY WHO ARE PLACED, ONE PERSON WHO USED TO TRACK.
WE HOPE THAT THE COMMISSION WILL SUPPORT THIS RECOMMENDATION AND HELP BRING BACK A ROLE THAT CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH AND IS DEEPLY MISSED.
MY NAME'S LAURA NESMITH AND I'M HERE AS A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY CAT WORKING GROUP AS WELL.
TONIGHT I WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT OUR FOURTH RECOMMENDATION, WHICH IS REFINING THE IDENTIFICATION MATERIAL SO THAT US FEEL THE VOLUNTEERS ARE MORE VISIBLE, SAFE, AND EASILY RECOGNIZED AS PART OF THE CITY'S PROGRAM.
UH, THIS ISSUE CAME UP EARLY IN OUR DISCUSSION, AND COMMISSIONER HOLD SUGGESTED IT MIGHT BE A GOOD QUICK WIN, UH, CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING SIMPLE BUT MEANINGFUL FOR VOLUNTEERS WHILE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR A LARGE, UH, FOR LARGER IMPROVEMENTS.
WE AGREED IT SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD TRUST AND SHOW THAT COLLABORATION WITH VOLUNTEERS WAS BOTH, UH, POSSIBLE AND VALUED.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS NOT HOW IT PLAYED OUT.
INSTEAD, UM, A FOLLOWING UP WITH US, UH, SHIRT THAT WE HAD MENTIONED, UM, EASILY TO DO, UH, WAS DESIGNED AND APPROVED BY STAFF WHO DON'T TRAP WITHOUT ANY CONSULTATION FROM THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD ACTUALLY BE WEARING THE SHIRT.
THE END RESULT DOESN'T MEET OUR NEEDS.
IT DOESN'T MEET OUR NEEDS FOR VISIBILITY, NOT FOR SAFETY, AND NOT FOR A LEGITIMACY WHILE WE'RE OUT ENGAGING WITH THE PUBLIC.
TO BE CLEAR, THIS IS NOT ABOUT AESTHETICS.
THIS IS ABOUT FUNCTIONALITY AND SAFETY.
WHEN WE'RE OUT ON THE FIELD, WE NEED TO BUY TO BE IDENTIFIABLE FROM A DISTANCE AS PART OF THE CITY'S COMMUNITY CAP PROGRAM.
THAT VISIBILITY HELPS US MANAGE INTERACTIONS WITH THE PUBLIC, AVOID CONFLICTS, AND ALSO FEEL SAFE WHEN WE'RE WORKING ALONE IN UNFAMILIAR PLACES.
IT ALSO HELPS BUILD CREDIBILITY AND TRUST WITH THE PUBLIC WHO DON'T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING OR WHY EVEN THE SHELTER VOLUNTEER SHIRTS HAVE MORE OF A POLISHED AND OFFICIAL LOOK, WHICH IS WHAT WE HAVE STILL BE WEARING IT.
UH, THIS WAS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY, NOT JUST TO MAKE SOMETHING USEFUL, BUT TO DEMONSTRATE HOW A TRULY COLLABORATIVE WORK PROCESS COULD WORK WITH US VOLUNTEERS.
AND WE'RE SEEING THE SAME PATTERNS WITH OTHER OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AS WELL.
THEY WERE REPRINTED, UH, WITHOUT TALKING TO THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY USE THEM OR WHO WILL ACTUALLY BE GIVING OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
AND AS A RESULT, THEY UNFORTUNATELY MISSED THE MARK AGAIN AND AGAIN.
WE'RE NOT ASKING TO MICROMANAGE, UH, WE'RE JUST ASKING TO BE PARTNERS.
WE HAVE SO MUCH INPUT INTO THE MATERIAL BECAUSE IT DIRECTLY, UH, IMPACTS THE WORK THAT WE DO.
UH, THE VOLUNTEER WORK THAT WE DO, THAT IS SINCE THOSE MANAGING AND RUNNING THE COMMUNITY CATS PROGRAM DON'T TRAP, AND THEREFORE THEY DON'T REALLY KNOW THE EXPERIENCE FIRSTHAND THAT WEED TRAPPERS DO, UH, BE IT EARLY IN THE MORNINGS OR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WE WANT TO BE PARTNERS BECAUSE WE ARE ACTIVELY IN THE FIELD DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC EVERY SINGLE DAY.
THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL INTERACTION AT THE SHELTER.
