Animal shelter oversight vote splits Anderson County Commission
For the second time in less than a year, the Anderson County Commission has voted against an oversight committee for the Anderson County Animal Shelter.
A resolution to set up the committee, presented during Monday night’s commission meeting, was the same one the commission rejected last March.
But the commissioners rejected the move on a 9-5 vote, with one abstention and one member absent.
Commissioner Tracy Wandell, who voted in favor of the new committee, said the Operations Committee approved bringing it back up because the previous time it had been decided on a voice vote. He said it would be more helpful to see who voted which way this time.
The vote also gave a chance for citizens to voice their criticisms of the shelter’s management and their hopes that an oversight committee would help imrove conditions and persuade the shelter to work better with volunteers.
Commissioner Steven Verran made the motion to pass the measure, and Wandell seconded.
In addition to them, Commissioners Ebony Capshaw, Joshua Anderson and Jerry White voted for the Oversight Committee. Robert McKamey abstained.
Commissioners Shain Vowell, Tim Isbel, Sabra Beauchamp, Phil Yager, Shelly Vandagriff, Tyler Mayes, Michael Foster, Robert Smallridge and Anthony Allen voted against the committee’s formation. Denise Palmer was not present.
The committee as described in the resolution would have included two members appointed by the commission, two appointed by the county mayor and five nominated by the nominating committee and confirmed by the commission.
The county mayor and the director of animal care and control would still provide staffing for the shelter, rather than the committee. The oversight committee would take all its recommendations on “policy, programs and budget appropriations” to the County Commission, much like the county’s other committees do.
The failed resolution can be read in its full version as part of the Monday, Feb. 24, County Commission agenda online.
The use of the word “oversight” was a sticking point for those opposing the committee.
Commissioners Smallridge, Allen and McKamey said they were uneasy with the term, as it seemed to imply that the committee would run the shelter instead of Mayor Terry Frank or shelter director Damon McKenna.
“I think we have to be careful about having an entity that’s over the mayor,” Allen said. He also said he did not see the urgency for a new committee.
“There’s no broken laws that have occurred,” he said.
Wandell pointed out in response that a previous director did break laws in 2020 regarding euthanasia. Allen said he was referring to the current director
Several citizens spoke at the meeting in favor of the board and even more crowded in the room.
Among them Beverly Kay, who said she wanted more partnership between citizens and the shelter, with volunteers taking over some responsibilities.
“They don’t have a lot of time to spend walking the animals, loving the animals,” she said of the shelter staff during the time for citizen comments.
“I think we did learn something big this time,” Oak Ridge resident Nicole Ferrara told The Courier News after the vote. She said she would vote against any commissioner who voted against the oversight committee.
Mayor Frank did not comment on the failed resolution, but later in the meeting said she had been slow to respond to requests regarding an animal shelter task force because her assistant Leann Tupper had been sick.
However, she said she was still interested in one. She also supported having McKenna give regular updates about adoption numbers and other statistics.
Back when there was an Animal Care Advisory Committee, however, Frank was critical of it. The commission voted to dissolve that committee last year.
“If the goal is not truly to work with me, it’s not a partnership,” Frank said of the committee last year, criticizing it for not working well with her.
The new shelter
Allen told people to be patient with the county’s plans for a new shelter building.
During the time for citizen comments, Bill Blankenship, president of Blankenship and Partners Architects, spoke about the new structure.
“On this animal shelter project, we did fall behind due to personnel, staffing, health problems,” he said. “First thing I want to do is eat my humble pie and apologize.”
“We’re ready to rock and roll,” he said. However, he said there were future milestones before construction. He said various engineers wanted one more week to March 10 to submit the plans to the US Department of Agriculture and the building permit officials. The project he said will go out for public bids during the first week in April. He wanted to have a public bid opening on the first week in May.
