General (05)
Susana Barrios
From: Karen Vaughn <
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2025 11:27 AM
To: Public Comment <publiccomment@anaheim.net>
Subject: \[EXTERNAL\] Public Comment for city counsel and the community
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I’m inviting citizens to demand that OC Animal Care follow the Strategic Plan we already paid for.
When the city signed a contract with OC Animal Care, the shelter put together a Strategic Plan at a cost of over
$400,000. But it’s not following it. Instead, it wants to spend more of the cities' money to change it. The cities cover over
90% of the shelter’s budget.
What’s the point of having a “plan” if the county is not following it?
Now the county is trying a bait-and-switch on us. It wants to spend more of our money on a “new” plan. That’s a
coverup for not delivering on the perfectly good plan we already have.
I included this in my opinion piece published in Voice of OC:
Reform is Badly Needed in Orange County Government
https://voiceofoc.org/2025/01/vaughn-reform-is-badly-needed-in-orange-county-government/
This is some of what I say in the piece:
\[…\] In 2016-2018, the animal shelter was under scrutiny. Frank Kim and Dylan Wright oversaw the development of
a Strategic Plan… but when attention faded they proceeded to abandon it. In 2023, with renewed public attention
on the shelter, their response was that the county needs to develop a “new” Strategic Plan. But there’s nothing
wrong with the existing plan. The county just needs to put it to work.
Action: All county plans voted by the Board of Supervisors should mandate regular, itemized reporting on goals and
metrics. Quarterly at first, then annual, through the life of the plan.
\[…\] Instead, Vice-Chairman Katrina Foley produced a pompous 2024 account as if this was the best year in the
county’s history. “Hired permanent director of OC Animal Care” says Foley… without a word about this director’s
lack of qualifications and weird behavior. But over-the-top PR can’t make up for unqualified managers and bad
policies at the animal shelter.
Thank you
Karen Vaughn
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