PEOPLE'S PROPERTIES AND HOW YOU APPROACH IT IS VERY DIFFERENT THAT THEY COME INTO THE SHELTER.
UH, WE RESPOND TO CAT EMERGENCIES, KIT AND RESCUES, AS WELL AS OUR REGULAR TNR TRAPPING REQUESTS AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY.
TO BE CRYSTAL CLEAR, WE WANT THE PROGRAM TO SUCCEED.
UM, SO I JUST ASK YOU TO PLEASE TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE CLARIFYING QUESTIONS.
SO, ARE YOU PART OF THE WORKING GROUP AND ARE THESE YES.
SO THESE ARE KIND OF COMMENTS FROM THE WORKING YES.
SO OUR, THIS SPECIFIC, UH, ONE OF OUR FOURTH RECOMMENDATIONS IS THE REFINING OF, UH, THE IDENTIFICATION MATERIALS AS WELL, LIKE BOTH WHAT WE WEAR AND ALSO WHAT IS GIVEN OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
AND SORRY, JUST TO CLARIFY, WE'RE WE'RE JUST, I'M HERE FOR DISCUSSION ITEMS TODAY.
IT'S, WE'RE NOT OFFICIALLY SUBMITTING OUR RECOMMENDATIONS YET.
UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THERE WAS A WAY TO GET WHAT
[01:25:01]
YOU SAID, LIKE HAVE YOU SENT IT TO US IN WRITING OR IS THAT POSSIBLE? THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE GIVEN ALL OUT, UH, I BELIEVE AS A COMMISSIONER.BUT THIS IS ALL PART OF THEN THE WORKING, THE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION.
I, I, I GUESS MY QUESTION WAS, YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING, YOU'RE ALL PART OF THE WORKING GROUP? YES.
AND THEN THESE ARE DISCUSSIONS ON WORKING.
UM, COMMISSIONER HOLT, DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK ON THIS? UM, SO COMMISSIONER HUDDLESTON'S THE LEAD FOR THIS.
UM, JUST FOR TIMELINE CLARITY, UH, I HAVE A MEETING ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE TWO, UM, OR TWO ON ONE, I GUESS WITH THE TWO COMMUNITY CATS PROGRAMS, UH, MANAGERS AT THE SHELTER TOMORROW, JUST TO GET FEEDBACK.
COMMISSIONER HOLT, IF WE COULD JUST HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON AT HIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENT.
UM, ACCORDING TO TOMA, IF WE COULD JUST HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON WHILE YOU SPEAK, JUST, UH, MOVED OUT TO THE COUNTRY AND THE WIFI'S NOT GREAT OUT HERE, SO IF I GO IN AND OUT, IT'S NOT, 'CAUSE I'M NOT TRYING.
BUT, UM, SO, UH, I HAVE THAT MEETING WITH ALYSSA AND VICTORIA TOMORROW TO GET, YOU KNOW, TWEAK SOME FEEDBACKS TO MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER RECOMMENDATION WE MAKE IS FEASIBLE WITH EVERYTHING.
UM, BUT WE'VE, SARAH AND I WORKED REALLY, OR SORRY, COMMISSIONER HUDDLESTON AND I WORKED REALLY CLOSELY WITH, UM, THIS WORKING GROUP AND THEY'RE COMMITTED AND PASSIONATE AND HIGHLY, UM, HIGHLY ALIGNED TO A GREAT VISION.
SO COMMISSIONER HUDDLESON, IF YOU WANNA SPEAK MORE, YOU CAN.
TO PIGGYBACK ON THAT, I REALLY DO WANNA EXPRESS HOW INCREDIBLE IT IS TO HAVE A GROUP AS, AS PASSIONATE AND AS DEDICATED TO THE LIVES OF OUR COMMUNITY CATS AS, AS THIS WORKING GROUP AND THESE TRAPPER VOLUNTEERS ARE.
IT IS JUST SO, SO GREAT TO SEE.
UM, I GUESS WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IS MEETING MORE OR LESS WEEKLY WITH FOLKS TO SORT OF SYNTHESIZE OUR IDEAS AND RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE NEEDS THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING, UH, THAT OUR VOLUNTEERS HAVE BROUGHT UP TO US.
AND AS YOU'VE HEARD, UH, DEBORAH AND THE, UH, OTHER VOLUNTEERS IN THE WORKING GROUP HAVE LAID OUT OUR PRE PRELIMINARY, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE WANTED TO SORT OF GET FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMISSION.
