6 Cities Weigh Split From O.C. Animal Shelter

Concerns about costs and convenience have led six north Orange County cities to consider ending their animal care contracts with the county and creating their own joint animal shelter.

Such a move would eliminate more than one-third from Orange County Animal Care Services’ budget from city contracts and force it to scale back on plans for a new shelter in Tustin in two years. Also, the county would have to worry about bordering cities in north Orange County that might be attracted to the competing shelter.

The six cities--Anaheim, Fullerton, Placentia, Buena Park, Brea, and La Habra--emphasize that all they’ve done so far is agree to hire a consultant to study the feasibility of such a move.

“We aren’t animal experts, so we decided to turn to someone who is,” said Jinny Barton, code enforcement officer for Fullerton. “All we’re doing is taking a look at the issue, nothing more.”

But Brea’s animal control officer, Lt. Bill Hutchinson, and Buena Park Assistant City Manager Jim Vanderpool said the cities would not have gone this far if they weren’t serious about a potential split with the county.

“We’re confident that this is probably the best move for residents in our city,” Hutchinson said.

Julie Ann Ryan Johnson, the county’s new director of animal care services, acknowledged that such a mass departure would seriously affect the animal shelter’s plans, reducing its annual budget by nearly $1.4 million, but said she believes the cities will ultimately choose the status quo.

“We’re convinced that once they’ve studied the issue, these cities will realize that remaining with us is going to mean the best cost-effective service for them,” Johnson said.

Johnson plans to put on her own “road show,” as she calls it, by talking individually to the city managers of all 19 cities that contract with the county for animal services.

The news of the potential exodus comes at a bad time for the county animal shelter, which was hit hard last year by grand jury criticism about mismanagement and mishandling of animals. The county hired Johnson, president of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Assn., to help improve the shelter’s policies and staff morale.

Many of the grand jury’s complaints have been addressed--improved cat care with individual cages, for example, and more public access. (The shelter is now open every day.) The shelter has started a Web site and runs mobile adoption centers, taking animals all over the county for possible adoption.

Johnson said the county shelter could pick up other contracts with such cities as Santa Ana and Westminster, which have expressed interest.

City contracts make up more than three-fourths of the agency’s budget. The rest comes from the Board of Supervisors for covering unincorporated areas.

The county plans to move its shelter in 2003 from its site in Orange, on The City Drive, to the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. Johnson described the planned facility as “beautiful” and a dramatic improvement over the current one.

“It’s freeway-accessible, and we think the cities are going to find it appealing,” she said.

But some North County officials complain that the base is farther away than the current location, and they worry that the costs of building the new facility will mean greater contract costs for them.

Recent cost increases led the six cities to get together this year to talk about alternatives.

Buena Park’s annual payment, for example, more than doubled, from $45,000 in the 1999-2000 fiscal year to almost $96,000 in 2000-01. Anaheim’s shot up about 45%, from $541,000 to almost $788,000.

Some of the cities hadn’t seen an increase in several years, Johnson said.

In a letter to the cities, county officials cited three main reasons for cost increases: measures to control feline distemper, operational improvements and higher salaries.

The letter said that policies on how costs are divided were being reviewed in an effort to smooth out fluctuations in contract costs.

Still, city officials complain that the costs are based on a complicated formula that results in higher bills they had not anticipated.

Though costs this year actually went down in Brea, Hutchinson said his city is concerned because “costs fluctuate, and we don’t always know why. What we’re looking for is a situation where we have a little more control over costs.”

The cities are hiring Hughes, Perry & Associates, which has conducted similar studies for the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara.

In Placentia, animal care contract costs decreased about 30% this year.

City Manager Robert D’Amato said Placentia agreed to the study because “if that’s what the other cities want to do, it’s one way for us to keep our options open. But keep in mind: We haven’t decided anything.”