HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0091.047 2022-2024 P/Coundi l
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From: Lauren Foo
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2023 3:17 PM
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To: Council Testimony
Subject: Testimony regarding Bill 22 --i
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Aloha Council Members,
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My name is Lauren Foo. Thank you for hearing my testimony today regarding the passing of Bill 22- Form'aionf
Animal Control and Protection agency.
It has been my experience that the devil is always in the details. As I testified in the last meeting I conditionally support
Bill 22 contingent to 4 key areas being addressed in the bill itself
1. Rewrite chapter 4-preferably before the new agency is created.
2. Establish a community based oversight committee to work w/new administration and the public to help
manage transition of services as the agency grows and assure a vehicle for the community to have a voice;
3. Establish a clear understanding of services provided/ responsibilities of the organization.
4. Establish clear ownership and program to handle animal population control proactively.
The facts are, even now,we don't know a lot of the details of what is going to happen with animal control policies and
procedures. This lack of information creates a great deal of unnecessary confusion. It would be much better if you
could lay out a clear understanding of what we should expect and approximately when to expect it. Instead you are
asking us to trust. On what should we base that trust on?
I am extremely concerned about how we as a community are going to get from where we are right now to where we will
be once the agency is established. Do you realize that you are asking us to continue forward and trust for another 9-10
months? We need a parallel focus on how we as a community transitions from where we are today with where we will
hopefully be when the agency is operational. In other words we need support to help bridge the gap in services that we
all know exist.
There are a lot of things that are falling through the cracks while people are sitting on their perches waiting for the new
agency to be created. I for one would like to know why these people are'waiting in the wings' when we are
experiencing an emergency situation? Every day the shelters are inundated with new intakes-this is pure insanity.
The entire success factor of this new agency lies on the shoulders of this new administrator role-yet to be hired. As we
can see in the bill,this new role also has a great deal of decision-making power. Has there been a proper talent search
for this role? Where is the job description for this important role? Council members, you are asking us to trust that this
person whom we have yet to see a job description for, and who is going to be hired by April 1st is indeed the right
person. I certainly hope you have done the diligence in recruiting the best of the best because that is what we need to
help lead us out of this mess.
We will need an interim plan to help lead us through the current mess we are experiencing.
• Shelters are not repaired,yet funds were appropriated. We'd like to see an action plan as to how and when
this will be addressed.
• We are experiencing an explosion of kittens and puppies all across the island. All the shelters and rescues
are overloaded-we cannot continue to ship our problems off island for other states to handle.
Comm. No. (�. -6tWi
1 .To: W�unf I
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Ref. date FEB 2 2 2023
We need county money to administer an island wide spay neuter program for the period of one year—starting
now ending at such a date when the new agency provides a plan to address the service.
The pressure only increases the longer we wait.The cries of the public have not been addressed so the drum beat gets
louder. Give us something we can work with- We need SPAY NEUTER right now—please put something in place—
don't wait—we can't wait. We need action now.
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