Officials at a joint meeting of the Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council on Wednesday agreed to place representation from either government on the board of the Flagler Humane Society, which has faced significant criticism from current and former volunteers and has been the subject of some concern among elected officials about a lack of oversight. The organization depends on some $400,000 a year from local governments.
At the same time, officials said it was time to put the criticism to rest and look for solutions to pressing issues, some of them glaring.
If the joint meeting revealed a startling reality not spelled out until Wednesday, it is that while the 20-year-old shelter on U.S. 1 is old, overcrowded and growing more so, and the society’s director says it’s been outgrown, the Humane Society has neither capital plan nor savings either to build larger shelter or move to one, though it would be prohibitively expensive to do so. Local officials want that plan. The door has also been opened for the Sheriff’s Office to possibly take on some animal control responsibilities.
“It’s a growing county and a growing issue, and what is the plan?” County Commissioner Leann Pennington asked. There was no answer.
“We absolutely need to come up with a plan for the capacity issue,” City Council member Theresa Pontieri said, whether by exploring the use of development impact fees or partnering with the Sheriff’s Office for sheltering options.
“Whatever we can do to get that train started down the road to where we have a plan to either build or add on to your building or build another building right there,” Commissioner Greg Hansen said. “That should be project number one to get that done.”
The society over he last few weeks has sustained a barrage of criticism largely centered on three issues: lack of oversight from funding governments, lack of accounting, allegations of poor or improper treatment of animals housed in an overcrowded facility, and the firing of volunteers who don’t toe a certain line. At the same time, society advocates have stood up for the organization, defending it and refuting critics’ claims, as has Amy Carotenuto, the society;’s executive director, in these pages and elsewhere. (See: “Flagler Humane Society Blasted for Lax Standards and Euthanasias as Commissioner Raises Prospect of County Take-Over,” and “Flagler Humane Society Director Defends Shelter’s Euthanasia Record and Rejects Criticism as Inaccurate“).
“There were a lot of pros and cons that we had heard from a lot of different people,” County Administrator Heidi Petito said in a summary of the last few weeks’ controversy to the commissioners and council members. The special workshop between the two governments was unusual. It was prompted by critics appearing before both boards, and both boards wanting to explore the issue quickly and efficiently, together. (Staffers tacked on two other items on the joint meeting’s agenda, to take advantage of the rare opportunity for joint dialogue.)
“The county or the city does not have immediate oversight over them,” Petito reminded the elected, referring to the society, a non-profit. “They are a private entity. They do have an eight person board of directors. They also have an executive director and staff.” The society contracts with local governments: $284,220 with the county, $90,000 with Palm Coast, $26,000 with Bunnell, $16,000 with Flagler Beach.
Unlike Palm Coast, which has a staff of three animal control officers, plus a technician and their equipment, the county, Bunnell and Flagler Beach don’t have their own animal control divisions. They contract with the society, which has just two animal control officers. The society in turn bills the governments. “It’s hard to predict the actual true cost, because it’s based on the number of animals that they capture and have to house,” Petito said. The contracts have reporting requirements specifying the number of animals handled.
“There might be a path moving forward through maybe either our contract negotiations which will be up next year,” Petito said, with an increase in funding to account for increasing costs scheduled. “But perhaps before we renew the contract next year, or maybe prior to that, if we have discussions with their board and their executive director, maybe there could be room for some local government oversight. Maybe we can discuss kind of future capital plans and identify ways that we can improve the facility. And then maybe there’s room for participation with the board of directors.”
It is common for local governments that contribute substantial sums to local organizations to have a liaison, or a voice, on those organizations’ boards. Elected officials typically each have two, three, four assignments on local organizational boards, as liaisons. Petito herself serves on the SMA Healthcare board and the board of FGUA, the Florida Governmental Utility Authority that provides utility services to such subdivisions as Plantation Bay. SMA received $173,300 in county funds this year, the largest allocation to any of the 10 social service agencies the county contributes to. (See the list and amounts here.)
The elected officials quickly embraced the proposal for representation: it’s a tangible achievement amid an intractable challenge.
“This is kind of new territory, with us working together on this,” Dance said. “From my standpoint, the glaring elephant in the room is expansion.” He said later: “We’ve got lots of pressing issues, so this just becomes another one of them that we’ve got to look at.”
