Forwarded to Band of Mercy:

ADL-LA just received word that . . .

"The Board of Animal Services Commissioners, the City Personnel Department, and the Mayor and City Council would like your input in regard to the search for a new General Manager for LA Animal Services.

The Board will convene a special session, at 12:00 noon on January 12, 2010, in connection with their regular meeting.  Starting at noon, the Board will accept public comment relating to the search for a new General Manager.  Input can be about qualifications, job description, requirement, recruiting ideas, selection criteria, or  other pertinent input.  The search firm handling the General Manager search, and the Personnel Department, will be monitoring the input."

The meeting will be held at City Hall, 200 North Main Street, Los Angeles 90012, in room 1060.

HOW STUPID DOES BICKHART AND THE CITY THINK WE ARE?

First off, Bickhart knows that 95% of the humane community HAVE JOBS and can't drive downtown, pay to park and walk to City Hall in order to give three minutes of input for what they want to see in a General Manager. Second, since this "announcement" was just very recently sent out, it doesn't give the public much time to ask for the day off! So the question becomes, if the City was SINCERE about getting the "public's input" then why didn't they schedule the meeting in the evening, when people who work could attend? In fact, there WAS an evening meeting at West Los Angeles shelter in December; they could have asked for public comment then! Also, it's in the Department's CHARTER that there be at least FOUR evening meetings a year so that the public who care about animals, and we the taxpayers who are PAYING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LA ANIMAL SERVICES, be able to attend at least four commission meetings a year.

So it is VITAL that those of you who CAN somehow get off work, ATTEND the meeting to give YOUR input to the City, the Commissioners and CityGate.

We know that Bickhart is NOT interested in any public input, so we did some research, and guess what we found out and confirmed; the REAL reason why the Mayor and his side-kick Jim Bickhart decided to get the public's input. ADL-LA has several sources (aids) to some of the city council members. We did research and found out from two of these sources that the ONLY reason the City and Bigfart is even asking for public input is because Councilmember Cardenas INSISTED on it! And part of the reason Cardenas insisted on it was because he is getting flooded with e-mails from YOU about the importance of finally getting a progressive, humane, No Kill General Manager!

Jim Bickhart, the City and CityGate Associates don't really want the public's input, they just want to make us BELIEVE they do. Just like Bickhart put together a "search committee" of well respected members of the humane community to give their input directly to CityGate Associates, we believe that the "search committee" was a sham and that the City, Bickhart and CityGate Associates are not going to use these well respected individuals in any meaningful way to help in the actual recruitment of a progressive General Manager.

So, we all need to continue sending weekly e-mails to those people who are influential in this search for a new GM for LAAS. We will continue posting their names and contact info in our next Action Alert. We need to EDUCATE these people as to the qualities needed in a progressive GM and how to RECRUIT one (since CityGate and Bickhart are about as "Old School" as you can get in their knowledge of recruiting a progressive, humane, No Kill General Manager for LA.)

The year 2010 has come; we are no longer living in caves, although much evidence of barbaric, unevolved, Neanderthal thinking still abounds (especially inside LAAS.) Most civilized individuals no longer consider companion animals as inanimate "property", as dumb creatures without feeling, to dispose of, as they wish!  All around the globe, compassionate, informed and caring people have by now TIRED of the same old archaic excuses the abusers and killers like Davis, Barth and union employees use to justify the senseless killing of millions of adoptable companion animals. Their "old school" city bureaucratic training is not only simply a lack of knowledge but a lack of WILL to do otherwise or to use the MANY alternative solutions that other progressive shelters are already using.

It is important to be informed, to take sides and most of all to take action!  Be part of the solution!
Next Action Alert coming SOON!

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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.