Quick Take
Though the union representing Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter workers has retracted its calls for shelter board members and administrators to be fired, shelter workers told a joint powers authority board meeting on Monday that they are continuing to push for more staff, resources and better pay. Shelter management expects to report on salary study findings in February.
About 20 Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter workers and volunteers pleaded for more staff, resources and pay increases at a meeting at county building on Monday, where the shelter’s legal counsel confirmed that the union representing shelter workers has formally retracted a petition calling for two board members and the shelter’s director to be fired.
The group of workers and their supporters appeared before the shelter’s joint powers authority (JPA) board meeting to warn of a surge in animal intakes since the shelter suspended its low-cost spay and neuter programs, service shortages because of a lack of staff and a growing reliance on volunteers to take on animal care worker responsibilities.
The JPA is an entity that allows two or more public agencies to jointly exercise common powers. The shelter’s JPA is made up of representatives from Santa Cruz County and its four cities.
Members of the JPA also acknowledged a petition the union presented to management late last month, which was later changed to include calls for two JPA board members and shelter director Amber Rowland to be fired over what the workers’ union alleged was mismanagement.
The union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521, has since reverted to the original wording that many of the nearly 1,500 supporters would have seen when they signed their names to the petition. The union described the changes as a “language error.”
Cara Townsend, general counsel for the animal shelter, told the board that she received the SEIU’s petition Nov. 30 and was concerned that the document did not match the one that the majority of the nearly 1,500 supporters signed. She said she contacted the union and its legal counsel, and shortly after, the union’s attorney and its communications department sent a retraction, removing the demands for administrators to be fired.
While none of the workers commented on the retraction, board member and Assistant County Administrative Officer Nicole Coburn said she hopes shelter staff can work toward a solution soon.
“We as a board want to see a level of professionalism at the shelter. I think you have that, but I’m just hoping the staff can come together,” she said, adding that the board is looking at ways to facilitate positive interactions like mediation and team-building. “It’s important for us to continue to emphasize that.”
Shelter workers declined to comment on the retraction, whether they still want the administrators fired, or if they plan to circulate another petition calling for the termination of the board members and manager.
However, several workers and volunteers raised concerns to the board about their struggles with the current shelter operations.
Animal Services Coordinator Jillian Ganley told the board that both the Watsonville and Santa Cruz shelters have seen about a 23% increase in animal intake since the year prior due to a mix of COVID, the suspension of low-cost spay and neuter programs since the pandemic, and efforts to assist other shelters when they stopped accepting animals.
“Our outreach programs are intermittent at best, based on available staffing or resources causing more animals to be brought into the shelter,” Ganley said. “Yet, the staffing model has not been adjusted to account for this; our staff is working to levels of exhaustion leaving little room for absences of any nature.”
OPINION from community voices
Dana Gleason, who recently retired as a full-time veterinarian for the shelter, highlighted the need for Planned Pethood — the shelter’s low-cost spay and neuter program — or something like it once again. Planned Pethood has been mostly suspended since the pandemic.
“That has fallen by the wayside since I left, and I would love to see that come back,” she said.
Shelter director Amber Rowland said animal intake across October and November was down by about 400 animals compared to August and September, but it was still about 15% higher than during the same period last year. She added that the shelter is still seeing many young and adolescent animals, showing the impact of limited access to spay and neuter programs.
Rowland also said that there has been an uptick in intake over the past two weeks, which appear to be partially related to the oversized vehicle ordinance going into effect in the city of Santa Cruz.
Animal Services Coordinator Sarah Goldberg told the board that the workers are in dire need of four new animal care staff positions, three client services positions and one animal control position. She also said that workers are asking for a 25% pay increase and engaged leaders.
“We’re asking for experienced leadership that is present and proactive, that has up to date knowledge on shelter operations and develops rapport with local agencies,” she said, adding that the workers need leaders “that will not fall asleep in meetings, use inappropriate humor or remarks referring to safety or euthanasia, and who won’t tell us that they aren’t a ‘fix-it’ person.”
Rowland said that 30 of the shelter’s 31 funded positions are filled, which she says is the most staff the shelter has ever had. She also said that management has preliminary results from a salary study that the board began to plan in June. Rowland expects to report on the findings in the February 2024 JPA board meeting.
Volunteers spoke up about their concerns as well. Kay McKenzie, who has volunteered with the shelter for more than 20 years, said she has experienced a “growing request” for volunteer transport of animals to different facilities. She said she told the shelter she was uncomfortable driving county vehicles and believes the duty should be exclusive to shelter workers.
“It seems like it’s in the same spirit, and I feel that’s inappropriate,” she said, adding that drivers might have to go as far as Sacramento and San Francisco. She hopes to see a full- or part-time driver hired to address the problem. “The animals are precious cargo, and it’s really getting to be too much.”
Rowland said that just 20% of the shelter’s volunteers provided 75% of total hours donated, and noted the need to recruit more volunteers next year. Volunteer Coordinator Megan Carroll said that volunteers, too, will benefit from the workers’ requests, as they will not have as much weight on their shoulders to pick up so much unpaid work.
“I think the best thing we can do for our volunteers is improve the emotional, physical and mental stresses on the shelter itself,” she said. “I want volunteers to be there because it’s their happy place. Not because they feel forced to be there.”
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