IF ANYONE HAD ANY DIRECTION THEY WANTED US TO PUSH, WE, WE REALLY WANTED TO GET THE IDEAS OUT OF THERE, OUT, OUT INTO THE PUBLIC BEFORE WE SORT OF MAKE THE FORMAL RECOMMENDATION, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
UM, I DO ALSO WANT TO REALLY EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION FOR THE FOLKS, UH, RUNNING THE, THE COMMUNITY CAT PROGRAM FOR THE ANIMAL CENTER.
THEY'VE BEEN JUST INCREDIBLY GRACIOUS WITH THEIR, THEIR TIME AND THEIR RESOURCES.
THEY REALLY PROACTIVE IN, IN BRAINSTORMING SOLUTIONS AND, AND WE'RE PARTICULARLY RECEPTIVE TO, UM, OUR CONCERNS ABOUT, ABOUT SAFETY.
SO I REALLY, REALLY DO APPRECIATE, UM, THE, THE SHELTER GROUP.
UM, SO ANYWAYS, WE'RE, WE'RE HOPING TO HAVE THESE FORMALIZED AND, UH, AS BACKUP MATERIAL FOR THE COMMISSION, UH, TO LOOK AT THE RECOMMENDATIONS NEXT MONTH.
UM, SO YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO OPEN UP FOR DISCUSSION AMONG THE MISSION.
ANYBODY HAVE THEIR HAND UP FOR DISCUSSION? YES, ERIN.
UM, JUST A CLARIFYING QUESTION.
UM, DEBORAH, WHAT WAS THE VOUCHER COST AND WHAT WAS THE RECOMMENDATION OR THE SUGGESTION DISCUSSION POINT THERE? HOW MUCH WAS IT? TWO 50 AND THEN IT'S, IT'S CURRENTLY TWO 50 AND THEN THE RE THE POTENTIAL RECOMMENDATION MIGHT BE DOUBLE THAT.
SHOULD I COME UP THERE? I THINK WE'RE OKAY.
DOES THAT COVER TO AUDIT IT? WE DIDN'T SAY NUMBER TO AUDIT.
AND I GUESS A RELATED CLARIFYING QUESTION, THESE ARE LIKE PARTICIPATING VET CLINICS EXCEPT THESE VOUCHERS? YES.
SO THERE ARE, I THINK YOU NEED IT, IF YOU'RE GONNA SPEAK, YOU NEED TO SPEAK INTO THE, SO CURRENTLY THERE ARE SOME CONTRACTED, UH, CLINICS THAT, UH, ARE, UH, RECEIVING THESE, UH, MEDICAL VOUCHERS, BUT I THINK IT WAS LAST YEAR THEY OPENED IT UP TO, UM, ANY PART OR ANY, UM, PRIVATE CLINIC THAT WANTED TO PARTICIPATE.
SO THERE ARE A FEW THAT WE'VE GONE TO.
SO THESE ARE PRIVATE CLINICS THAT DON'T HAVE THIS CONTRACT, BUT THEY'RE HELPING CATS.
SO OBVIOUSLY LIKE THE COST OF SERVICES ARE MUCH HIGHER, BUT IT'S A LOT MORE CONVENIENT, FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE IN THE NORTH END BECAUSE ALL OF THE CLINICS CURRENTLY ARE IN THE SOUTH END, AND THAT REQUIRES US TO DROP OFF THE CATS VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING.
[01:30:03]
COMMISSIONER LINDER, UM, NOT SO MUCH A QUESTION, BUT, BUT JUST A COMMENT, WHICH IS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S CLEAR FROM EVERYTHING YOU'VE SAID TODAY HOW MUCH, UH, THOUGHT AND EFFORT YOU'VE PUT INTO ALL OF THIS.SO FIRST I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU, UM, TO THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO ARE PART OF THIS WORKING GROUP AND TO COMMISSIONERS, UM, HOLT AND HUDDLESTON FOR, FOR TAKING THIS ON BECAUSE IT'S SUCH AN AMBITIOUS, UM, TOPIC AREA AND YOU'VE COVERED A LOT OF GROUND.
