City of Sacramento
Personnel and Public Employees Committee Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-01105 9/19/2023 Discussion Item 3.
Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report File ID: 2023-01105
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Pass a Motion reviewing and providing direction on the Annual Report for the Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee and direct staff to forward the Annual Report to the City Council for review.
Contact: Phillip Zimmerman, Animal Care Services Manager, (916) 808-8333, [email protected], Community Development Department Presenter: Phillip Zimmerman, Animal Care Services Manager, (916) 808-8333, [email protected], Community Development Department Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Annual Report
3-August 9, 2023 Staff Report
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Advisory bodies of the City are required to provide an annual report for review by the Personnel and Public Employees (P&PE) Committee as outlined in the City Council Rules of Procedure, Chapter 17. The P&PE Committee shall review advisory body annual reports and give staff direction on those reports’ stated projects, priorities, and recommendations. Before forwarding the report to the City Council, the Committee may request supplemental information from staff or the advisory body.
The attached Annual Report is being forwarded to the P&PE Committee for consideration.
Policy Considerations: Chapter 17 of the Council Rules of Procedure outlines the Advisory Body reporting process.
Economic Impacts: Not Applicable.
File ID: 2023-01105 9/19/2023 Discussion Item 3.
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): This action is not a project that is subject to CEQA because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines §15378(b)(5)).
Sustainability: Not Applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: On August 9, 2023, the Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee passed a motion forwarding their Annual Report and Recommendations to the P&PE Committee for consideration.
Rationale for Recommendation: So that advisory bodies may effectively incorporate their important role, voice, and work to provide thoughtful community recommendations to the City Council on a consistent basis the P&PE Committee shall facilitate the process for advisory bodies to communicate their accomplishments, projects, priorities, and recommendations to the City Council.
Financial Considerations: Not Applicable.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not Applicable.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 1 of 8
Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee
City of Sacramento
Annual Report 2023
Prepared for Sacramento City Council
Personnel and Public Employees Committee
September 2023
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 2 of 8
Sacramento Animal Care Services Citizen Advisory Committee The Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee was established in 2001 by ordinance 2001-052 and is codified in Sacramento City Code 2.86.
Advisory Committee Members
Denise Bell
Kathleen Garcia
Cynthia Karsten, DVM, Vice Chair
Leah C. Morris, Chair
Joe Robustelli
Paula Treat
Sacramento Animal Care Citizen Advisory Committee Staff
Phillip Zimmerman, Manager, Front Street Animal Shelter
City of Sacramento – Office of the City Clerk
915 I Street – Sacramento, CA 95814
[email protected]
(916) 808-7200
www.commissions.cityofsacramento.org
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 3 of 8
Sacramento Animal Care Citizen Advisory Committee
The Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee (Committee) ordinance was created in 2001 as a result of a Blue Ribbon Committee Report by the Humane Society of the United States and community concerns regarding Animal Care Services in Sacramento. Ordinance No. 2001-052 added chapter 2.86 to the Sacramento City Code establishing the Committee.
Purpose of the Committee
The Committee was established for the purpose of providing advice and recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on strategies and policies designed to ensure and enhance animal care services provided by the City.
Powers and Duties of the Committee
A. Provide advisory recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on strategies and policies and programs designed to assure quality care for the animals housed at the City’s Animal Care Services Center, increase awareness of animals available at the Center. Increase awareness of the importance of spay/neuter of animals, assist in soliciting input from the community relating to use of unclaimed spay/neuter deposits, educate the community regarding the humane treatment of animals, and other matters related to City’s animal care responsibilities.
B. To provide a forum for public discussion of the City’s efforts to bring about positive change and improvements at the Animal Care Services Center.
C. To serve as a liaison to the Mayor, Council, and City staff on behalf of the community in matters related to City’s animal care services.
City of Sacramento Board, Commission and Committee Annual Report Requirements
In 2022 and 2023, the City of Sacramento office of the City Clerk discussed an Annual Report Process for City of Sacramento Boards, Commissions and Committees. Such a document has also been referred to as a “workplan”. The City of Sacramento Personnel and Public Employees Committee (P&PE), which oversees the work of City Boards, Commissions and Committees, has reviewed an annual report template, submission calendar and review process including:
• PPE receives the Annual Report, which is prepared in a format established by the city clerk and submitted pursuant to an annual report calendar. • Each advisory body must approve its annual report before submission to the P&PE. For the advisory body, City staff should include any information on feasibility of report recommendations.
