| Click HERE to see just a handful of the thousands of animals the AC&C euthanizes every year because of lack of spaceor the animals caught colds at the shelter. |
| Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) ShelterReform.org: Everything you ever wanted to know about the AC&C, but were afraid to ask. |
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| WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE ACC As of January 2012 ACC Management Julie Bank has 3 more months to go on her 2-year contract as ACC’s Executive Director. Unfortunately, Bank is more entrenched than ever. Unless something dramatic happens between now and April, the ACC Board of Directors (controlled Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley) will renew her contract for another two years. Bank is the DOH’s golden girl … the DOH’s ideal of what an ACC Executive Director should be: a person who never complains, challenges, or embarrasses the DOH. She is a master at double speak, never honest about shelter conditions. Bank can always be counted on to misrepresent or downplay the disastrous effects of two years’ worth of budget cuts the DOH imposed. Her response to budget cuts: to turn around and cut ACC employees and services. While Bank remained unmoved by the animals’ suffering, the ASPCA and Mayor’s Alliance realized they had a disaster on their hands. These two organizations are the self-appointed cheerleaders for the ACC. The ASPCA is supposed to protect animals from cruelty (and what’s happening to ACC animals is cruel). The Alliance has promised to turn the ACC into a “no kill” shelter by (at last count) 2015. But the Alliance and the ASPCA could no longer ignore what was happening inside the shelter walls. So, they approached City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (no friend to animals but a holder of the City purse strings) and secretly negotiated a deal. The City agreed to give the ACC an extra $10 million spread out over the next 3 years. Remember: neither the DOH nor Julie Bank asked for those monies. But this extra funding came with its own price tag: the DOH would be relieved of its longstanding legal obligation to build shelters in the Bronx and Queens. This deal – money instead of shelters – was Quinn’s gift to Mayor Bloomberg who had always objected to paying for new animal shelters. The deal was fast tracked through the City Council and signed into law on September 28, 2011. So, what do ACC animals and animal advocates have to look forward to in the New Year under this new arrangement? As always, the ACC Negatives outweigh the Positives. NEGATIVES The DOH Remains in Control of the ACC The new law does nothing to curb the DOH’s power over the ACC. (As discussed below, the addition of 2 new “public” members to the ACC Board will not rein in the DOH.) Two More Years of Bank & Co. It seems almost certain that the DOH will renew Bank’s contract. To understand how Bank & Co. have mismanaged the ACC, here are some of the key problems that have flourished under their leadership:
No Animal Shelters for the Bronx and Queens: Under the new law, existing ACC shelters will continue to be overcrowded because the Bronx and Queens will never have their own shelters. The Comptroller’s Audit that gave the ACC a passing “D” grade In late September, the Comptroller’s Office issued its most recent audit of the ACC. (The Comptroller never reviewed the ACC’s finances, but only its services.) New York Assemblyperson Micah Kellner viewed the audit as a “D” for the ACC. A “D” is far too generous a grade. The ACC should have received a big fat “F.” Even though the audit noted both lies and stonewalling by the DOH and the ACC, the Comptroller nevertheless gave them a pass on that deceit. No new audit is on the horizon, as Comptroller Liu is now embroiled in his own problems arising from challenges to campaign donations he has received. THE FALSE POSITIVES New Receiving Centers Instead of animal shelters for the Bronx and Queens, these boroughs will each have a “receiving” (dumping) center open 7 days a week rather than just 1 or 2. So, more animals will be dumped at these centers, and shipped over daily to already overcrowded shelters. And we’re to believe that receiving centers are an adequate substitute for actual shelters. ACC Board to be Expanded to 9 Directors The new law requires the DOH to allow two “public” members to join the ACC Board, expanding the board from 7 to 9 members. Three months later and no new members have been announced. Why? The DOH is in no rush to add more members to the board until they find the perfect “yes” men. The DOH wants to be sure that anyone serving on the Board will be loyal to the DOH and the Mayor’s Office. Even assuming DOH Commissioner Farley (wearing his hat as ACC Chairman) mistakenly appoints 2 truly “independent” directors, what could two people achieve on a board dominated and controlled by the DOH? They’ll be outnumbered: 7 to 2. While Dr. Farley may be an uncaring bureaucrat, he’s not stupid. Any new ACC Directors will have to swear loyalty to him and the Mayor’s Office. As long as the DOH controls the ACC’s board, budget, buildings and executives, ACC animals will continue to suffer. Bank & Co. Set to Hire 119 more Employees Bank recently announced that with the new money coming in, the ACC will start to hire up to 119 more employees. These hiring choices will haunt the ACC for years. First, it’s exceedingly difficult to fire the ACC’ s union workers. Second, the DOH is loathed to allow the ACC to fire certain managers and executives for fear of bad press. The DOH’s history is to order the ACC keep certain employees on the payroll rather than risk embarrassing fallout from wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuits … no matter how frivolous those claims might be. And third and most important, Bank has demonstrated her inability to be a good judge of competence and character. She has surrounded herself with other executives who have all have failed at their jobs. SUMMARY A fish rots from the head down. The ACC’s head (its Board of Directors) is rotten. So, the goal must be to remove the DOH’s control over the ACC and its Board. As long as the DOH and ACC leadership are allowed to continue to lie and mismanage, then ACC animals will suffer. The DOH and the Mayor’s Office will not willingly release the ACC from their grasp. So, we must convince them that it’s in their bureaucratic and political interest to do so. |
| Visit our Gallery of Bethany Obrecht photographs |
Featured Articles
| 3/23/12 NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND: Reports from ACC Volunteers and Rescuers Volume 11 - Report by a Transport Volunteer |
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| Bill Bruce and the Calgary No-Kill Model: Can it Succeed Here? Bill Bruce recently visited NYC to describe his Calgary Model and how it can work anywhere ... even in NYC. Read More |
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| NYS Assembly Member Micah Kellner speaks to the Village Voice about the differences between his CAARA bill and Assembly Member Amy Paulin's pale shadow of an animal shelter bill. |
| It's Kitten Season Again, but Where, oh Where, have the TNR Monies Gone? Read More |
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| What "Sanitary Inspection Grade" Would You Give the ACC? Read More |
| It's Kitten Season Again, but Where, oh Where, have the TNR Monies Gone? Read More |
| Department of Health Renews Julie Bank's Contract for two more years. Over the past few weeks, many of us took heart in a rumor that Julie Bank was looking for another job. But that proved to be a pipedream. It's official: the DOH has renewed Bank's contract to be Executive Director of Animal Care & Control for another two years. The DOH loves Julie Bank. She's their perfect candidate to be the ED. She never complains to the DOH or challenges them. When they cut the ACC's budget monies, she simply cut services and staff. She massages statistics and makes misleading statements to lull the public into believing that ACC animals are well cared for. The DOH and the ACC Board of Directors have sent a clear message to NYC's Animal Advocacy Community: We don't care what you say. We don't care what's really going on in the ACC shelters. Julie Bank is our choice. Two more years. Can you stand two more years? More important, can NYC's homeless animals stand two more years? |
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| 4/5/12 NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND: Reports from ACC Volunteers and Rescuers Volume 12 - Report #3 by a New Volunteer |
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If asked "Would you rather have an acknowledged leader in shelter reform or Julie Bank as the ACC Executive Director?," animal activists would say -- a leader! But the DOH disagrees. Read more |
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| Assemblymember Paulin is back with her bogus shelter "reform" bill and we must stop her and the ASPCA. Read more |
| An ACC Employee Speaks Out in NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND Volume 13. Read the report |
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| URGENT: Read how CAARA is coming up to a vote this month. Click on the links to contact Agriculture Committee members asking them to vote "YES" on CAARA. |