SO SORT OF ALONG WITH THAT, UM, MY, MY ONLY HOPE IS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SORT OF, UM, GET THE, YOU KNOW, A HARD COPY OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, IDEALLY WITH ENOUGH TIME TO REALLY SORT OF, UM, LOOK CLOSELY AT THEM AND CAREFULLY BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S SO MUCH, UM, THAT WENT INTO EACH ONE OF THEM THAT I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UM, EVERYONE ON THE COMMISSION HAS ENOUGH TIME TO KIND OF, UM, UNDERSTAND THEM AND, AND COME WITH THAT, UM, UNDERSTANDING, UH, BEFORE WE'RE ABLE TO TO VOTE ON THEM.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW I AM ASKING A LOT SINCE THIS IS SUCH A, UM, A, SUCH A BIG TOPIC AS I SAID, BUT, UM, BUT THE SOONER THAT WE CAN GET THOSE, THE BETTER, I THINK BECAUSE, UM, IT IS IS SUCH AN AMOUNT OF, UM, UH, WORK THAT YOU'VE PUT IN THAT I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO, TO REALLY ENGAGE WITH IT, UM, THOUGHTFULLY BEFORE WE CAN HOPEFULLY VOTE ON IT, UM, NEXT MONTH.
IT SOUNDS LIKE, IS THAT SORT OF THE, THE TIMELINE THAT YOU SEE, UM, THIS WORK TAKING? YEAH, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S THE TIMELINE WE SEE.
SO WE WANTED TO HAVE, UM, WE WANTED TO HAVE A HARD COPY OR AT LEAST A DRAFT COPY FOR Y'ALL TODAY, BUT WE REALLY WANTED TO WAIT UNTIL, UM, COMMISSIONER HOLT COULD MEET WITH THE ANIMAL FOLKS TOMORROW.
AND SO WE CAN, WE CAN MAKE SURE WE'RE ALIGNED AND WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR SOMETHING THAT'S JUST NEVER GONNA, NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR, UM, FOR HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND, UH, AND ENGAGING WITH THEM AND, UM, GETTING US SOMETHING THAT I'M SURE WILL BE IN, UH, YOU KNOW, REALLY GREAT SHAPE BY THE TIME WE GET IT AND, UH, THE PRODUCT OF A LOT OF, UM, THOUGHT AND HARD WORK ON, ON ALL OF YOUR PARTS.
WELL, UM, I'D ALSO LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU ALL OF YOU.
I VOLUNTEER WITH GOOD FIX AND I SEE THE CAR IS FULL OF CAT CRATES AND CAGES COMING IN AND I AM EMAN A PET AND SEE PEOPLE BRINGING PETS IN AND IT'S JUST REALLY REMARKABLE THE WORK THAT YOU DO.
SO THANK YOU ALL AND I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING THE REPORT AND READING IT.
AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS HOLTON UH, HUDDLESON FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE.
[6. Update from the Long Distance Adoption Working Group regarding the work completed since March 2025. ]
SIX, WHICH IS THE UPDATE FROM THE LONG DISTANCE ADOPTION WORKING GROUP REGARDING THE WORK COMPLETED SINCE MARCH, 2025.THE ONLY OTHER PERSON,
UM, AND SO SHE IS NO LONGER ON THE COMMISSION.
SHE SAID SHE WAS UNABLE TO, UH, DO IT AND I DIDN'T, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I WAS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THIS ON MY OWN.
UM, I THOUGHT THAT WORK GROUPS HAD TO HAVE TWO COMMISSIONERS, BUT MAYBE I'M WRONG.
SO AS OF RIGHT NOW, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, UM, EXCEPT FOR A LOT OF DISCUSSION THAT CAME TO A GRINDING FAULT.
SO, UM, IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED IN REVIVING THIS, I AM, UM, MORE THAN HAPPY TO DO THAT.
BUT I HAVE ALSO GOT TO HAVE SOME PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS WITH, UM, ROLANDO NOW THAT HE HAS STEPPED INTO LEADERSHIP AT THE SHELTER.
AND SO THERE IS A CHANCE THAT WE CAN CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN, SO TO SPEAK.
UM, AND SOME OF THESE THINGS WILL JUST GET TO COME INTO FRUITION ON THEIR OWN.
SO ALL THAT TO SAY SOMEONE DIRECT ME ON WHAT I NEED TO DO BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER HAD A COMMISSION WORK GROUP END LIKE THIS.
UM, IT IS UNUSUAL TO HAVE JUST ONE PERSON ON A WORKING GROUP.