• P&PE reviews submitted reports, city clerk and staff collaborate to collect any additional helpful information for P&PE Committee evaluation of the annual report recommendations.
• P&PE gives staff direction on Annual Report stated projects, priorities, and recommendations.
• P&PE forwards finalized reports to the city council.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 4 of 8
This Annual Report is submitted pursuant to the reporting requirements outlined by the city clerk’s office. As a newly re-established Committee (the Committee was unable to establish a quorum in 2019, 2020 and 2021), this report includes highlights from the work of Committee members sworn in January 2022 through current activities in 2023.
2022-2023 Highlights and Accomplishments
In CY 2022 the Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee held ten (10) meetings.
• Oriented all members to the administrative rules of open meetings in Sacramento.
Received training on Sacramento Board, Commission, and Committee Handbook.
• Elected officers of the Committee to serve calendar year 2022.
• During regularly scheduled Committee meetings, oriented to the Front Street Animal Care Center through Shelter Manager monthly reports and staff presentations.
• Received multiple public comments related to animal care services in and around the City of Sacramento.
• Planned a Community Participation Workshop to be held in 2023 during the period of a regularly scheduled Committee meeting. Workshop to be held in lieu of a regular business meeting.
• Learned Best Practice research and resources regarding animal care services.
• Discussed areas of high community concern such as:
o High volume and complex animal care related service calls to the City’s 311 Service Center which require longer call time, more specific skills to deal with community members calling while in distress, and needing detailed information about licensing, spay/neutering, wildlife management and or other animal care related service calls.
o Shelter facility limitations, hazards, and inability to meet current recommended practices in animal sheltering and shelter medicine.
o Ongoing concerns with shelter operations including hours of service, appointment-based services, euthanasia practices, animal sheltering practices (e.g. number of animals in a kennel), homeless outreach program development, staffing concerns (e.g. veterinarian vacancies and difficulty filling due to non- competitive salary range), need to increase spay/neuter services for shelter animals available for adoption.
o Ongoing need for adoption promotion.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 5 of 8
• Secured free advertising space with Valley Community Newspapers and four affiliated publications.
To date, in CY 2023 the Committee has held seven (7) meetings and we anticipate holding the scheduled ten meetings.
• Elected new officers to serve CY 2023.
• Finalized plans for and conducted a specially designed “Community Participation Workshop” at the March 2023 meeting.
• Continued learning about shelter operations through staff presentations.
• Invited the Sacramento 311 Service Manager to present an overview of 311 services at the May 2023 meeting.
Of note, the Community Participation Workshop was an especially powerful learning experience. Committee members and Shelter staff reached out to Ms. Lynette Hall, Sacramento Community Engagement Manager, for expertise and guidance on a positive Community Engagement Workshop process. With Ms. Hall’s engagement, a format was developed to allow public comment to be double the ordinary comment time (from 2 minutes to 4 minutes) and also to allow questions and answers during the comments, which is not the normal order of business during a regular Committee meeting.
The meeting was held at City Hall, the current Committee’s first ever in-person meeting. This presented some unanticipated challenges, including:
1. Committee members on a dais, sitting above and away from the public commenters.
2. Ms. Hall, asked to facilitate the meeting, was facing away from the public, sitting in the auditorium and not on the dais and making it difficult for her to facilitate questions and processes.
3. Formal timing practices, applied at regular Committee meetings, stunted the experience of dialogue.
4. Public participants sat in the auditorium, separate and below the Committee, discouraging a sense of engagement and open participation.
Ms. Hall’s team and she did a wonderful job of capturing comments and attempting to facilitate a dialogue. In follow-up meetings Ms. Hall described other formats she has successfully employed, entitled “Community Conversations”. The Community Engagement Team graciously offered to conduct a Community Conversation regarding Animal Care Services to facilitate additional community input and participation. Such a meeting would be held under the policies and processes of the Community Engagement Team, outside of City Hall, in a neighborhood selected to represent and engage a wide diversity of participants.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 6 of 8
At the May 2023 Animal Care Citizen Advisory Committee meeting it was moved and approved to work with the Community Engagement Team to plan and conduct a Community Conversation meeting.
