Tammy Wong
American Canyon, CA
January 31st, 2022
Dear Mayor and Council,
As a resident of American Canyon for over a decade, as you discuss what to do with 4.9 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, I advocate strongly for the following:
1) No funding for Clark Ranch. We need to build the expertise to manage our existing parks before we create more. As a side note, the newly added mulch at the Wetlands linear path looks nice. The homeowners who look at this everyday are still very interested in more than just occasional cosmetic updates, and want a maintenance strategy that includes replacing all the bushes that have died and/or been removed. We should have this for all of our parks.
2) Safe streets. I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: our existing roads are not designed for the current level of traffic they bear. In the same manner that we have a pavement management plan, we need to have one for a pro-active traffic calming plan so that every street in the city can be safely used by all of its users. I can give you numerous examples of how I’ve had difficulty using or crossing the street while bicycling, running or walking. Allocating a chunk of ARPA funding to traffic calming is needed. 3) Bicycle parking should be available at all city parks. This would support the city’s goal of shifting to bicycle transportation from fossil-fuel transportation, as outlined in the Climate Emergency resolution, and also reduce demand for parking at busy parks like the Wetlands Park/Outdoor Gym. 4) Managing population growth. I have experienced first-hand the growth of the city; as more people have moved to our city, we’ve gotten more traffic and a surge in the underworld population of community cats. This is a growing problem that residents are struggling with, and we need city support and ARPA funds to be allocated towards this problem.
I’ve spoken about the first 3 items at various meetings or comments through the years, but now I want to elaborate with more detail about the community cat problem. Frankly, I realize it’s a longshot to even bring this to Council, but it’s an important issue to me, and I feel that we, as a society, have a responsibility to care for the community cats within our city.
“What is a community cat?”
Per Napa Humane, they are “a cat that doesn’t have an owner”. This includes abandoned or lost pets, or those born in the wild.
I agree with Napa Humane: “Regardless of how they became a community cat-and whether or not you enjoy having them as neighbors-these animals are now the shared responsibility of our community”. “What is TNR?”
According to our Napa County Animal Shelter, "The Community Cat Program (formerly Trap-Neuter-Release) is really the way to go to prevent unwanted kitten litters and keep healthy cats from unnecessarily entering the shelter system." We moved to American Canyon with four indoor cats. We naively thought the cats we’d see in our backyard or crossing our busy street were just our neighbors cats. Fast forward a few years, we have found 11 stray/feral cats in OUR backyard:
2018 (1 cat): 1 stray feline (now living the life of luxury as one of our indoor-only cats) 2021 (6 cats): 1 feral mama cat with 5 feral kittens (mama TNRed; 4 kittens altered & placed into a rescue’s foster/socialization program, 1 kitten disappeared before trapping done). Note: the mama cat was “in heat” and would have had a 2nd litter
2022 (4 cats): 2 breeding-age feral cats TNRed; aware of 2 more likely feral & unaltered cats TOTAL: 11 cats – remember, this is just one backyard on one block in this city The primary burden of the community cat problem has fallen on the shoulders of a few tirelessly dedicated volunteers in the community. To address this community problem effectively, they need more help from the city to provide more resources.
Limitations of TNR resources make it burdensome, and beyond reach for all but the most dedicated and persistent. Travel to Napa for loaner traps & vouchers for spay/neuter from Napa County Animal Shelter Limited spay/neuter services at Napa Humane. The appointment dates offered are currently months away.
ARPA Solution Opportunity
By using ARPA funds, the city can expand assistance in each area of the prescribed TNR solution.
1. TRAP: provide a trap depot where residents have access to traps locally in American Canyon, and provide specialized drop traps for hard-to-catch feral cats
2. NEUTER: expand veterinary services for altering cats to stabilize the population growth, and eventually eliminate population growth. Short-term, some creative opportunities need to be developed while a long-term solution is built, like expanding spay/neuter capacity with an additional location in American Canyon. This would be a wonderful business development, attracting patrons throughout Napa and Solano counties.
3. RETURN: support colony maintenance. As a community, we have the responsibility to care for these community cats, to provide for them as needed. Volunteers who provide this service should not be harassed by other individuals in the community.
Most importantly, the city can educate residents about the importance of spay/neuter, for all cats. Frankly, it is irresponsible to feed feral cats without altering them.
In closing, thank you for considering my input. Again, I emphasize no CLARK Ranch funding until we can maintain the parks we already have. Let’s direct the ARPA funding to enrich our community and residents lives by:
1. Maintaining our existing parks & adding bicycle parking,
2. Investing in safe streets with an active traffic calming program, and
3. Supporting our residents who volunteer in caring for our community cats.
I hope this will be reflected in the discussion Council has on Tuesday. I await your response, and am open to further discussion.
Sincerely
Tammy Wong
More information
Napa Humane
https://napahumane.org/our-work/community-cats/what-is-a-community-cat-definitions/ Napa County Animal Shelter
https://www.countyofnapa.org/1023/Animal-Shelter