UM, SO IF YOU GUYS DECIDE THAT YOU WANNA CONTINUE THE WORK OR IF YOU DECIDE THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, UM, AT THE NEXT MEETING YOU CAN ADD AN AGENDA ITEM TO UPDATE THE MEMBERSHIP, TO ADD MEMBERS, AND IT CAN BE MEMBERS FROM THE COMMISSION, IT CAN ALSO BE MEMBERS FROM THE COMMUNITY AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THEM IDENTIFIED.
HERE'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO, BUT I AM OPEN TO FEEDBACK.
I WILL PUT OUT THIS ALL CALL AND SAY IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED IN JOINING ME IN THIS, IT EXISTS UNTIL THE NEXT
OTHERWISE, WE WILL IN JULY OFFICIALLY DISSOLVE IT AND I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH SHELTER STAFF, UM, ON THESE IDEAS.
SO, AND, UH, CHRISTIE, I THINK IF THAT HAPPENS THEN HER RECOMMENDATION NEXT MONTH WOULD BE JUST TO DISSOLVE THE GROUP.
COMMISSIONER HOLT, IF YOU CAN JUST GIVE ME A HEADS UP PRIOR TO POSTING THE AGENDA ON WHETHER YOU'VE HEARD FROM INTERESTED PEOPLE AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND ME ANY CORRESPONDENCE TO BLAST OUT TO THE COMMISSION
[01:35:01]
FOR ANY COMMISSIONERS WHO AREN'T HERE OR WHO MAY HAVE INTEREST.[7. Update from the Good Fix Marketing Working Group regarding the last three meetings and accomplishments so far. ]
ITEM, I, ITEM NUMBER SEVEN IS THE UPDATE FROM THE GOOD FIX MARKETING WORKING GROUP REGARDING THE LAST THREE MEETINGS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS SO FAR.AND WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER, SHELLY LIEBMAN.
I'VE BEEN A VOLUNTEER AT AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTERS SINCE 2018 AND VOLUNTEERED AT ALL FOUR GOOD FIX CLINICS, UH, SPAN CLINICS.
I'M HERE FOR AGENDA ITEM SEVEN, UH, THE WORKING GROUP OF WHICH I'M A MEMBER.
I JUST ARRIVED HOME THIS AFTERNOON FROM VOLUNTEERING AT A GOOD FIX CLINIC IN SOLDOTNA, ALASKA, ABOUT TWO AND A HALF HOURS SOUTH OF ANCHORAGE.
AND I WANTED TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE IN ALASKA TO SHOW WHAT I HOPE CAN HAPPEN TO THE AUSTIN CLINIC IN JULY.
I WAS PART OF THE EARLY CREW THAT ARRIVED AT THE CLINIC AT FIVE 30 EACH DAY.
5:30 AM THE OFFICIAL CLINIC OPENED AT SEVEN 30, JUST LIKE IT DOES HERE.
WE FILLED THE CLINIC TO CAPACITY EVERY DAY AND ONE DAY TOOK AN ADDITIONAL 50 ANIMALS, UH, MORE THAN OUR CAPACITY BECAUSE JUST SO MANY PEOPLE WERE COMING.
TWO OF THE FOUR DAYS WE WERE AT CAPACITY BEFORE 6:30 AM PEOPLE CAMPED OUT OVERNIGHT FOR THIS CLINIC.
AND THE SUPPORT THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE GROUND CREW, OUR GROUND, UH, PARTNER WAS OVERWHELMING.
THEY WERE WITH US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY FROM HELPING US FIND HOUSING FOR THE CREW, TO MARKETING, TO PROVIDING SNACKS AND MEALS DONATED BY LOCAL RESTAURANTS, PROVIDING VOLUNTEERS FOR THE CLINIC ITSELF.
TO SAY THAT WE FELT WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED IS A HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT.
I REALIZE THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WORKING WITH CLINICS IN AUSTIN AND ONE IN ALASKA, PRIMARILY THE GROUND PARTNER THERE WAS A LOCAL RESCUE AND WE'RE A CITY SHELTER.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER CAN'T BE A BETTER PARTNER.
YES, GREATER GOOD CHARITIES IS OUR VENDOR, BUT SO IS THE AUSTIN HUMANE SOCIETY FOR OUR COMMUNITY CATS PROGRAM.
YET WE HAVE TWO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES WHOSE JOBS PRIMARILY ARE TO SUPPORT THE VOLUNTEER TRAPPERS AND OUR TNR PROGRAM THAT UTILIZE A HS FOR SPAY NEUTER SURGERIES.