Commissioner Greg Hansen made the surprising proposition that since in some counties Sheriff’s Offices handle animal control, the sheriff here could do so. But that would likely not resolve the issues at hand if the Sheriff’s Office were not to have a shelter of its own. The humane society would still be in charge, the same way that Palm Coast has its own animal control division, but turns over its animals to the society. But the Sheriff’s Office is open to exploring options.
“There is a lot to it, and certainly we would have to examine what the cost-benefit analysis would be and what the enforcement would look like long term on something like that,” Mark Strobridge the sheriff’s chief of staff, said. “But it is absolutely true, a lot of sheriffs are taking that responsibility.”
Carotenuto provided a brief history of the shelter and addressed the issues. The original shelter was built in 1982. It’s occupied the current shelter since 2004. “We have outgrown it,” she said. “We do the best we can. Offices become cages, and we have animals just about everywhere,” including dogs, cats, snakes, tortoises, birds, goats, pigs, range lizards, not to mention the humans. The shelter has a paid staff of 47, a third of whom are part-time, plus some 100 volunteers, operating on a $3 million budget. Its thrift store alone generates $650,000 a year.
The shelter is annually inspected by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the same overworked agency responsible for inspecting hotels, motels and short-term rentals, among other businesses. It is also inspected by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
“So there’s oversight for sure, and we have no problem sharing everything,” Carotenuto said, from profit-and-loss statements to animals handled to budget figures, which she said would show a loss with regards to the Palm Coast contract, which does not cover the shelter’s costs ($300 to get a cat ready for adoption, $500 for a dog). But it’s crowded. The Humane Society has 56 kennels. It has 90 dogs. It has some colony rooms for cats, allowing them to fit in easier. It is only “slightly” at over capacity for cats, the director said. Staffing is less of an issue, she said. “We’re OK at this point.”
Then came the surprise. Only “some funds” have been set aside for expansion, but nowhere near what the shelter needs to expand. It has not planned a capital campaign. “Shelters are very expensive to build. I think people are misinformed when they think that you can just put up a metal building and are some kennels and throw animals in it,” Carotenuto said, comparing shelter structures to hospitals with special drainage requirements. “Orange County is bigger than us, but I know their budget for their new shelter is between $80 and $100 million.” (Orange County Animal Services is planning to build a shelter of between 80,000 and 100,000 square feet adjacent to the Mall at Millenia. The cost was estimated at $25 to $35 million in 2017. The cost has risen to $95 million as of last February, with no money available.)
“We want what’s best for the animals, but a kennel in somebody’s backyard does not a shelter make though, please. We’ve either got to do this right or not not do it at all,” Carotenuto said.
Some two dozen members of the public spoke, generally repeating supportive and critical comments previously spoken before the city and county boards. “My message has been to embarrass this county into increasing capacity,” one resident said. “I prefer a municipal shelter. We’re one of 13 counties in the state that does not have a municipal shelter.” Another spoke of numerous red flags related to capacity and oversight issues. Another, a former volunteer there, said no training is provided volunteers
Others, including current volunteers and a current board member, defended the shelter and Carotenuto’s leadership. “So many were quick to pile on with the allegations and accusations,” Jeff Jacobs said. “Sadly, with social media, once something is stated by someone who might have an ulterior agenda or motivation, it’s out there for a reputable agency to have to defend themselves.” A volunteer said: “As an animal lover and currently studying to become a veterinarian tech, there is no possible way I would ever volunteer at a shelter that is inhumane to animals.”
The tone was calmer than it had been previously before county and city boards. The joint meeting’s outcome did not clarify the path forward aside from possible representation on the society’s board, but it lowered anxieties, reassured the society’s director with strong words of support from the officials, and pledged the two local governments to make the matter yet another one of their priorities, to the extent that they can do so.
“We’ve heard over the past month at least the back and forth between the different groups, and I hope tonight’s meeting can kind of put a squash to some of those,” Dance said, wrapping up the issue after nearly two hours of discussions. “We’ve heard both sides and I think the points been made.” The goal is to address the most realistic maters immediately, address contractual matters and representation, with the “glaring issue” being capacity. “That’s a long term issue.” He urged the public to continue the discussion. “I just really would like to hope that we can stop the the accusations and the back and forth, because we’ve heard that and I know the current staff has heard that, so hopefully there’ll be some improvements at least in that communication standpoint.”
