KCSPCA/FSAC-SPCA BOARD MEETING NOTES OF FEBRUARY 2014

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FSAC-SPCA BOARD MEETING 02/10/14

 

Public in attendance:  Catherine Samardza, Peter Siracuse, Crystal Sweeney, Doug Beatty, Carol Furr

 

As usual, these are our notes from the meeting.  Our comments are in italics and/or parens, and are our own, not anything said by the board members of FSAC staff.  Notes from the meeting itself are in bold.  This should make it easy to differentiate between our comments and what was said at the meeting.

 

Mr. Frank Newton presented the Treasurer’s Report; they are 1/3 of the way through the fiscal year, with 35% on the income reported, so they are ahead.  Only 29% of the (budgeted) expenses have been spent.

 

(Last meeting they noted that this savings was due to having 2 staff members resign; the savings is in those salaries.)

 

It was reported that the New Castle County contract calls for payment at the beginning of the month, in advance, rather than after the month of service.  This will help them with payroll.  Mr. Usilton said that all three counties are now paying at the beginning of the month.  It was noted that they had been using their line of credit for payroll due to the end-of-month payments.

 

The Fundraising Committee reported that their recent Dover Downs event netted $17,714 after their expenses.

 

Lisa Chase (director of development) reported that the shelter is in competition for the Rachel Rae challenge (more than 300 adoptions in June, July and August).  The prize is $100,000.

 

She also reported that they have received $25,000 in free, positive publicity between October and December.  This is in addition to the advertisements that Betty Mae Hamilton writes and underwrites in the newspapers.

 

It was suggested that the Board members review the donor base list and remove those who are deceased or moved away.

 

There was discussion concerning other fund raising events, and that FSAC needs to begin planning these events earlier.

 

Mr. Newton reported from the Legislative Committee that there is no legislation pending, but the Office of Animal Welfare budget was in the epilogue language of the Bond Bill and will “have a major impact on us.” 

 

(The Office has been tasked with oversight and enforcement of the shelter standards laws, and is responsible for developing training for animal control officers.) 

 

Mr. Usilton noted that there are two veterinarians at the Department of Agriculture, and none at the Division of Public Health.

 

(DPH is where the OAW is housed.  Mr. Usilton keeps making this comment, even though the OAW is not yet fully staffed.  Also, as any one who has tried to complain to the Dept. of Agriculture knows, it doesn’t matter HOW many vets they have on staff, does it?)

 

Mr. Usilton reported on Delaware shelter statistices since 2010, the advent of CAPA.  He stated that in 2010, the four existing shelters handled 20,596 animals; in 2011, 16,207; in 2012, 13,596.  He asserted that CAPA “is closing shelter doors.”

 

(Anyone read his comments in the newspapers in 2012 about how many animals the KCSPCA/FSAC handles?  Anyone read their statistics?  Anyone else have a problem with the discrepancies here?)

 

He also reported that they investigated 95 animal-to-human bites in NCC (he did not break that down to cat, dog, ferret, raccoon).  He said that the more aggressive animals, the more bites.

 

He announced that they will drop the Rescue Transfer Fee for approved rescues. 

 

He then said that the FSAC will handle more animals than in the past.  He also said that the NCC contract includes a $100,000 increase for vet costs.

 

He announced that the DESPCA asked their executive director, Al Molitar, to step down; Chris Motyoshi is the interim director.  The DESPCA is no longer handling dog control for the City of Wilmington.

 

The City of Wilmington has offered $600,000 for FSAC to handle dog control.

 

(While I believe they will handle more animals than ever, since they now have all three counties AND Wilmington dog control, didn’t he just say that the shelter statistics were dropping?  Also, the last time the Wilmington contract was discussed, Mr. Moore said they wouldn’t consider taking a contract if breed specific laws were involved.  There was no such comment this time; doesn’t Wilmington still have those laws in effect?)

 

Mr. Moore announced that they would have animal control for the whole state.  Mr. Usilton said it was only for dogs, not cats.

 

He then reported on a cruelty case that DESPCA failed to investigate, and came to the FSAC. 

 

(Since there are charges, pending, we will not discuss this case here – despite what the FSAC says about us, when we KNOW a case is open, we do not comment on it publicly.)

 

It was announced that Sherry Warburton is the new Director of Animal Control as of March 10^th.

 

(replacing Brian Whipple.  Ms. Warburton is a former ACO who went to the Dept. of Corrections.  She spoke at one of the AWTF meetings, in support of the animal control officers and about how dangerous the job can be.  I guess that’s why they had Brian Whipple training the ACOs in handcuff and baton techniques – yes, snark alert -  we thought that’s how you subdue humans, not dogs.  But remember from last month, they’re applying for a grant for bullet proof vests too.  Of course, they refuse to acknowledge that they cannot enter private homes without permission or a warrant, but they know how to put you in handcuffs when you object.)

 

Mr. Usilton is working with the Delaware Community Foundation to set up an endowment for the FSAC-SPCA.  There was discussion about building relationships with funders, and bequests from wills, so that donations could be directed to the endowment fund.

 

There was still no official notice about voting on the bylaws change, so it would be done at the next meeting.  Mr. Usilton said he would publish the notice tomorrow.  There was discussion concerning meeting every other month; members agreed not to meet in August, but were not in agreement to make every other month official at this time.