I'M NOT ASKING A A C TO SEND VET TECHS TO THE SURGERIES, BUT IT'LL BE GREAT TO HAVE ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM A'S MARKETING OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY CATS TEAMS. SOME WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT WE WE'RE WORKING ON NOW, UH, ARE GONNA PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO A C TO DO MORE TO HELP SUPPORT THE CLINICS, INCREASE TURNOUT, SOME AS SIMPLE AS POSTING THE CLINIC IN THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE AND OTHERS THAT REQUIRE A LITTLE MORE EFFORT.
THE WORKING GROUP HAS ALSO BRAINSTORM WAYS TO ASK THE COMMUNITY TO HELP MARKET THE JULY CLINIC, INCLUDING TARGETING AREAS AROUND CODA, UM, WHERE THE CLINIC WILL BE HELD, PASSING OUT FLYERS, SPEAKING AT NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS, MANY MORE GREAT IDEAS.
AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE IN ALASKA, I'M VERY HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN INCREASE TURNOUT FOR THIS JULY CLINIC.
UNDER THE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY AND GREATER GOOD CHARITIES, THE TARGET NUMBER FOR ALL SEVEN CLINICS IS 8400, 1200 EACH CLINIC WE'RE ONLY AT ABOUT 4,086.
WE CAN'T MEET THAT ORIGINAL TOTAL TARGET, BUT I HOPE WE CAN DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO ENSURE THAT IN JULY WE HAVE THE 1200 TARGET.
REMEMBER THAT THE MAJORITY OF FOLKS WHO STAFF THESE CLINICS ARE VOLUNTEERS, VETS, VET TECHS, DOG HANDLERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
THEY GIVE UP THEIR PERSONAL TIME TO BE HERE AND LET'S MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE.
IN JULY, LAST TIME I SPOKE, I BROUGHT FLYERS WITH ME, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, SO THEY JUST FLEW IN TODAY.
I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE THEM TO CHRISTINE.
AGAIN, AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE 'EM WITH ANYBODY HERE TO SPREAD THE WORD AND THANK YOU TO ALL THE COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE IN THE WORKING GROUP.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT.
WAS THAT THE ONLY ANY COMMISSIONER'S QUESTIONS? YES.
OH, NO QUESTIONS, BUT I, I'M, I WAS THAT WAS THE PUBLIC SPEAKER AND THEN YES.
SO THAT'S THE ONLY PUBLIC SPEAKER? YES.
UM, YEAH, SO JUST GIVING AN UPDATE ON WHAT WE'VE DONE AS A WORKING GROUP SINCE WE WERE FORMED AT THE, UM, MARCH MEETING, UM, AT THE END OF MARCH, MARCH 24TH, UH, THE WORKING GROUP, WE MET WITH ELIZABETH FERRE AND VALERIA, UM, MORENO AT THE SHELTER.
AND, UM, GOT KIND OF AN UPDATE FROM THEM ABOUT WHAT THE SHELTER WAS DOING.
UM, HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A DISCUSSION AND BRAINSTORMING WENT AWAY FROM THAT MEETING, FEELING LIKE THERE, I, THE MESSAGE I RECEIVED WAS THAT THERE WAS NOTHING FOR THE SHELTER AND THE PUBLIC TO WORK ON TOGETHER.
BUT I'M HOPEFUL THAT THAT WAS, BECAUSE AT THAT TIME, THAT MEETING WAS ONLY 10 DAYS BEFORE THE APRIL CLINIC WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
UM, AND I WANNA REACH OUT TO THEM AGAIN AND SEE, SEE IF WE CAN DO ANOTHER MEETING AND SEE IF NOW THAT THE, UM, WORKING GROUP HAS DONE SOME ADDITIONAL WORK ON OUR OWN, IF WE COULD, UH, HOPEFULLY GET SOME MORE COLLABORATION.
BEFORE THE JULY SLASH AUGUST CLINIC, UM, IN APRIL, THERE WAS ANOTHER WORKING GROUP MEETING THAT I MISSED DUE TO HAVING TO BE
[01:40:01]
OUT OF TOWN FOR A FAMILY ISSUES.WE HAD ANOTHER GROUP MEETING, UM, MAY 6TH.
AND ONE OF THE IDEAS THAT CAME OUT OF THAT WAS TO HAVE, UM, OPEN IT UP FOR A, UM, MARKETING FUN SHOP INSTEAD OF A WORKSHOP AND, AND TRY TO BRANCH OUT TO AN ADDITIONAL LAYER OF THE PUBLIC, UM, TO BRAINSTORM WITH THEM AND GET THEM MORE INVOLVED.
