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Home My WebLink About12 - NB-1 - Formation of New Animal Services Committ - 11/7/2017CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: November 7, 2017 ITEM NUMBER: NB -1 SUBJECT: FORMATION OF A NEW ANIMAL SERVICES COMMITTEE DATE: November 7, 2017 FROM: POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESENTATION BY: VICTOR M. BAKKILA, Police Lieutenant FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lt. Victor Bakkila (714) 754-4812 RECOMMENDATION: Staff is requesting that City Council: 1. Provide direction on the formation of a new Animal Services Committee to evaluate animal services provided by the City of Costa Mesa. 2. Approve budgeting of a new full-time Management Analyst position under the Police Department to provide administrative support to the Animal Services Committee, contract animal shelter, and Police Department staff. BACKGROUND: At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Genis, staff is bringing forward for City Council's consideration the formation of a new Animal Services Committee. The goal of the proposed Animal Services Committee will be to focus on the following issues: 1. Promote pet licensing throughout the City. 2. Plan animal related community events, such as pet adoptions, rabies clinics, etc. 3. Provide the City with recommendations to improve animal services throughout the City, including services provided by the contract animal shelter and amenities at Bark Park. 4. Serve as a liaison to the Police Department and California Department of Fish & Wildlife to sponsor coyote public education and related wildlife programs. 5. Assist the Police Department in promoting opportunities for Costa Mesa resident volunteers to assist at the City's contract animal shelter to help provide the highest quality of care for Costa Mesa animals. 1 It is proposed that the Animal Services Committee fall under the purview of the Police Department and be comprised of five (5) members. Further, it is recommended that at least two (2) of those members be professionals from the animal care community, such as a veterinarian or kennel operator. All members must be Costa Mesa residents. Members will be appointed at a time and place pursuant to Council policy. The Committee will meet every other month and will make reports to City Council, as requested. It will also provide recommendations in an executive summary at least once, annually. ANAI YSIS- The Police Department currently oversees animal control operations for the City, as well as the City's contract animal shelter, operated by the Orange County Humane Society (OCHS). The Animal Control Unit maintains two full-time and one part-time Animal Control Officers (ACOs). ACOs report to the Traffic Special Events Sergeant and Traffic Safety Bureau Lieutenant. The Animal Control Unit provides routine animal control services and occasionally partners with City staff and community organizations to promote pet licensing and pet adoptions, for example. The Animal Control Unit also works with OCHS on a daily basis. Due to public concerns regarding the perceived quality of services provided by OCHS over the last two years, Police Department ACOs and supervisory staff have spent considerable time partnering with OCHS to address these concerns and perform frequent physical audits of the facility. The routine day-to-day animal control workload, to include this increased oversight of the animal shelter, has considerably increased the demands on Police Department staff. OCHS is currently renovating a commercial property at 642 W. Baker to be an animal shelter facility within the City. If the City chooses to maintain a contractual relationship with OCHS, the Police Department believes an Animal Service Committee could provide opportunities to further evaluate and make recommendations to enhance the services provided by this new animal shelter facility, as well as other animal services provided by the City. Additionally, in order to provide necessary administrative support to the Animal Services Committee, contract animal shelter, and Police Department staff, the Police Department recommends the addition of a full-time Management Analyst position to the Department's budget. This position would compile weekly, monthly and annual animal control statistics, perform on-site audits of animal shelter operations, help update Police Department website information pertaining to animal services, and maintain a high level of communication between all of the above-mentioned stakeholders. 2 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: The City Council may choose to either deny establishment of the proposed committee or establish it in some fashion other than that proposed. FISCAL REVIEW: There may be a direct fiscal impact in establishing this Committee with the need for Animal Control personnel to spend staff time compiling statistics, provide presentations, and/or other workload requests. LEGAL REVIEW: No legal review is required for this report. CONCLUSION: The establishment of an Animal Services Committee will allow for representatives from the community to have an opportunity to continually evaluate the animal services provided by the City. If City Council approves the formation of this committee, staff will take the steps outlined in Council Policy 000-2 (Attachment 1) to begin the committee formation process. VICTOR M. BAKKILA Lieutenant ROBERT N. SHARPNACK Chief of Police ATTACHMENTS: 1 Council Policv 000-2 '43 CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA COUNCIL POLICY SUBJECT POLICY EFFECTIVE PAGE NUMBER DATE 000-2 211199 CITY COUNCIL APPOINTED ADVISORY 1 of 3 COMMITTEES AND BOARDS REV: 3103 REV: 10/18/11 REV: 615112 BACKGROUND Revisions to this Policy occurred in March, 2003, and October, 2011. The City Council has modified the recruitment, criteria, and selection of committee and board members. The City Council also approved the decrease in membership of the committees and boards through attrition and to be reflected in the Commissions/Committees/Boards Handbook. On May 5, 2012, the City Council modified the Policy indicating that the expiration of all committee and board -terms shall be in April. Council Policy 000-2 has been changed to cover only the City's appointed committees and boards. PURPOSE To provide clear and cohesive policies which assist appointed committee and board members in performing their duties, and procedures for new standing and ad hoc committee formation. POLICY 1. Bring community attitudes and needs into focus by providing valuable communication links between the community and the government of the City. Facilitate recommendations from the community, which aid City Council in making sound decisions concerning policy formulation and resource allocation. 3. Establish and maintain a streamlined mechanism to facilitate committee formation; membership, interaction, work programs, and evaluations. PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES Formation and Membership a. Based upon the need for citizen input on matters of importance to the community, requests to form a committee may be made by individual Council Members. "Committee Formation Application Forms" and "Committee Interest Forms" shall be made available to all interested parties through the City Clerk's Office. b. Upon review of completed Formation Request Forms, City Council may create a new committee by formal action. Such action will establish the purpose of the committee and the number of members. c. Individuals may apply to serve concurrently on more than one committee assuming there is no conflict. CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA COUNCIL POLICY SUBJECT POLICY EFFECTIVE _ PAGE .NUMBER DATE 000-2 2/1/99 CITY COUNCIL APPOINTED ADVISORY 2 of 3 COMMITTEES AND BOARDS REV: 3/03 REV: 10/18/11 REV: 6/5/12 d. The City Council will appoint members to various committees and boards with staggered terms. e. The Mayor shall designate at least one member of City Council to serve as a non-voting liaison to each committee. 2. Membership Terms a. Appointed committee members must be Costa Mesa residents. b. Committee members shall be appointed or reappointed for a term of two (2) years (staggered) unless otherwise specified by City Council. c. The expiration of all committee and board -terms shall be in April. d. To vacate a position on a committee or board, the person shall file a written resignation with the Staff Liaison. Vacancies may be filled immediately if alternate members exist, or held open until a regular appointment time period occurs. e. The City Council, at any time, may request the resignation of or terminate membership of any committee member. e. Alternates shall automatically fill vacancies left by the departure of full members, based on the alternate's length of time serving on the committee. 3. Work Program/Committee Review Process a. Each February, all committees shall prepare and submit a Work Program for City Council review. The Work Program shall include: • Evaluation of the previous years' progress; • Delineation of the upcoming year's program, goals and objectives; and • Proposed budget requests. b. The City Council shall conduct a Committee Review Process once a year in February to review the role and progress of committees to determine their effectiveness. In doing so, City Council reserves the right to revise the status of various committees based upon their need and benefit to the community. CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA COUNCIL POLICY SUBJECT POLICY EFFECTIVE PAGE .NUMBER DATE 000-2 2/1/99 CITY COUNCIL APPOINTED ADVISORY 3 of 3 COMMITTEES AND BOARDS REV: 3/03 REV: 10/18/11 REV: 6/5/12 4. General Information and Procedures Except as provided in this policy all committees and boards shall be guided by the policies set forth in the Commissions/Committees/Boards Handbook. In case of any inconsistencies between this policy and the Handbook, the provisions in this policy shall govern these committees and boards. 5. Quorum Due to Vacancies a. Where there are no vacancies by resignation of members, the quorum for a committee formed by City Council shall be a majority of the members of such body. b. Where the membership on a committee is reduced to less than a majority of the members of such a body due to vacancies by resignation of its members, the quorum shall be a majority of the remaining members of such body until the vacancies are filled by City Council; provided, however, that under no circumstances would the quorum be lowered to less than three (3) committee members. (For example, a committee formed by City Council, which has seven members, would need four members to be present for the committee to take formal action on a matter on the agenda for the meeting. If vacancies occur due to resignations of the members, the quorum would be adjusted to require a minimum of three members to be present for the committee to take formal action on a matter on the agenda while the vacancies have not been filled by City Council. Once the vacancies are filled, the quorum would return to the requirement of four members.)