Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-03-30 Work Session Minutes Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org MINUTES OF WORK SESSION DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 ___________________________ Present were Commissioners Tammy Baney, Alan Unger and Tony DeBone. Also present were Dave Kanner, County Administrator; Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator; Anna Johnson, Communications; Ken Hales, Community Corrections; David Givans, Internal Auditor; media representative Hillary Borrud of The Bulletin; and seven other citizens. Chair Baney opened the meeting at 2:35 p.m. 1. Redmond and Central Oregon Humane Societies – Annual Reports to the County. Representatives of the Humane Society of Redmond (Chris Bauersfeld, Don Wayne and Mike Daly) indicted they are moving the organization into solvency. Adoption numbers are up 11% over 2009, and by 34% so far this year, based on the number of animals sheltered. They are expanding outreach to the community with different types of events. There has been a lot of positive support from the local community. They continued with the normal fundraiser projects and off-site adoption events. The website is being revamped, and they have had about 150,000 hits this year. The low-cost spay/neuter project is still underway. They have noticed a change in the number of cats, with fewer coming into the shelter. They met with local veterinarians who are okay with the program and don’t see it as competition. Each third or fourth publicly paid spay or neuter covers the cost of one shelter animal surgery. Intake numbers are higher overall by about 15%, and a smaller percentage is being returned to owners. They euthanize any with behavior or severe health issues, or cats that test positive for feline leukemia or feline AIDS. They are getting more donations from the public because they do not euthanize as many as in previous years. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 1 of 5 Pages Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 2 of 5 Pages Spay and neuter appears to be helping with the number of feral cats in the community. There is a good foster program in place for kittens and pregnant cats this year. They have just two litters in foster care right now. The City of Eugene determined that they have 22,000 community (stray) cats, so they started a TNR (trap/neuter/return) program. Redmond Humane is thinking about starting that type of program as well. People are starting to realize that the shelter is still there, although some think it is a County facility. The thrift store was costing a lot of money, so was consolidated into the warehouse. This saves a lot of overhead each month, and they have more room. They are starting to learn to do things better. However, they cannot do this without the support of the County. They have enlisted the help of a CPA to get reports in order, and operations have been tightened up. Anna Robbins, board president of the Humane Society of Central Oregon, said they are taking a different approach today, focusing on key indicators and strategic planning. They are debt-free and own everything outright. She introduced the other attendees: the new executive director, Sabrina Slusser, who started three weeks ago; Kathe Oles, the treasurer; and Bill Riser, who helped with the strategic plan, acted as interim executive director, and joined the board. Chair Baney asked about the statistical information on the HSCO annual report, which shows 1,020 animals not accounted for as either reclaimed by the owner or adopted out. Ms. Olis stated that those are the animals, primarily cats, that were euthanized for a variety of reasons. Not listing that specifically is just a softer way of stating it. Mr. Riser said they have four primary goals, mostly financial in nature. These deal with the thrift store, donor enhancement, intake costs and revenue from adoptions. They are down on revenue but also down on costs. They have not done newsletters consistently and this has impacted revenue. The animals, particularly those that are special, are the driver and make people react and donate more. A mailing of 15,000 yields revenue at about 3:1. The thrift store remains the biggest revenue source. They explained that they did not have a vision statement until now. Fundraising is the biggest challenge at this time. The second challenge is dealing with people who are not responsible. They have a particularly good relationship with the media, especially KTVZ. There is a staff member who has been there a long time and can get a lot of media attention for the shelter, and knows how to leverage opportunities. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 3 of 5 Pages Chair Baney asked if the two shelters have partnered on anything together, or have combined services in any way. Both indicated that they had not done so. Chair Baney stated that they are separate groups but should be working together towards the same goals. There should not be a geographical line. The County could advocate more for them if the public understood why there are two separate shelters in the same County, duplicating services. Mr. Riser said that they have to educate board members on the animal world each time they get a new member, including why they have to euthanize. It is an uncomfortable subject for the community. There are differences and similarities between the two shelters. Representatives of both shelters talked about the 2009 Madras hoarding case. They said that the cats were sick and the odor smelled up the shelter badly. Mike Daly added that it costs over $200 to process each cat and Redmond had to refuse to take cats in for a while due to the expense and overhead. Ms. Oles said that they are going to start analyzing every procedure related to the animals so the cost will be known, and determine where to draw the line and whether the cost involved is justifiable, such as overtime, the use of medications, veterinary care, and so on. She likes animals, but the shelter is a business first and sometimes expenses need to be cut back so they can operate more efficiently and profitably. Chair Baney stated that the County gets asked why the two groups can’t seem to work together. Ms. Oles said that perhaps the two groups could figure out some commonalities, such as how to handle cremations. Ms. Oles said they are going to visit the Oregon Humane Society to see how they operate, and figure out if they can apply any of what is done there to their own operations. Commissioner Unger encouraged the two groups to reach out to other areas and organizations, and work to provide services to more than just their own support base. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 4 of 5 Pages 2. Discussion of Juvenile Department Economies and Efficiencies. Ken Hales said that he drafted a proposal regarding restructuring for cost savings without much change in services. (A copy of the report is attached for reference.) He was asked to show where the money is going, what is required by law and what is being done or should be done that is beyond that. He compared what Linn, Douglas and Jackson counties are doing, since they are similar in population and size. Statutorily, his department must provide court support services to juvenile court. Intake screening is based on the infraction. They must appear in court with new offenders to present the information and make a recommendation on whether the juvenile should be detained. They have to appear at every court date until adjudication. If there is probation involved, that is another responsibility. The youth are supervised on conditional release, delinquents in lieu of prosecution, and probation for the adjudicated. They are not required to do anything with those who have violations, but some are supervised. A detention center is not required unless the area’s population is 400,000. This can be contracted out. There’s the argument that they have to have them ready for court and transport them, maintain visitation rights, provide schooling, and provide for medical or therapeutic treatments. The department has to deal with records expunction requests and records requests. This is a very complicated process and is statutorily required by the State, although the State does not pay for it. Although not explicit in statute, the department provides for mental health and substance abuse evaluations. A good percentage of the youth end up in a diversion program and not on probation. More cases are handled informally. These programs have proven to be very valuable and cost-effective. They need to continually focus on working with the kids and move them to a lower level as appropriate. This includes various treatments. Teen court does not cost a lot of money but is valuable. They hope to get the educational process down into the elementary school level, because that is where a lot of the problems start.