There were more issues than answers as Mohave County Supervisors spoke about short and long-term animal control issues during their Monday board meeting in Kingman. The board ultimately approved a modified version of a staff proposal to take over management of the shelter in Kingman, at least temporarily, but they continued discussion and possible action regarding possible construction of a new facility to replace it.
A circular discussion ensued because the separate proposals involve interlinking issues. Four primary topics were in focus.
KINGMAN SHELTER OPERATION
The Lake Havasu City-based Western Arizona Humane Society (WAHS) currently runs the Kingman shelter through a contract with the county. WAHS does not wish to renew the contract that expires June 30 and no other organizations responded when the county sought another service provider.
Supervisors essentially approved a county takeover, at least for the months ahead, and crafted a plan to try to keep some of the WAHS employees on board as county employees. Because the half dozen full time positions are being designated as temporary, county administration is free to “direct select” those who fill the positions.
County manager Mike Hendrix said the “direct select” option frees the county of obligation to post the positions to the general public. One question becomes how many current WAHS employees will want to keep their jobs because their designation as temporary positions prohibits the county from paying for benefits.
Hendrix said he might be able to used benefit associated savings to award slight pay raises as incentives to retain employees who might walk without employment benefits. He said staff will work diligently through the end of the month to hire the best employees possible as the operation of the Kingman facility transitions to the county.
NEW FACILITY PROPOSAL
Supervisor Jean Bishop proposed building a new shelter in Kingman for about $3-million. She said separate studies conducted in 2007 and 2016 both determined that a new shelter is sorely needed.
Board Chairman Hildy Angius said the dilapidated condition of the current Kingman facility and the unpredictability of repairs has organizations such as WAHS unwilling to operate it. “If we build it, they might come,” she said.
But Angius said she thinks a suitable shelter can be built for far less than $3-million. “I don’t think we need a `taj mahal’”, she said.
Supervisor Ron Gould questioned whether the county should build a new shelter at all, noting that seems to conflict with his philosophical opposition to growing government. And supervisor Buster Johnson questioned whether an animal shelter has priority over other county capital project needs such as a morgue, sheriff’s office substations and tearing down its abandoned jail.
The board will revisit the facility topic when it meets June 17.
CITY BY CITY EQUITY
Consideration of operation of the Kingman shelter and whether a new one should be constructed morphed into discussion revealing a board consensus that the City of Kingman is not paying its fair share for shelter operations. The matter was raised by supervisor Gould.
“WAHS runs the Lake Havasu animal shelter. They are funded by Lake Havasu City, not the county. Bullhead City has a city animal shelter funded by Bullhead City, not the county. Kingman does not,” Gould said. “I need some Kingman participation from their city government, monetary participation, to get me to approve to do anything because it is unfair for the residents of the other areas of the county to be subsidizing an animal shelter for the Kingman area. The city of Kingman needs to pony up.”
Bishop pointed out that Gould’s comparison of the three shelters isn’t exactly on point because the Kingman shelter boards animals collected in Kingman and in the unincorporated areas of the county. Nonetheless, she agreed with Gould’s primary point.
“I do think the city of Kingman should be `ponying’ up as others have said.
“The city of Kingman has been woefully behind in this endeavor and I think we should reach out to the city of Kingman to see what interest we can get from the current mayor and city council.”
Any feedback from Kingman officials may weigh into future decisions regarding operation of the Kingman shelter and possible construction of a new one.
POUND OR SHELTER OPERATION
Whether the county animal control facility in Kingman should be run as a shelter or a pound was the fourth issue exposed during the Board discussion. Johnson said it was his understanding the county is only obligated to hold collected animals for 72 hours and it was later pointed out that pets with some form of identification are given 120 hours so their owners might locate them.
Supervisors did not discuss a sensitive subject directly, but a key distinction between running a pound or a shelter is how long animals are kept before they are euthanized. Length of boarding time directly impacts operation cost.
Johnson and Gould both questioned county operation as a shelter without stronger funding participation from the city of Kingman.
Lynn Kannianen, Vice President of WAHS, said she and others are working to form a Mohave County Humane Society that would be interested in running the shelter through contract with the county in the future. She said the group will need at least six months to formally establish the organization.
Tracy Langly, a local resident long involved with the Kingman shelter, said she is opposed to its operation as a pound. “I don’t want to see us return to a kill shelter,” she said. Angius agreed. “Everyone wants to see a shelter, not a pound,” she said.
