We've been down so long ...

It's high time to return to blogging on local issues.  If there ever was coverage of news here by the major news media (the Post, the Times, ClearChannel outlets, etc) there has not been any for a very long time.

That was clearly illustrated for me by the recent manipulations by the County Executive to take over the school board.  What, you didn't think there was any controversy about this?  Oh, that's because if you read the Post or the Times or listen to radio or TV, you only heard the party line.  The Baker gang did a fantastic job this time.  At least, they did a fantastic job of publicizing and campaigning for the Baker power grab.

Since many of the voters in the County work in Virginia or DC, and have lengthy and complex daily commutes, it's no wonder that they weren't avidly following the gyrations of the process of this legislation.  It really was sausage-making.

It is very difficult today for voters to engage with legislators.  I never see my elected reps.  I don't see them at the grocery store.  I don't see them in worship.  I don't see them participating in recreational events.  (Okay, I did spot one local legislator heading to a softball practice some time ago)  When I do see them, they are usually careful to AVOID being approached by people who might want to discuss local concerns.  Officials hold "town halls" that are orchestrated down to the tiniest detail, and then claim those events were effective because some number of callers were on the line.

It's sad and it can be discouraging for activists.  We keep lowering the bar on what we attempt to do. 

I'll be writing, soon, I promise, about the school board takeover in detail.  Please visit again!

Back from the Future: No Kill Conference 2012

I'm just back from the No Kill Conference on a University campus in Washington DC over the weekend.  It's wonderful to have an annual big meet-up with tons of other people working to connect our love of animals with policies and programs involving those animals.  Social media is a great thing but there is still, something ineffable and crucial about making face-to-face contact.  There is nothing quite as easy as grabbing a beer with the media analyst and exploring what we read and what we hear.  It makes connections spark much more easily than the comparatively laborious exchange of emails.

It is sort of stunning when you realize how animal issues are administered down at the local and county levels, mostly, and yet, how very identical the approaches to animal issues have been when it is up to government agencies to define them.  How unimaginative people can be when they have no reason to question what they do or whether they could do better.  And then how elegant programs can be that save lives and improve communities, when people simply use common sense and a bit of human ingenuity and apply that to changing the status quo.

I'll be debriefing on some of the sessions at the Conference over the next few posts.  If you attended, let me know what you think would be interesting to blog about now!

Also, go and see what liveblogs YesBiscuit! collected, here.

Walking while decent and law-abiding

It's not customary here to comment much on crime or law enforcement issues, but the Sanford Florida killing of a young black man has infuriated me and disturbed me deeply.  I had not heard of the "Stand Your Ground" law groundswell and didn't know a lot about ALEC and the NRA's focus on regressing the nation to the days of the Old West or the Old South (or both).

Justice should not depend on whether your daddy is a retired Judge.  It should not depend on whether you have friends on the local police force.  Police should make arrests when there are suspects in a shooting.  Period.  And all of us should have enough decency not to resort to lying, in the face of absolutely clear evidence of absence of harm to ourselves.

The Zimmerman clan's defense and defensiveness get more and more absurd and more and more contemptuous every news cycle.  Maybe in the days of the Wild West or the Old South, you COULD get away with lying about phone calls being made because there were no such thing as phone call logs.  But to try to tell us today, that someone did not make a call, when there are phone logs that prove the call was made, is contemptuous and dishonest.  It discredits anything else that the claimant might assert.

Walking while black (or yellow, or red, or gay, or a dog-lover, for that matter!) should not be enough to absolve a murderer of guilt and responsibility.

Arrest George Zimmerman. Repeal "Stand Your Ground" across the country.  Defund the NRA and ALEC.

The Incredible Shrinking Pound

Did you think, like I did, that the reason for allocating funds and approving construction of a new animal control facility in PG County was largely to increase the capacity for sheltering dogs and cats?  Did you think that the new shelter would hold twice as many animals as the old one?  Did you feel that the millions of dollars of hard-earned tax dollars of County citizens was worth while because of the improved care and space for the animals that find themselves waiting there for their owners' claim?

