County may disband Animal Control Advisory Board
Claiming St. Joseph County’s Animal Control Advisory Board has served its purpose, the 11-member panel is expected to change its dynamics and no longer exist as a board.
The matter was raised during the county commission’s executive committee meeting Wednesday. Afterward, sheriff Mark Lillywhite and undersheriff Jason Bingaman explained the situation.
“I don’t think the group feels like it’s a demise, I think they feel like the board has run its course,” Bingaman said. “When the board first started, it was a different scenario back in animal control … they didn’t have the structure that we have here at the sheriff’s office, to have that kind of oversight. So, that board was originally created for some oversight back there.”
Lillywhite chimed in.
“The chair of the board of commissioners when the animal control advisory board was created was John Dobberteen and (the commission) didn’t want to be tasked with all of the issues that were being brought up by a number of individuals,” Lillywhite said. “Therefore, the individuals complaining a lot became part of that advisory board and they made some changes throughout that time.”
Lillywhite was a charter member of the advisory board when it was created about 10 years ago. He said its formation was a good idea and he still feels there needs to be some kind of involvement in place.
“It’s not going to disappear, they’re just taking a different role to raise funds on special events instead of just trying to deal with day-top-day operations and deal with hours worked,” he said. “Now that’s not an issue because it’s done by (animal control) employees.”
Bingaman said he was a part of the advisory board’s final meeting and recalled comments made by Rick Shaffer, also a charter member.
“Rick said, ‘Look, we have done what we (attempted) to do but are we still making traction?’” Bingaman said. “The bottom line is, this board, they want to re-focus toward the fundraising part and they have plans for that. It just sort of turned into a reporting board than any kind of advising or guidance.”
Bingaman assured the shift in direction did not create friction between the advisory board and the sheriff’s department. Advisory board members and the sheriff’s department, in fact, will remain in contact and advisory board members have indicated they are satisfied with the way animal control as a department is now being run, Bingaman said.
“It’s a pivot in the group’s objectives,” he added.
Lillywhite, meanwhile, said advisory board members are good people whose hearts are in the right place. He said the advisory board made considerable progress in a short period of time.
“Another part of this was, there were some goals when I was on that board originally from the beginning, we had like a five-year goal and a three-year goal. We accomplished most of those goals within the first year and the commission was great with us having this oversight.”
Regarding the years-long discussion about a new animal control building, Lillywhite shed light on the idea.
“We are in communication with a potential donor, there’s an estate, and we’re still in contact with them,” he said. “They want to finish up everything with their assets before they commit to this. But they’ve indicated they want to be part of the solution.”
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: News
