Staten Island Advance, Tuesday, June 17, 1997
2 from animal board fired after testifying at hearing
by Kerry Murtha
Advance Staff Writer
The office of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani fired two members of the Animal Care and Control Center's (CACC) board of directors yesterday only hours after they appeared before a City Council committee to discuss the power City Hall exerts over the so-called private, non-for-profit organization created to handle the city's unwanted animals.
Deputy Mayor Randy M. Mastro sent letters to board members Rosemary Joyce and Dr. Louise A. Murray informing them of their immediate termination late yesterday afternoon.
Mastro simultaneously sent letters of appointment to Arlene Pedone and Dr. Daniel D. Riccardi to replace the ousted board of directors.
A spokeswoman for the mayor's office could not provide details on the prospective board members' backgrounds last night but said she believed "each had animal experience."
Mastro cited differences between the mayor's office and board members regarding the CACC's search for a new executive director as the reason for termination.
"I think what is going on is that for whatever reason the powers that be feel they must have an agency that is totally in their control," Ms. Joyce told the Advance after learning of her termination.
Dr. Murray left town after the hearing and could not be reached for comment.
The firings resulted after Dr. Murray, who was subpoenaed by the council, and Ms. Joyce, who said she attended only to offer support, spoke before the council committee to discuss the findings of an eight-month investigation into the workings of the CACC, an "independent" corporation the city created in late 1994 to take over the job of animal control from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
One of the many concerns that has plagued the not-for-profit group is the construction of its seven-member board or [sic] directors.
While the CACC set out to be an entity independent of the city, four of the board's members must be appointed by the mayor while the health commissioner, sanitation commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police serve as ex-officio members.
Given that the Department of Health actually holds the contract with the CACC, critics further question the legitimacy of having the health commissioner sit on the board.
As for the organization's workings, the council's investigation found that the CACC "does little more than ensure that the majority of the 63,000 animals it receives annually are euthanized shortly after the mandatory 48-hour holding period expires."
Committee chairwoman Kathryn E. Freed (D-Manhattan) ordered the performance review in October to ensure that the CACC was complying with the obligations spelled out in its $15 million contract with the city.
"This report shows that after 2-1/2 years, the CACC has been unable to measurably improve," said Ms. Freed.
The report also noted that the CACC continues to release unspayed and unneutered animals to the public, has an adoption rate 6 percent lower than the national average and houses animals in filthy conditions with poor ventilation and faulty drainage systems in its Brooklyn and Manhattan shelters.
What's more, the organization has been operating without an executive director since February, when Marty Kurtz resigned amid growing criticism plaguing the center.
Dr. Murray, who was a member of the search committee formed to replace Kurtz, told the council committee yesterday that her efforts to hire Ed Sayres, a well-respected former director of New Jersey's shelter system, were dashed after Sanitation Commissioner and CACC board chairman John J. Doherty voted not to hire him.
According to Ms. Murray, Doherty told board members at the time that he was acting at the behest of the mayor's office.
"The city is trapped in a cycle of failure which can only be broken if we are released from the stranglehold of City Hall," Dr. Murray told the committee.
When Doherty, who was also scheduled to testify, learned that other board members would be addressing the committee, he abruptly left the room and headed toward Randy Mastro's office as scores of animal rights activists who were packed in the small hearing room hissed and hurled derogatory remarks.
Doherty later defended the CACC in his testimony, describing it as an organization that had inherited dilapidated ASPCA shelters and was struggling to increase its adoptions, its participation in a spay/neutering program and its advertising efforts.
"The CACC has accomplished a great deal . . . By all accounts the staffs of the CACC are doing a better job than had been done by its predecessors. More animals are being adopted, facilities are being renovated and spay/neuter programs are under way," said Doherty.
Upon hearing such testimony Ms. Freed said she was unsure that they were speaking about the same organization.
Last night, Ms. Freed said the firings prove City Hall's creating "an atmosphere of threats, intimidation and control."
The CACC's city contract is up for renewal at the end of the year.
To that end, a coalition of humane groups have already crafted new legislation to amend the City Charter and create a separate Department of Animal Affairs.
(Advance reporter Reginald Patrick contributed to this report.)