A project to provide Delaware citizens with the chain of events that show what appears to be collusion of a number of politicians and various shelter board members attempting to try and put KCSPCA (now know as First State Animal Center & SPCA) "underwater" to push out the competition and drive up the costs of county contracts for their own benefit. ;xNLx;;xNLx;While this project is intended to help those of us working on a federal complaint, we hope it also makes Delaware citizens question why Delaware's Attorney General Office is not pursuing antitrust violations in light of the Wasserbach emails coming to light. ;xNLx;;xNLx;It's not coincidental that the state enacted CAPA just months after moving the full cost over to the counties back in 2010, and the drama from the Safe Haven debacle to the fact that almost every shelter in the state has faced steep deficits directly correlates to the toxic environment that CAPA and the collusive actions of some have had on Delaware animal welfare. ;xNLx;;xNLx;In 2015, we face the uncertainty of where thousands of dogs a year will be held given the historical capacity at the shelters that are willing to participate in Senator Blevins and friends plan, which should clearly concern anyone that has a pet. Many of us have never had a pet get lost, but it just takes one moment for that to change, so it's obviously concerning when we don't know where the animals will be held, and it will be shameful if the state ended up with a plan where most of the housing funds end up being sent to another state. Not only is that a waste of the already limited resources for animals in Delaware, but it's also concerning that Delaware residents may have to travel great distance to find their pet IF the state even picks up all the stray dogs, and that 40 people are losing their jobs in this state and we may be creating jobs out of state to make up for the face that Senator Blevins wants First State Animal Center "underwater".;xNLx;;xNLx;To see the emails or documents that are being referred to by each event, merely hit the Find Out More button on the event.
Kent County SPCA takes over dog control statewide (excluding Wilmington) after Delaware SPCA drops their contracts in New Castle County and Sussex County. The State of Delaware unloads 50% of the cost onto the counties.
HB233 Primary Sponsor:M. Marshall CoSponsors:{ NONE...} Introduced on :06/16/2009 Long Title:AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COUNTIES AND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DOGS. Synopsis:This act transfers to the counties administrative powers and duties relating to dogs and dog control formerly vested in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental control by January 1, 2010.
Counties now have 100% that state passed onto them with legislation HB233 passed in 2009
The unfunded mandate CAPA was passed just 6 months after the state handed off the costs and responsibility for dog control to the counties. Note that while the state refers to it as shelter standards, there are actually no standards of care included in the bill.
The unfunded mandate on counties called CAPA is signed by Governor Markell
Emails between Faithful Friends Exec Dir Jane Pierantozzi and her board member Bob Wasserbach who is New Castle County Auditor show them planning for an audit of KCSPCA and the audit outline highlights using CAPA rather than focusing on county interests.
Email from New Castle Auditor / Faithful Friends Board Member to Jane Pierantozzi, Exec Dir of Faithful Friends and Anne Cavanaugh, Exec Dir of Delaware SPCA.further suggesting using an audit to stop the contract renewal.
NCC County Auditor / Faithful Friends Board Member asking Faithful Friends Executive Director Jane Pierantozzi if she or Amy made a complaint to his county hotline yet and then telling her he can't do anything until she does. Email also discusses arranging someone to "pose" as his assistant. Also note that in a timeline provided to Carol Dulin justifying the audit, Wasserbach claimed that his first complaint through the Hotline was done on 9/25/10, just 9 days after this request.
Strange to announce an audit to an unrelated party considering he has stated elsewhere that he can't release anything about an ongoing audit. Guess the excitement of going after an enemy was too much temptation.
Email between Jane Pierantozzi of Faithful Friends and Nathan Winograd about convincing Senator Patricia Blevins and Jennifer Ranji of the Governors Office to not give KCSPCA a chance and the use of CAPA as Hayden law in California was used. Seeking this advice for a Jan 6 lunch with Senator Blevins and Jennifer Ranji.
Jane Pierantozzi of Faithful Friends seeking advice from Nathan Winograd regarding an NCC Animal Advisory Board who tells her they need to get rid of Kent County SPCA director Murrey Goldthwaite. Jane agrees and notes she will pass on this advice to Senatator Patricia Blevins and Governor's Office Advisor Jennifer Ranji
An email discussion between Jane Pierantozzi, Senator Patricia Blevins, Jennifer Ranji of the Governors Office and Nathan Winograd about getting an intern through Vern Smith of Widener who was later also on the Animal Welfare Task Force. The discussion is about getting an intern to track the KCSPCA to go after them with CAPA. Later decided to wait until Jane can meet with Senator Blevins in person for lunch to map out their strategy.
Senator Patricia Blevings forwards an email from Dept of Agriculture Secretary that notes his surprise visit to KCSPCA, and also notes that his office will do similar visits in future months. While Faithful Friends had the benefit of a planned visit on Dec 6 based on the email, Jane Pierantozzi sent out a letter warning her staff that there would be future surprise visits. Surprising behavior for a Senator to warn of impending inspections by forwarding correspondence from an agency head.
