Simi May Switch Animal Control Back to County

SIMI VALLEY —  Maybe Ventura County’s animal regulation services are a bargain after all.

That seemed to be the consensus among Simi Valley city leaders and staff Thursday after six months of wondering whether Los Angeles County wouldn’t provide better animal care at a cheaper cost than the local agency.

Although Simi Valley City Council members won’t vote on which county to select for the 1997-98 fiscal year until a meeting Monday, they are clearly leaning toward Ventura County’s Animal Regulation Department.

“My guess is that we will probably go back to Ventura County,” Councilman Bill Davis predicted Thursday. “L. A. County has not been able to live up to all the promises made previously.”

That decision could resuscitate the ailing Ventura County Animal Regulation Department, which receives some $265,000 from Simi Valley annually.

*

The Ventura County department has already lost Thousand Oaks as a customer. If Simi Valley were to split as well, Ventura County Animal Control Officer Kathy Jenks would be left with a batch of unpleasant choices: imploring the cash-strapped county for more money, laying people off, asking other cities to pay more for services or contracting all animal regulation services out to another public or private agency.

“If they had left, that would have just torn us down more and probably forced us to go out to bid,” Jenks said. “Not knowing how many people would have to lose their jobs has been difficult on my staff.”

The mood among Simi council members Thursday represents an about-face from three months ago.

That is when they voted to switch to Los Angeles County’s department for all of Simi Valley’s animal regulation needs. But the switch--scheduled to begin Sept. 7--never happened because Los Angeles County and Simi Valley couldn’t settle on a final contract that still allowed residents to have a permanent or temporary animal shelter within city boundaries.

Now council members will revisit the animal regulation issue at Monday’s meeting.

*

The negotiations with Los Angeles County “just didn’t work,” Councilwoman Sandi Webb said. “We’ll probably get a little bit of I-told-you-so’s, but that happens.”

A report written by city staff suggests that Simi Valley should stick with Ventura County’s agency when it comes to caring for lost kittens, trapping unruly wild animals and removing road kill.

The switch to Los Angeles County was supposed to save Simi Valley up to $50,000 annually and boost the caliber of service. But “any anticipated cost savings have been elusive,” noted the report by Environmental Services Director Diane Jones.

Bob Ballenger, an executive assistant with the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, declined to discuss the substance of the Simi Valley staff report.

“This is pretty standard contract stuff,” he said. “You make a proposal. They make a counterproposal. . . . I don’t really know how it will end.”

A chief concern for the council members was keeping the shelter in Simi Valley--which is run by Ventura County’s Animal Regulation Department--open to local residents.

That shelter, at 670 W. Los Angeles Ave., offers short hours and a batch of cages and dog runs. Typically, local strays are held at the Simi facility for 24 hours before being transported to Ventura County’s main shelter in Camarillo.

*

Ideally, Los Angeles County was supposed to lease some space at the shelter to house strays from Simi. But that couldn’t be done while keeping costs low, Davis said, adding that Los Angeles County officials said the facility wasn’t roomy enough to hold Simi’s animals plus those from Moorpark and surrounding areas.

Nor did Los Angeles have enough space for Simi strays at the Agoura Hills shelter, which is already crowded.

“All the things they said were so great and so wonderful; now they’re not so great and wonderful,” Davis said.

Both Webb and Davis say they see a benefit to their on-again, off-again relationship with the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department: The department has a new incentive to speed response times, expand facilities, improve emergency veterinary care and lower costs for its Simi Valley customers.

“It’s just like the [county] libraries,” Webb said. “Sometimes it takes the threat of us pulling out to get them off their butts. If we wind up saving more and the taxpayers get better service, then it accomplishes our mission.”