AND THAT WAS, UM, REALLY SUCCESSFUL.
WE GOT A LOT OF IDEAS OUT OF THAT.
UM, ON JUNE 5TH, THE WORKING GROUP HAD ANOTHER MEETING TO DISCUSS WHICH OF THOSE ITEMS HAD BEEN ACTED UPON.
UM, ONE OF ONE OF THEM WAS, I, I AM, IT'S HARD 'CAUSE NONE OF THE MEMBERS OTHER THAN LUIS HERRERA, NONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP ARE PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
THE, THE MORE, THE SMALLER COMMUNITY AROUND CODA.
UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE GONE THERE MYSELF AND IT'S, IT CAN BE HARD, HARD TO COME FROM OUTSIDE AND BE A TRUSTED VOICE IN THAT COMMUNITY, UM, ESPECIALLY, UM, CURRENTLY.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT WE'RE TRYING.
UM, AND THEN OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON JUNE 26TH.
AND, UM, LIKE I SAID, I WILL TRY TO REACH OUT TO A A C STAFF AGAIN AND, UM, SEE IF AT THIS POINT THERE'S, THERE'S MORE THAT, THAT, UM, WE COULD DO TOGETHER ABOUT THAT.
I THINK SIMILAR TO THE OTHER WORKING GROUP WILL TRY TO, UM, GET SOME MATERIALS TO THE BACKUP AND, UH, AND GET SOMETHING APPROVED.
HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM TO VOTE ON, RECOMMENDATIONS AT NEXT MONTH'S, UM, ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING.
CAN I SAY SOMETHING? NO, SORRY.
THIS GROUP, I'VE ALREADY BEEN OUT HERE TALKING.
WELL, I APPRECIATE IT, BUT YOU CAN TALK TO DR. NIELSEN AFTER THE MEETING.
I'VE ALREADY BEEN WORKING ON IT SINCE LAST MONTH.
UH, ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? OKAY, THANK YOU ALL.
LINDER, UH, COMMISSIONER LINDER.
UM, COULD YOU REMIND US JUST AGAIN, UM, THE DATE OF THE, THE JULY GOOD FIX CLINIC, JUST SO WE HAVE IT ON OUR RADAR? YEAH.
THE JULY 28TH THROUGH AUGUST 1ST, SO IT WON'T HAVE A WEEKEND.
'CAUSE UM, CODA WASN'T ABLE TO PROVIDE SPACE ON A WEEKEND.
[8. Approve updates to the membership of the Good Fix Working Group.]
MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, WHICH IS THE PROVE UPDATES TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE GOOD FIXED WORKING GROUP.JUST SO WE'RE, UM, OFFICIAL, CAN I, SHOULD I JUST LIST THEM AND CAN WE VOTE ON, CAN THEY BE APPROVED AS A GROUP? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
AND YOU JUST MOTION AND GET A SECOND VOTE.
DO I GET A MOTION ON THE GROUP OR MOTION ON JUST VOTING? ARE YOU INTENDING TO ADD MULTIPLE MEMBERS AT THE MOMENT? YES.
YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND JUST MOTION AND LIST OUT THEIR NAMES.
UM, I WOULD MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS OF THE, UM, UH, GOOD FIX SPAY NEUTER CLINIC MARKETING WORKING GROUP.
AND THAT IS, UM, MYSELF, UM, PAIGE NIELSEN, UM, ERIN FERGUSON, LOUISE HERRERA AS COMMISSIONERS, AS WELL AS, UM, WHITNEY HOLT.
UM, AND THEN FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WE HAVE SHELLY LIEBE, WE, TAMMY WILKINSON, JEN DANIEL.
VICKI, I'M NOT GONNA PRONOUNCE HER NAME CORRECTLY FOR, UH, PRI AND, UM, AND CAROLINE CLAY.
DO I, DO WE HAVE A SECOND? OKAY.
UM, I'LL DO COMMISSIONER LINDER.
UM, I THINK COMMISSIONER HOLT, YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON IN ORDER TO VOTE.
OKAY, SO I'LL IN FAVOR OF, UM, APPROVING THIS, THE MEMBERS OF THE GOOD FIXED WORKING GROUP.
WHILE WE'RE ON WORKING GROUPS.