 

There was discussion about training; staff has attended customer service training offered by Kent County Levy Court.  Mr. Usilton said he was supposed to meet with Mr. Paul Davis regarding training for animal control officers, but he has not followed up on that.  He said they would discuss having DE State Police come to the shelter (Mr. Davis’ suggestion was to have the ACOs attend the police academy).  Mr. Usilton said there would be more officers coming on for New Castle County.

 

It was announced that Lynn (Brey) at the front desk has turned in her notice; she is moving to South Carolina.  Mr. Pryor suggested they make a presentation to her at the next meeting.

 

The meeting was adjourned, and sequed into a FOIA workshop led by Mr. Jason Staib.  Mr. Staib is the former FOIA attorney in the AG’s office; he is now assigned to the Department of Corrections.

 

I will TRY to keep the summary of the FOIA meeting brief.

 

Mr. Staib reviewed what actually makes the FSAC a public body – the authority in the legislation to investigate animal cruelty.  Mr. Pryor asked if they could stop doing animal cruelty then; Mr. Moore said he didn’t think it was that simple, the legislation would have to be changed, they couldn’t just refuse to do it.  It was noted that there is no public funding and it “subjects us to critique and public scrutiny.” 

 

(Okay, the board members think that animal cruelty investigations are the only thing subjecting them to criticism and scrutiny?  And while the legislation gives them the authority, they are not mandated to investigate – it is a “may” not “must” law- and yes, it also specifies they are not to be paid. Don’t know why, or what the legislators at the time were thinking.  Believe the law also mentions that all law enforcement agencies are able to enforce animal cruelty laws, too, but you don’t see them doing it – they refer to the SPCAs.  The two SPCAs are given authority to investigate and enforce animal cruelty laws and considered “officers of the court” – even though no one can tell me what agency they are sworn to – and given access to DelJIS – yet they are not actual law enforcement officers nor do they have any standardized or certified training.)

 

(In our opinion, the contractual authority for dog control – first through DNREC and now through the counties – is a mysterious loophole – because it is also law enforcement, yet their actions under the dog control contracts are not subject to public scrutiny under FOIA.)

 

There was discussion concerning volunteer board members vs. employees vs. paid board members.  Also discussion about committees – such as the ones they have formed to discuss things privately.  Mr. Staib said “Your committees are an issue.  We’ll talk off-line.”

 

(That was it, nothing else about the privately held committee meetings.)

 

Mr. Staib also told the FSAC that all of their reports are confidential in perpetuity unless requested in discovery and subpoenaed.  Not just cruelty – all dog at large and dangerous dog reports as well.  AND they can be redacted, protecting the witnesses or complainants.

 (Okay, what ever happened to facing your accuser in court?  I guess that’s just one of the misunderstandings we all have about our legal system.  And there’s NO difference between dog fighting and dog-at-large charges?)

 

There was discussion concerning charging for requested materials; FOIA allows for 20 pages and one hour of administrative time to be free, after that an organization may charge.

 

Mr. Usilton asked about discussion concerning contracts; Mr. Staib agreed that this was a problem with FOIA, that they should be allowed to discuss what they wanted to charge for contracts out of the public view.  He suggested they contact their legislators about changing the law.

 

He also said that they could not do business behind closed doors, but doing business behind closed doors is “the Delaware way.”

 

Ms. Carol Kisner asked what recourse she had if a member of the public took something she said from a meeting and used it out of context at another public venue.  Mr. Staib told her to talk to Steve (Schwartz, the board VP and sometime attorney who keeps accusing us/threatening to sue us for libel).

 

Most of us came away from this “workshop” feeling that Mr. Staib was telling them how to get around FOIA.  Offering to discuss their committee meetings privately – when this was supposed to be about the public meeting requirements – does not appear to be an effort at transparency.

 

Again, we see a strange gap here, because their enforcement activities for dog control are considered contractual duties, and are not considered an element of what makes them a public body.  Why not?  It’s law enforcement.

 

We try hard to make these notes accurate,  because we WANT everyone to know what is being said about this issues.  Don’t know what Ms. Kisner is talking about when she says we took her comments out of context, because these notes are now running to 4 pages.  Our notes place quoted individuals in context of the meeting.

 

Brooks Banta, president of KCLC, has said in a newspaper interview that the dog control contract will be up for bid again in June.  The indications are that the Levy Court commissioners will continue to take the easy way out and go with FSAC because “they are the only game in town.”  Just because they are the only vendor, doesn’t mean the counties have to let them do whatever they want.  Any other contractor would be held accountable for following the State laws and for complaints regarding their actions. 

 

The Office of Animal Welfare does not yet have any authority to enforce shelter standards.  We were told by Hetti Brown, the executive director, that the AG’s office is involved in writing the legislation.  Let’s hope they do a better job than has been done in the past on this issue.

 

In the meantime, if you have a complaint, step forward.  Document it.  Send it to the appropriate county officials, the OAW, Senator Blevins and your legislators.  Post it on FB. Send a letter to the newspapers.  Do not be intimidated.  Do not stay quiet.  Because change will not happen unless we speak out.