Street Meeting vs. Animal Shelter Open House

The City of San Angelo's public meeting on street construction and maintenance occurred on February 1st.  The audience included four citizens.  The public received seven days notice of the meeting.

Contrast this image with the October 2023 Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting which had nearly twenty people in attendance, hoping to give public input regarding San Angelo's loose dog problem.  The meeting did not happen as the Chair and Vice Chair forgot about the meeting.

In November 2023 sixty citizens involved in animal rescue asked for a meeting with City Council regarding Animal Services and the need for strategic redirection.  That did not happen.  

At the January 2024 ASAC meeting I gave the public comment that I hoped to give back in October.  The city stresses economic development but the shelter has not consistently responded to large employers with loose dogs on their property.  I assume City Council does not want employers building kennels to house such dogs.  

Also, I asked for a Town Hall meeting on animal issues, one held at a time when area veterinarians could attend.  Veterinarians raised a red flag on increased dog on dog attacks.  The shelter raised another red flag on animal to person bites, up 56%.  Holding a town hall meeting when veterinarian input could be gotten would aid the city in dealing with its loose dog crisis.

The City's Town Hall Meeting on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance gave citizens two weeks notice.

Facing a large number of people who wish to have discussion with policy makers, city leaders did what?  Initially, the city said the Animal Services Advisory Committee would "schedule a meeting in the near future for the public to offer comments to the City related to Animal Services."  That did not happen.

Eventually, city officials offered up an Animal Shelter Open House, complete with a tour of the building (badly in need of renovation).  The public received two day notice of the first Open House, later to learn they are weekly through August.   The open house is not recorded for the public to view.   

The Animal Shelter is not an inviting meeting place for public input, which Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden supposedly desires.

We’re still wanting to collect data from San Angeloans to determine a widespread support of lifesaving efforts.

The city can hold a Town Hall meeting at a time when area veterinarians and the public can attend.  Give citizens several weeks notice and record the meeting.  Provide comment opportunities for people unable to attend the meeting.  That is if they really want input from people dedicated to animal lifesaving.

Update 9-27-24:  Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  Citizens now have to access Animal Services through their City Council representative to get any response.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input.  

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction.