Yesterday's Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting included a stunning admission by the Chairperson that a prior planned meeting did not reach a quorum because the top two officers wanted to avoid planned public comment and "did not show up."
The closed captioning for that admission is below:
It's likely the Chair referred to the June 2017 meeting where the public turned out to speak to a number of animal related issues. However, nearly the same thing happened in October 2023.
The 2017 meeting was not held because ASAC Chair and PAWS Director Jenie Wilson resigned by letter six days before the meeting. Wilson sat in the audience the day the meeting did not occur. She later rescinded her resignation, so the practical impact of her action was denying citizens their right to speak.
A February 2018 meeting did not happen because there was no agenda posted, meaning there was not a room full of disappointed people. However, the intent may have been the same.
The October 2023 non-meeting occurred with several vacant board positions. Communications from the Chair and Vice Chair show both "forgot" about the meeting. The public was turned away despite having a majority, three of the five current ASAC members, in attendance. City staff conspired not to hold another ASAC meeting in 2023 which meant the city did not meet its own ordinance requirement for three meetings per calendar year.
City boards cannot get public feedback or input if they do not meet. Gaming a quorum to avoid hearing from the public seems devious, even despicable. A functional, accountable City Council should be appalled by this prospect, even more so by its historical admission.
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