HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011/10/10 - Minutes - Special October 10, 2011
CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
I A. CALL TO ORDER
A special meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council was held on Monday, October 10, 2011,
at Central Park in the Alta Loma Room located at 11200 Base Line Road, Rancho Cucamonga,
California. Mayor L. Dennis Michael called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.
Present were Council Members: Bill Alexander, Chuck Buquet, Diane Williams, Mayor Pro Tem
Sam Spagnolo and Mayor L. Dennis Michael.
Also present were: John Gillison, City Manager; Linda Daniels, Assistant City Manager; Joe
Pulcinella, Animal Services Director; Chris Paxton, Human Resources Director; Erika Gamez,
Animal Care Supervisor; Barbara Hansen, Community Programs Specialist; Heather Bolton,
Secretary; Dr. Michele Toomoth, Veterinarian and Debra McNay, Records Manager/Assistant City
Clerk.
I B. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS I
Cynthia Stukey encouraged everyone to visit and evaluate the Animal Care and Services Center in
order to establish a baseline of operations. She suggested that the adoption fees be reviewed as
they are nearly double that of other agencies.
Erica Cox indicated that she currently volunteers at the Center. She spoke in support of a new
procedure to schedule appointments for owner surrenders. She noted that this would help with the
animal intake numbers.
Dana Keithly, the coordinator for the Best Friends grant program, noted the need to ensure that
there was accessibility to the resources at the Center. She indicated that there was not enough room
on the walking chart to fit the necessary information. The dogs housed for the longest period of time
at the Center should be listed at the top and the form is not located in a convenient area. Also
addressed was access to the bathtub, which is in a locked room and often not accessible for the
volunteers to bathe the animals.
I C. ITEM OF BUSINESS I
C1. Status Report on April, 2011 Animal Care and Services Department Workshop
Recommendations
Joe Pulcinella, Animal Services Director, introduced the members of the Animal Care and Services
Department and gave a PowerPoint presentation on the recommendations made at the April, 2011
Animal Care and Services Department workshop. Mr. Pulcinella noted that the recommendations
included expanding the Foster Care program, studying successful practices, reviewing and clarifying
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policies, addressing the no-kill misperception, improving access to Center services, performing
additional operational improvements and hosting a Volunteer workshop
Mr. Pulcinella addressed the expansion of the foster program, noting that the services provided by
Longmont Humane Society in Colorado and the Seattle Humane Society in Washington were
studied due to their successes with foster care. The foster manual has been finalized and waivers
and contract forms have been developed and reviewed with the City Attorney's office. The next
steps will be to recruit volunteers and create individual orientation programs.
In reviewing other Animal Services programs, Mr. Pulcinella noted a challenge in finding open
admission, municipal animal service programs since many organizations do not publish or release
statistics. As an initial comparison, the Director provided statistics from the Maddie's Fund Internet
site for organizations with similar intake statistics. Dane County, Wisconsin enjoyed a 83%
placement rate, so Mr. Pulcinella contacted the Director to talk about their successes. Mr. Pulcinella
noted that the Center's placement rate was 78% in 2009.
Mr. Pulcinella discussed ideas that have been implemented from other successful animal services
programs. Some of the Center's recent promotions have been based from the Nevada Humane
Society's price point, value added and frequency adoption programs. The Center's behavior
evaluation is based on the SCRAPS and Helen Woodward Animal Center models. Mr. Pulcinella
indicated that the Best Friends grant has been successfully educating the public about the benefits
of pit bull adoptions (36 dogs have been adopted). The Animal Care and Services Center has also
instituted play groups similar to those at the Longmont Humane Society.
Regarding potential policy changes, Mr. Pulcinella reported that staff looked at the Ordinance
regulating the number of animals. Staff was unable to find evidence that raising this number would
have an impact on the number of adoptions. The Planning Department had provided information on
a survey of cities that was done regarding the number of allowable animals. Mr. Pulcinella indicated
that the regulations were consistent with those of surrounding cities
The Director recommended a policy change to require appointments for an owner to surrender their
animal, as this would provide time for reconsideration and counseling, as well as help to regulate the
flow of animals coming into the Center. Also, Mr. Pulcinella suggested restricting the number of
puppies to two that can be surrendered by a non-resident owner. He reported that the Center was
heavily impacted by non-residents dropping off litters of puppies this year and expected that staff
would be recommending limiting this number to two puppies per non-resident owner if this happens
again next year.
The Director addressed ways in which the no-kill misconception was clarified. He stated that
information has been placed on the intake forms, on the Internet site and on the telephone system
and provided examples for the City Council and members of the audience.
Mr. Pulcinella reported that line placement was moved in order to accommodate patrons wishing to
visit the animals. Also, a large informational sign has been placed in the lobby that contains forms
and instructions. The back of the sign thanks visitors as they are leaving the facility. The Director
noted that additional operational improvements have been made, including implementing play
groups with the Best Friends Pit Crew and volunteers, volunteer cleaning opportunities and
additional volunteer orientations that are offered every other month.
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The Director reported on the first Animal Center staff/volunteer workshop that was held on June 28,
2011. As a result of this workshop, a three-member volunteer Liaison Committee was formed, a
central e-mail address was established for the volunteers and committees were formed to address
the topics raised at the April, 2011 workshop.
Mr. Pulcinella provided information on the four committees that were formed: Public Awareness;
Euthanasia; Animal Well-Being and Volunteer Utilization. He presented a chart showing the staff and
volunteers serving on each committee and the items to be discussed. Regarding the Euthanasia
Committee, the Director stated that the Committee was formed to foster communication and to
address misconceptions. Before an animal is euthanized, there are multiple evaluations and many
different factors are considered. He reported that the Committee has agreed to establish
communication protocols in order to address the concerns voiced at the workshop.
Heather Bolton, Secretary, addressed the discussion held by the Public Awareness Committee,
which was formed to address concerns of the public's awareness about the Animal Care and
Adoption Center. She reported that the current programs and activities were reviewed with the
Committee members. Also, staff will be communicating the monthly adoption specials to the
volunteers, creating an animal interest flyer for each kennel and creating a FAQ flyer for the front
office.
Erika Gamez, Animal Care Supervisor, spoke about the Animal Well-Being Committee. This
Committee was formed to clarify the procedures and protocols concerning the well-being of the
animals housed at the Center. She reported that topics including cleaning and safety, behavior and
socialization, rescue groups, staffing requirements and establishing a system of communication
between staff and volunteers.
Barbara Hansen, Community Programs Specialist, reported on the Volunteer Utilization Committee,
which was formed to review the present and future utilization of volunteers. She reported on the
Committee's goal to use volunteers more often at the Center. The Committee will be establishing
protocols to use volunteers during holidays, procedures for volunteer identification, publicizing the
volunteer guidelines on the Volunteer Board and Petscoop and contacting inactive volunteers.
Chris Paxton, Human Resources Director, noted the pending retirement of Mr. Pulcinella. The
recruitment process is underway for a new Director, who should be hired by early December. Mr.
Paxton expected that the new Director would start implementing his/her vision in the spring/summer
of 2012.
In conclusion, Mr. Pulcinella noted that the Department has made significant strides in the first 5
years of operation but noted that there is still work left to be done. He reported that efforts are
underway to expand the Foster program; address the no-kill misperception; facilitate self service;
increase volunteer orientations and implement play groups, policy changes and ideas from other
successful programs. The Department is dedicated to the vision of "Creating a Community in which
Every Adoptable Pet Finds a Home" and is focused on making this vision a reality.
Council Member Alexander expressed a concern with the timing of this workshop, as several months
have passed since the April meeting with no information or substantive action being taken. He did
not believe that the Director had been aggressive enough in addressing the concerns raised at the
workshop. Council Member Alexander did not see anything in the presentation about conforming to
Hayden's law nor has he seen a copy of Mr. Winograd's report. City Manager John Gillison stated
that he had provided Mr. Winograd's to the City Council members
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Council Member Alexander noted that the rescue groups need to be better utilized. There should be
mandatory spay and neutering in the City. In conclusion, he encouraged the Council to visit the
Animal Care and Services Center and stressed the need to keep animals from being euthanized.
Council Member Buquet noted that he is familiar with the Center and has seen Mr. Winograd's
report. He was glad to see the work being done on the Foster program and inquired on the timeline.
Also discussed was the recruitment of the new Animal Services Director, with Mr. Paxton addressing
the recruitment process and when he expected the position to be filled. In response to Council
Member Buquet, Mr. Pulcinella confirmed that the Animal Care and Services Center had a 78%
placement rate in 2009. This year was used for comparison as the statistics on the Maddie's Fund
Internet site were from 2009. The Director indicated that he has statistics for 2010 and confirmed
that he would provide these statistics to the City Council.
Council Member Buquet hoped that the Department was looking at the behavior evaluation system.
Also, he referenced the survey that was done on the number of allowable animals and indicated that
Chino Hills' regulations should be explored further. Regarding the suggestion to restrict the number
of puppies to two that can be surrendered by a non-resident owner, Council Member Buquet
wondered what the owner would do with the other puppies. In response, Mr. Pulcinella noted that
the Center would not accept any of the puppies and would refer the owner to a facility that would
accept all of the animals.
In response to Council Member Buquet, Mr. Pulcinella confirmed that the Euthanasia Committee has
resolved the concerns regarding euthanasia that were expressed at the workshop. Council Member
Buquet suggested that more lead time be given on upcoming activities as a Thursday notice for a
weekend activity is often not sufficient. The Director confirmed that the facility is open 7 days a week
and that there are clear and visible signs. Also discussed were the hours of operation, the
recruitment process and the intent to pursue appointments for owners to surrender their animals.
In response to Council Member Williams, Mr. Pulcinella confirmed that the Animal Care and
Services Center works with over 110 rescue groups to place animals. In response to Council
Member Williams, Heather Bolton indicated that the Frequently Asked Questions are currently on
the Internet but are being duplicated for visitors to the facility.
Mayor Pro Tem Spagnolo referenced the intake survey and inquired why California cities were not
used. Mr. Pulcinella noted that most cities the size of Rancho Cucamonga contract out their
services. The Maddie's Fund Internet site was chosen as it contained similar intake statistics. In
response to Mayor Pro Tem Spagnolo, Mrs. Bolton reported that the forms are not yet available on
the Internet but will be posted once they are completed. Mayor Pro Tem Spagnolo pointed out the
challenges to the Department staff in constantly being scrutinized. He suggested that the Council
refrain from visiting the facility and limit the discussion to the policy issues. He thanked Mr.
Pulcinella for taking on this very difficult project.
Mayor Michael stated that he would like to see the information from other cities on their adoption
fees for comparison purposes. He concurred with the suggestion to pursue appointments for owners
to surrender their animals. In regards to the comments made by Dana Keithly, Mayor Michael
inquired about the accessibility of the bathtub. Dr. Michele Toomoth discussed the availability and
location of the bathtub with the City Council and the audience.
Mayor Michael confirmed that the operations at the Animal Care and Services Center were still a
work in progress. He looked forward to seeing some good recommendations from the new Animal
Care and Services Director. John Gillison, City Manager indicated that he would follow up from this
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meeting with a memorandum to the City Council addressing the work being done in these areas and
the timelines for completion.
I D. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 5:39 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,A
F c Debra L. McNay, MMC
Assistant City Clerk/Records Manager
Approved: October 19, 2011
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