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WHILE WE'RE ON WORKING GROUPS, I JUST, I WANTED TO CIRCLE BACK ABOUT THE STRATEGIC PLAN WORKING GROUP THAT WOULD BE IN FUTURE ITEMS. OKAY.[9. Conduct officer election for Chair.]
NINE IS CONDUCT THE OFFICER ELECTION FOR CHAIR.UM, THIS WAS AN APRIL AGENDA ITEM, UH, BUT WE HAD A TIE.
UM, SO, UM, WE ARE, UH, TAKING NOMINATIONS AGAIN AND WILL VOTE, UM, I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAKE A MOTION TO NOMINATE, UM, DR. NIELSEN AS CHAIR.
UM, ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR CHAIR, COMMISSIONER, ER, I WOULD NOMINATE COMMISSIONER DDIS.
AND DO WE HAVE A SECOND? OKAY, SO COMMISSIONER LINDER IS GONNA SECOND ANY OTHER, OKAY.
UM, THOSE IN FAVOR OF VOTING FOR COMMISSIONER NIELSEN? SO IT LOOKS LIKE FIVE, THOSE IN FAVOR OF COMMISSIONER DEL.
SO THREE, IS ANYBODY VOTING? NO OR ABSTAINING? UH, SORRY, I THOUGHT THERE WAS GONNA BE A DISCUSSION PERIOD, BUT, UM, I, I WAS GOING TO ABSTAIN.
I THINK BOTH OF THEM WOULD BE EXCELLENT.
UH, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, TO, TO WORKING WITH THEM CLOSELY.
SO, UM, SORRY, I THOUGHT THERE WAS GONNA BE A PERIOD TO, TO SPEAK ON, ON EITHER SIDE.
VICE CHAIR LINDER, JUST TO CONFIRM, YOU'RE ABSTAINING ON BOTH VOTES, CORRECT? YES.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? NO OTHER NOMINATIONS.
WE'LL MOVE FORWARD TO THE NEXT, WELL IF WE HAVE, WE HAVE HOW MANY PEOPLE ON EIGHT? HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON? SO WE HAVE NINE, NINE COMMISSIONERS.
SO IT WOULD TAKE SEVEN IN ORDER TO APPROVE A CHAIR.
I THOUGHT WE JUST HAD TO HAVE A MAJORITY OF SEVEN IS ALWAYS OUR QUORUM.
REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE PRESENT.
OKAY, WELL, WE'LL TRY AGAIN NEXT MONTH.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
I'M GONNA RE BRING UP THE, UH, TRE SLASH BOND ISSUE JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SPACE TO DISCUSS.THEN WE, WE MAY NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DISCUSS, BUT JUST IN CASE WE NEED TO.
OH, I JUST, UM, I DO I NEED TO MAKE A MOTION IF I IF TO CREATE THAT WORKING GROUP IN, AT THIS POINT YOU ARE BRINGING UP ITEMS FOR A FUTURE AGENDA.
SO THERE'S NO NEED TO TAKE A VOTE.
YOU WOULD JUST BRING UP THE ITEM THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BRING FORWARD.
AND AT THE NEXT AGENDA OR THE NEXT MEETING, THEN YOU WOULD MAKE A MOTION TO FORM A GROUP.
SO TO DISCUSS POTENTIALLY STARTING A WORKING GROUP FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
SO YOU WANNA RECOMMEND A WORKING GROUP TO ASSIST IN CREATING THE TARGETS AND STRATEGIES YES.
DOES THAT SOUND OKAY? ANYONE ELSE? I'M SORRY.
AND COMMISSIONER LINDER, DID YOU YEAH, I, I WAS RAISING MY HAND TO BE A SECOND ON THAT.
UH, THAT MO NOT TO START A, YOUR WORKING GROUP.
AND I HEARD EARLIER FROM THE COMMISSION THAT UM, YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE COMMUNITY CATS WORKING GROUP FOR CONSIDERATION NEXT MONTH, AND THEN ALSO A POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION FOR CONSIDERATION FROM THE GOOD FIX WORKING GROUP IN JULY AT, AND TECHNICALLY ONE FOR LONG DISTANCE ADOPTIONS, EVEN IF IT'S JUST A RECOMMEND TO CLOSE IT OUT.
[01:50:01]
OKAY, THEN, UM, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO END THE MEETING AT 7:55 PM DR. NIELSEN? SECOND.MS. FERGUSON, COMMISSIONER FERGUSON.