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South Bay municipalities end animal services talks
Small cities want equal voice in JPA
By Genevieve Roja
After failing to agree over control of a proposed countywide program for animal-control services, West Valley municipalities--including Campbell--are scrambling to find viable alternatives.
The city of San Jose, which would fund the lion's share of any countywide program, has insisted on holding the majority of votes on a proposed joint powers authority. The authority would be responsible for building a shelter and providing animal-control services. Several smaller municipalities are reluctant to give San Jose complete control of their services. According to Campbell City Manager Bernie Strojny, the breakdown of board members consisted of five representatives from San Jose, one each from Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Milpitas, and two from the West Valley cities.
"San Jose decided they couldn't live with that," said Strojny, who has been meeting with representatives of other cities since January to discuss the formation of a JPA. "They thought they needed more votes than us on the board. That really made it a situation that wasn't providing us with full municipal participation within the JPA. That was the major stumbling block."
Despite the temporary setback, Strojny assured residents that Campbell and the other cities will weigh their options in the next six to eight weeks.
"The alternatives we'd be looking at would be a JPA without San Jose, and that the JPA could do everything," Strojny said. "That could be animal-control services, as well as building a shelter. Alternatively, we could look at a group forming a JPA to provide animal services, [and] only then contract with San Jose to build a shelter. That could possibly work."
San Jose will pursue plans for a new shelter on Monterey Road in San Jose regardless of whether a JPA is formed. The San Jose City Council has yet to act on the issue; meanwhile, the land is being appraised. The future of the new shelter should be discussed next year, Strojny said. The impetus for the recent talks comes from a new state law that lengthens the minimum time stray animals must be held by agencies like the Humane Society, which currently contracts with all of the cities in question.
The Humane Society must expand dramatically to comply with the law or euthanize adoptable animals to make room for others, whether or not they're adoptable. The cities' contracts with the Humane Society expire in 2001. Christine Arnold, executive director of the Humane Society, believes a reasonable solution between San Jose and the municipalities can be found.
"I think that the cities are truly trying to do what's right for their communities," said Arnold, who attended the failed JPA meeting. "I don't think there's any blame here; they're really struggling right now."
Arnold said there are two factors the cities must consider: the needs, services and expectations of an animal program and a reasonable cost for those services. "From a cities' standpoint, they're asking all the right questions," Arnold said.
When asked what she saw as the most practical solution for the current dilemma, Arnold said that all cities, including San Jose, should operate their own animal control programs, but have only one shelter.
"In my mind, the one that makes the most sense from a community perspective is for the cities to run their own animal-control program, whether they do it jointly [with San Jose or not]," Arnold said. "It does makes sense ... because they can tailor [their needs] to their own community but have one shelter."
One shelter for all cities makes it easier for animals and for pet owners too. If each city had its own shelter, owners seeking a lost or injured pet would face the daunting task of checking shelters in each city.
"Animals don't know boundaries," Arnold said. "You can walk across Bascom from San Jose to Campbell, [but] the dog's not going to know that."
Also at issue is the type of service that would be offered by a centralized animal-control program. Cities now respond differently to animal-related issues. But Campbell will act as it has in the past, said Campbell Police Chief Dave Gullo, who also manages the animal services contract for the city.
"Services will be seamless," Gullo said of the impending transition. "The public won't even notice the difference."
Animal issues, such as barking dogs or vicious attacks will still be handled on a case-by-case basis. In those instances, police officers usually leave information at the owner's door, make contact that night, or in some instances, write form letters.
"We'll handle it as we [deem] appropriate," Gullo said.
Strojny said Campbell spends $135,000 annually for animal services provided by the Humane Society.
SVCN staff writer Nathan R. Huff contributed to this report.
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Campbell, California