In this early news article, AMD claims that the old building, in Forestville, MD, accommodated "up to 160 animals."  The hope expressed in the article was to double that in the building to be sited in Upper Marlboro.  That facility opened its doors in 2009.  According to what a task force in the City of Bowie was told soon after it opened, 250 dogs and 150 cats could be housed in the Upper Marlboro facility.  Let's see.  Add 250 to 150 and you come up with four hundred (400).  That's MORE than double the "up to 160" number of the old shelter, isn't it?

BUT WAIT!!!!  LAST WINTER, THE PG AMD FACILITY SHRUNK!!!  STOP THE PRESSES!!

Now, the Taylor/Wynkoop twins want you to believe the absolute capacity, in the worst disaster, and ONLY then, is, something like 326.  Yes, that's right, not 300, not 325, not 400.  But three hundred and twenty six.  Oh, that doesn't (I think) seem to include the "20 additional cages if necessary" or the "10 animals" or the "10 reptile/fish pets" that the Exotic room is claimed to be fit for.  So, er, in a disaster PG can now house 326, plus "if necessary" (but not in a disaster?!?!?) 20 plus 10 animals plus 10 reptile/fish pets.  So the capacity might be -- supposing always that Taylor/Wynkoop is thinking "straight," 366.  But NOT 400. And in NON-disasters?  It is a measly 238 animals.  Just 78 more than the small, dingy, old building.  Aaaaand, our tax dollars paid very handsomely for this 78 more animal capacity.  Really handsomely.

If you supported the construction of the new facility, and expected that it would provide safety for the pets of a growing County population, would you feel duped by this new revelation, that the PG shelter cost millions but only provides for 78 more animals?  (And if you're left with your head spinning over the various small counts in our last paragraph, I'm sorry -- it's taken directly from the Taylor/Wynkoop response to the simple question, "What barriers exist, if any, to creating flexible capacity (i.e., placing multiple animals in single cages) when the shelter is experiencing a high volume of animal intakes?"

You should know, that it is entirely humane and practical to expect animal care and control personnel to know how to create flexible capacity.  Litters of kittens or puppies can be housed together, and the mother cat or dog can usually also be housed with the litter.  Animals impounded together, often are MORE calm and comfortable when housed together so they have warmth and familiar companions. 

But even putting aside the question of why DER/AMD can't imagine any way of saving animal lives; even ignoring the question of just what exactly taxpayers and the County Budget paid for; the bigger concern may be, why can't Taylor/Wynkoop answer a simple question the same way twice?  What happened that made the new PG shelter shrink? 

Analysis, Accountability, Innovation

County Executive Rushern Baker launched the public side of CountyStat this morning.  It is an adaptation of similar "stat" programs (short for "statistics") in other jurisdictions, including the State of Maryland.  Although a feature of the website is the analysis and charts of County agency performance data, maybe the most welcome news is that CountyStat does provide more actual data than has probably ever been freely accessible by members of the public or the media.  In addition, the CountyStat model includes an open process, in which meetings between County leadership and agency personnel are open to the public, and documents transmitted as part of analyzing effectiveness are shared openly.

The idea is to keep an eye on what the County is doing right, and acknowledge it, but also to keep close tabs on what needs improvement, and to engage in friendly "borrowing" from other jurisdictions if their approaches show more success for the community.

Of particular interest to us at George of Denmark, is that the DER Animal Management Division is, for the first time, being asked some questions that we think better reflect the concerns that County residents have about hw dogs, cats, and other animals are being treated by County facilities, especially the impound facility.  You can check out some of the CountyStat data on this here, in a DER memo responding to various questions, and you can see all of the CountyStat analysis and documents made public to date at the County's webpage here.

I'd be very interested in your impressions as you read the analyses, and I will be posting mine as I review at least some of them.  Stay Tuned!