2022 Committee Resources
In 2022 the Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee held ten (10) meetings. In 2023 it is anticipated the Committee will meet the scheduled ten (10) times.
CY 2022 meetings elicited much public comment input, at times requiring meetings to last up to 3 hours. Typically, meeting durations is 2 hours.
In 2022 Committee meetings required approximately 24 hours of direct meeting time.
In 2023 we anticipate requiring approximately 20 hours of direct meeting time.
Estimated average costs to staff monthly meetings*:
Department Staff $80.00/hour
City Clerk $77.00/hour
City Clerk Support Staff $27.00/hour
City Attorney $86.00/hour
IT Support Staff $32.00/hour
--------------------------------------------------------------- Total per meeting $302.00/ hour for meeting support
• CY 2022 approximate meeting costs were $7248.00 ($302.00 x 24hrs). • CY 2023 approximate costs will be $6040.00 ($302.00 x 20hrs).
In addition to meeting time, the city provided staff, supplies and services to support the Animal Care Citizen Advisory Committee. Monthly, approximately 2 hours of Department staff time is required to prepare and publish agendas, generating an approximate cost of $1600.00 per year ($160.00 x 10 meetings). Additional city costs were generated with guest participants including the Manager of Community Engagement and the Sacramento 311 Service Manager.
Committee members also receive a stipend of $50 per meeting attended, paid quarterly.
*Hourly salaries are based on City of Sacramento Salary Schedule, priced at lowest salary scale, unless otherwise known.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 7 of 8
2022-2023 Committee Work-Plan Recommendations to present to the Mayor and Council
The Committee deliberated and identified concerns to present to the Mayor and Council for action in the remaining months of 2023 and CY 2024:
1. Research options and collaborate with the 311 Service Center to address animal care related 311 Service Calls and inquiries. Animal related calls constitute approximately ten percent of all 311 calls. Options would be proposed to help relieve call volume from the general call center team, offer consistent messaging about animal care, keep animal care service information up-to-date in real time, and give callers more detailed animal care guidance and possibly avoid community members needing to travel to the shelter for assistance.
Options may include:
a. identifying specific 311 call center staff dedicated and trained to address animal care related calls.
b. redirect animal care related calls to staff at the shelter dedicated and trained to manage such calls.
c. create a new unit within 311 call center to handle all animal related inquiries. d. create a new unit outside of the 311 call center to handle all animal related inquires, potentially in partnership with Sacramento County and Sacramento SPCA.
2. Conduct a Sacramento Animal Shelter Needs Assessment to consider shelter facility Renovation/Relocation. Steps in a Needs Assessment may include:
a. Secure Needs Assessment funding
b. In collaboration with City of Sacramento procurement office, develop a Request For Proposal (RFP) to outline issues and concerns such as the physical buildings (size, design, location, building age), changes over time with recommended practices for animal care services (kennel design, noise abatement, access to public visiting, services offered), human and animal safety concerns, community volunteer input, etc.
c. Target RFP release by end of October, 2023.
3. Review Committee scope, pursuant to P&PE Committee Chair direction to all Boards, Commissions and Committees.
Sacramento Animal Care Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023 City of Sacramento Page 8 of 8
City Resources Required for 2023-2024 Projects, Priorities, and Objectives
In addition to the volunteer time of the Committee members (noting the meeting stipend), the following outlines potential resource requirements for stated projects:
• Shelter and 311 Service Center staff time to collaborate on possible changes to 311 Service to better meet caller needs related to animal care. • Staff time to develop possible models for changes to 311 Service. • Funding for a Needs Assessment for Shelter Renovation/Relocation. • Shelter and procurement staff time to develop, finalize and distribute a Needs Assessment RFP.
• Shelter staff time to review responses to an RFP and select a Needs Assessment consultant.
• Shelter and procurement staff time to contract a consultant, subsequent to the RFP process.
• Shelter staff time to review a final Needs Assessment report and determine next steps subsequent to report findings.
• Committee and Shelter staff time to review Committee scope and consider revisions.
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