2 5
1 9
CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: February 19, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Tanya Romo, Acting City Manager;
Kris Watson, Director, Animal Services
Department: Animal Services
Subject: Accept a $5,000 One-Time Scholarship from Best Friends Animal Society (All Wards)
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Resolution No. 2025-234:
1. Authorizing the Department of Animal Services to accept a one-time scholarship in the amount of $5,000 from Best Friends Animal Society to subsidize the cost of registration and allow staff to attend the 2025 Best Friends National Conference; and
2. Authorizing the Director of Finance and Management Services to amend the FY 2024/25 Budget to appropriate $5,000 of the scholarship funding in both revenues and expenditures for conference attendance.
Executive Summary
In December of 2024, Best Friends Animal Society contacted the Director of Animal Services to offer a one-time scholarship in the amount of $5,000.00, to subsidize costs and allow staff to attend the 2025 Best Friends National Conference in Palm Springs from February 20 th - 22 nd, 2025. Given the proximity of this conference to the City of San Bernardino Department of Animal Services, Best Friends Animal Society wanted to ensure that the Department could send as many staff members as possible. The conference registration amount is $425 per person. This one-time scholarship allows the Department to send 11 staff members to the conference by covering the cost of conference registration and mileage. There are no additional expenses to the General Fund for this item.
2 5
1 9
Background
The 2025 Best Friends Animal Society National Conference equips attendees with the latest tools and data-driven techniques to take home and save more lives in their communities.
The Best Friends National Conference brings together animal welfare members and volunteers from across the county to gain lifesaving knowledge and practical strategies to fast-track lifesaving at their organizations. Breakout sessions are designed to help the Department staff learn best practices from other shelters in order to start saving more dogs and cats in our community.
Presenters speak from diverse backgrounds and all types of organizations, including leaders in advocacy and community engagement, field and animal services, shelter medicine and animal care, fundraising and development, and other animal welfare topics. These topics will provide the Department with new and up-to-date trends in the animal welfare industry. The Department of Animal Services focused on several initiatives in 2024 to help get more pets home. The Department placed extra emphasis on returning animals to owners while still in the field, training contract city officers to properly scan for microchips in the field before impounding animals. The Department partnered with Petco Love Lost and Pawboost to automatically upload all lost and found animals from the shelter to their websites, increasing the visibility of lost pets in our jurisdictions. The Department also offers payment plans and also waives fees for individuals who may have a financial barrier to paying all fees at once to redeem their impounded pet from the shelter. This conference will allow staff to stay relevant with current sheltering trends and help the Department continue to partake in new and exciting initiatives in animal welfare.
Discussion
Attendance at the 2025 Best Friends Animal Society National Conference will provide staff with the opportunity to gain insight on raising lifesaving funds for the Department and learn how others have increased revenue through giving to help them meet their goals. This topic addresses a powerful trend of getting our community engaged with animal welfare. Animal Control Officers can gain insight into changing our cultural mindset from traditional enforcement approaches focused on imposing rules and regulations to ensure compliance, communities understandably tend to resist and disengage. In contrast, the Department wants to foster an engagement approach that brings communities together by emphasizing relationships, empowering individuals, and fostering collaboration to achieve desired outcomes. This shift in mindset and strategy can create more sustainable and positive impacts, as it encourages active participation, ownership, and mutual respect among everyone involved.
Shelter Operations staff will gain a better understanding of pathway planning and population management. Bringing back ideas that work to move animals through the shelter more quickly to a live outcome and learn how others have increased lifesaving by prioritizing population management and reducing length of stay. Staff will be presented with real-world examples and case studies, providing concrete ideas and 2 5
1 9
inspiration that can be implemented immediately.
Community Outreach staff will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of how to strategically use social media to further the Department’s mission, from content creation to community engagement to fundraising. One area the Department is excited to grow in is bridging the gap between Spanish speakers seeking pet-related services but face language or cultural barriers. Staff will learn to build programs with bilingual content ensuring that Spanish speakers feel seen and valued, fostering a more inclusive environment. Lastly, staff will have the opportunity to network and collaborate with shelter management from shelters in our region who face similar animal behavior issues, adoption challenges, rescue network obstacles, special needs populations, medical conditions, disease transmission, community, and wellness operations.
Best Friends will be sending the $5,000.00 check to the City for the cost of the conference. The Department will submit the registration receipts to Best Friends and will track attendance of staff at their conference for submission to the grantor. In order to maximize the number of attendees and reduce costs, staff will meet at the shelter and carpool to the conference in City owned vehicles, reducing mileage and travel related expenses. The conference provides food and drinks to attendees, further reducing expenses to the Department. While the Department does not expect to incur costs above the grant amount, there is sufficient funding in the Department‘s existing meetings and conferences budget to absorb any unexpected travel related expenses. 2021-2025 Strategic Targets and Goals
The acceptance of this one-time scholarship is consistent with Key Target No. 1:
Improved Operational & Financial Capacity, through the opportunity for increased funding which will allow the Department to gain lifesaving knowledge and practical strategies to fast-track lifesaving. The acceptance of this grant also aligns with Key Target No. 3: Improved Quality of Life through community involvement by learning the latest trends in community outreach, lifesaving, shelter medicine and animal care. These programs give the Department an opportunity to educate and engage the community, building trust and increase awareness.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund for this one-time scholarship. The budget for Fiscal Year 2024/2025 will be amended by $5,000 in both revenues and expenditures.
Conclusion
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Resolution No. 2025-234:
1. Authorizing the Department of Animal Services to accept a one-time scholarship in the amount of $5,000 from Best Friends Animal Society to subsidize the cost of registration and allow staff to attend the 2025 Best Friends National Conference; and
2 5
1 9
2. Authorizing the Director of Finance and Management Services to amend the FY 2024/25 Budget to appropriate $5,000 of the scholarship funding in both revenues and expenditures for conference attendance.
Attachments
Attachment 1 Resolution No. 2025-234
Attachment 2 Memorandum of Understanding Best Friends Animal Society and San Bernardino City Animal Control
Ward:
All Wards
Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
On January 15th, 2025, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2025-007, authorizing the Department of Animal Services to accept grant funding in the amount of $1,000 from Best Friends Animal Society.
On September 18th, 2024, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2024- 202, authorizing the Department of Animal Services to accept grant funding in the amount of $25,000 from Best Friends Animal Society.
On November 17th, 2021, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2021- 270, authorizing the Director of Finance to amend the FY 2021/22 budget to transfer $1,500 from the Animal Services Best Friends Revenue Fund to the Animal Services Best Friends Expense account for the purchase of volunteer tracking software for the Department.
On May 19th, 2021, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 2021-102, accepting a grant award in the amount of $45,000 from Best Friends Animal Society for Animal Shelter Programs and Services.