Note from Band of Mercy: Los Angeles Animal Services has recently had their general manager resign after a loss in a sexual discrimination lawsuit and a racial discrimination lawsuit. He was a major failure in many ways to the humane community. The City is now looking to replace him after 7 months.
The following was forwarded to Band of Mercy
NAME OF "HEAD HUNTING" FIRM LEAKED BY MAYORAL SOURCES!
Animal Defense League members had a meeting with two sources in City Hall; one works directly in the Mayor's office, the other works closely with the Mayor's office and interacts with Jim Bickhart frequently. Usually, when ADL-LA members get really discouraged and hopeless, one of these two sources is always optimistic and brings ADL-LA out of our doldrums and frustration with incompetent individuals such as mayoral lackey Jim Bickhart and the Mayor. But at this meeting our source actually began to sob. He/she was so upset with the sleazy, underhanded and possibly illegal things going on under Bickhart and this "Old School-Regressive" head hunting firm named (Citygate Associates) that he/she could not contain the tears.
Below is some of what we learned in our meeting with our sources this weekend:
#1.) Villaraigosa has Bickhart heading up the search for a new Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) General Manager even though Bickhart is no more than a grunt in the mayor's office. The Mayor doesn't want anything to do with LAAS and neither does Deputy Mayor Jimmy Blackman, so they gave the job of searching for a new General Manager to Bickhart to keep him busy and out of their hair! This is obviously unacceptable, but it's the sad reality of the situation.
#2.) The minute the Fire Chief and the Chief of Police, Bill Bratton announced they were resigning and moving on, a competent aid to the mayor immediately put out a job announcement on the LA City's Personnel Job Announcement Website! It's been over SEVEN MONTHS since Ed Boks resigned and Bickhart STILL has not gotten around to putting the JOB ANNOUNCEMENT for a new GM on the city's personnel website.
Hell, there isn't even a job description yet for the qualities required for a progressive, humane No-Kill General Manager! This apparently was done purposefully because Bickhart wanted the regressive bureaucrats Kathleen David and/or Bickhart's good friend Linda Barth (known to the rescue and the humane communities as "Barth Vader" or "Linda Barf") who are currently running the 'death camps', to just move into the position.
#3.) However, it appears that all YOUR calls and e-mails to the city contacts ADL-LA has given out over the past month WORKED! Bickhart hired a head hunting firm! Unfortunately, we found out that he did this to make it appear as if the city of LA is doing a real search (which from what ADL-LA was told by our Mayoral sources maybe far from the truth.)
#4.) Knowing how unscrupulous Bickhart is and how much he hates the animal community and the animals, the candidates Bickhart and Citygate Associates choose could ALL be of the 'catch-and-kill' mentality that has been used here in L.A. for years; the same mentality currently practiced by Davis and Barf. Bickhart may be spending YOUR tax dollars on paying a high priced recruiting firm that is known throughout the progressive, humane sheltering community locally and nationwide, as being "regressive and Old School!" In fact, Citygate Associates still refers to "animal services" as "animal control" on their web site!
#5.) Jim Bickhart tried his best to hide the name of this head hunting firm from the humane community at-large because he and the head hunting firm want to choose just another bureaucrat who doesn't make waves and simply keeps up the archaic "status quo" of the past six years in the Department of Animal Services. It seems under Mayor Villaraigosa, the animals just NEVER get a break.
#6.) Citygate Associates plan is to ONLY look for candidates from the mostly "poisoned pool" of typical bureaucratic shelter/pound employees and then come up with some candidates. But anyone with any progressive sheltering knowledge knows that some of the best Executive Directors of PROGRESSIVE Humane Society's and Municipal City Shelters have come from a background of law, business and/or advertising. These individuals are organized, care deeply about implementing life saving programs and haven't been "brainwashed" with the quondam ways of regressive shelters.
When Citygate and Jim Bickhart write the job description and we post it, the entire nation will know if the job description is "progressive" or "regressive" and if they have limited their search to ONLY those from an "animal control" background (which could be illegal under "unfair hiring practices").
#7.) After Bickhart chose to use Citygate Associates, he handpicked people within the local humane community to speak with head hunter Steven Harman, a senior associate at Citygate, and give him "input" on what they would like to see in a GM. According to our two sources in the Mayor's office, Bickhart wants it to look like he is involving local rescues and some respected members of the humane community. But our sources tell ADL-LA that in reality, these people aren't going to be involved AT ALL in the search process; they are going to be tossed aside like TRASH! ONLY Jim Bickhart and a few TERRIBLY OLD SCHOOL Citygate Associate Staffers are going to see the resumes, know who applied and do the choosing! (Again, could be considered illegal under the "unfair hiring practices" laws.)
#8.) One of the major problems with THIS scenario is that Jim Bickhart and Citygate Associates wouldn't know how to go about recruiting a progressive, humane NO-KILL GM if it hit them in the face! In fact, Mike Ross and Richard Carlson, two senior associates at Citygate with "animal control" experience in their bio's, have gone on record as saying they don't even BELIEVE that "NO-KILL" is possible in LA! (More on the Citygate staff and their backgrounds coming very soon!)
If Citygate knew ANYTHING about No-Kill, they would realize that the size of the city is irrelevant, as cities that have more people also have more resources available to them. In fact, Los Angeles is one of the best-funded animal shelter systems in the country. In fact, Los Angeles City shelters take in less animals per capita than the national average and less animals than communities like Reno, Nevada, which are saving about 90% of their homeless animals.
#9.) Citygate Associates has little or no idea about which Humane Societies and municipal city shelters in the nation are the most progressive, or the names of well known leaders in the progressive No-Kill movement nationwide to whom the firm SHOULD be speaking! The fact of the matter is that the city didn't need to spend YOUR tax dollars on this high priced "old school" head hunting firm; all they had to do was contact some progressive leaders nationwide who would have overseen the search process for FREE and involved respected members of the humane community in LA throughout the entire recruitment process.
#10.) In closing, if Bickhart and Citygate Associates come up with an archaic job description which ONLY allows those who have worked in "animal control" previously to apply for the GM position, then many knowledgeable, progressive life-saving candidates will be prevented from applying! Some terrific candidates, many of whom have run rescue charity 501c3's for YEARS, or have done volunteer/rescue work at shelters for YEARS and are also professionals like lawyers, business executives and veterinarians (who could easily implement Life-Saving programs) but who have never been 'paid employee's' or civil servants at a pound will be unable to apply for the job. Bickhart is not only manipulative, underhanded and an idiot, but as one of our sources in the Mayor's office tells us, "He's evil ".
So, OUR task for early this week is to contact:
Steven Harman-Senior Associate at Citygate sharman@citygateassociates.com 510-599-5294
and the contacts listed below, and insist that the search include individuals who have not necessarily been paid to work in 'animal control' be included in the search, (and the job description should be progressive and not regressive.) Remember, Jim Bickhart and Citygate Associates are trying desperately to "control" this search and they don't want anyone without a bureaucratic, antiquated 'animal control' background to be recruited.
We only have a limited amount of time, so please do this and do this NOW.
(More info from our meeting with these two Mayoral sources coming Wednesday!)
CONTACTS:
Lu Parker-Mayor Villaraigosa's current girlfriend
KTLA New Correspondent
Phone: 323 460-5500 ext. 4581
E-mail: FLParker@Tribune.com
Snail Mail: 5800 W. Sunset Blvd Los Angeles,CA 90028
mramsayer@gershla.com (Melanie is an new LAAS commissioner who is a friend of Lu Parker's and has the Mayor's ear!)
Steve.Rivera@lacity.org
City Personnel Department
tariqkhero@gmail.com
SecundaR@unitedtalent.com
ninekitties@aol.com
ireneponce@earthlink.net
Jeff.Carr@lacity.org
Jay.Carson@lacity.org
mayor@lacity.org
Jimmy.Blackman@lacity.org
Dan.Grunfeld@lacity.org
Council member.reyes@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7001
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 410
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Zine@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7003
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 450
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Labonge@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7004
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 480
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Paul.Koretz@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7005
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 440
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Cardenas@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213) -473-7006
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 455
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Alarcon@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7007
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 425
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Parks@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7008
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 460
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Jan.Perry@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7009
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 420
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Wesson@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7010
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 430
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Councilman.Rosendahl@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7011
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 415
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Smith@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7012
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 405
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Garcetti@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7013
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 470
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Huizar@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7014
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 465
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Council member.Hahn@lacity.org
City Hall Office (213)-473-7015
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 435
Los Angeles, CA 90012
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ADL-LA Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this publication is intended to encourage or incite illegal acts. Some of the information in the posts have been received anonymously and ADL-LA cannot make any guarantees for the accuracy of these reports. Any views or comments stated in this report are not necessarily the views of ADL-LA.