Senator Blevins forwards email from Jody Sweeney that she was copied on regarding the resignation of KCSPCA Director Murrey Goldthwaite to Jane Pierantozzi and Jennifer Ranji of the Governors Office with the note "How about this!".
Jane Pierantozzi send out a recap of a meeting recap to Senator Patricia Blevins, Jennifer Ranji of the Governors office, Anne Cavanaugh of Delaware SPCA, & Kathleen Gallagher. The meeting discusses many of the items that they later wasted taxpayer funds on with a Task Force to present their own suggestions. Animal control pricing for the 3 counties was provided by Anne Cavanaugh and Senator Blevins replied to that with" "Maybe you could bid on Kent County at $3.52 per person, same as Wilmington. You would beat their bid. If they lost just one contract, they would be underwater for sure, because they are so drastically underbidding New Castle County."
Email between Senator Blevins, Jane Pierantozzi, Jennifer Ranji & Bob Wasserbach discussing whether they can Secretary of Agriculture to get them a meeting with KCSPCA board president or whether they should do a full page add to create community pressure or a letter to the editor. Email thread also notes that Safe Haven was about to go after the Sussex contract
"several shelters are applying pressure on the KCSPCA Board to perform a national search and hire an executive director who is progressive " - Bob Wasserbach. Also reference to a meeting with John Cartier on doing a letter to also pressure the board. Worth noting the reference to both Councilmen Cartier and Tackett being Faithful Friends supporters..
Bob Wasserbach sends Jane Pierantozzi of Faithful Friends and Anne Cavanaugh of Delaware SPCA the agenda for the next weeks Public Safety meeting in NCC to discuss contract with KCSPCA, so they can go round up complaints and "stack the deck". Before Wasserbach sent the email, he also inquired of John Cartier whether Murrey Goldthwaite of KCSPCA would be attending the meeting.
Email exchange between Delaware SPCA Board President Williard Crichton and Jane Pierantozzi of Faithful Friends about going down the same road as Delaware SPCA. Considering the financials of both Del SPCA & Faithful Friends, no chance that anybody in Kent County will consider them hedge fund managers. Delaware SPCA left dog control to go "No-Kill", so this shows that the shelters were working to get every shelter to go down the same path so they could drive up the price on dog control contracts, and that Senator Blevins and Jennifer Ranji were once again aware of that. Delaware SPCA (Crichton Era 2007-2010) Deficits since their No-Kill Effort Began 2008 Losses going down by taking less animals each year. Financial Deficits 2008 (814,100) 2009 (573,154) 2010 (361,163) Intake 2006 - 8,213 2007 - 5,664 2008 - 3,820 2009 - 4,091 2010 - 3,495 Adoptions 2006 - 2,727 2007 - 2,251 2008 - 2,184 2009 - 2,415 2010 - 2,109
Odd that a councilman would seek advice from a shelter board member of a shelter who has never done dog control.
Bob Wasserbach forwards a complaint from Anne Cavanaugh whining about getting a call from the county regarding a home with 30 cats. While she would know that the county contract did not cover cats, and animal cruelty was not paid for by the state, she and Wasserbach continue to create chatter and complaints to the NCC Council. Councilman Tackett replied appropriately that cats were not part of their contract for dog control and that "Shame Blevins can not find money in the state budget to do cat control.?????"
The following facts show how the KCSPCA meets the criteria of lettered subparagraph (c) and its sub-subparagraphs (1) and (3): The KCSPCA is Delaware corporation whose Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Delaware Secretary of State on June 26, 1964. Its Certificate of Incorporation declares that it will conduct its business so as to qualify as a not-for-profit organization under § 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a membership organization with a Board of Trustees. Accordingly, it is an “association” or “group” established by an act of the Secretary of State which, in turn, is established by the General Assembly. The KCSPCA meets the criteria set out in sub-subparagraph (1) because it is supported, at least in part, by public funds, which, in the 146th General Assembly, consisted of a grant-in-aid of $3,000.2 See 78 Del. Laws 77.3 Finally, the KCSPCA meets the criteria set out in sub-subparagraph (3) because its members and agents are empowered specifically by the General Assembly, a state governmental entity, to enforce “all laws which are enacted for the protection of dumb animals.” 3 Del C. § 7902.4 CONCLUSION For these reasons, we determine that the KSCPCA is a “public body,” as defined by FOIA, and that, accordingly, it must comply with all the open meeting requirements of FOIA, including public access to the meetings of its board of directors or trustees. We reserve the right to pursue any remedies we may have under 29 Del. C. § 10005. Very truly yours, Kent Walker Deputy Attorney General
The open meeting opinion of March 27 is amended to limit the scope of the opinion once Senator Blevins realized that other parties also wanted access to Safe Haven and Faithful Friends board meetings. "The Opinion suggests that the KCSPCA’s certificate of incorporation and status as a not-for-profit organization receiving grant-in aid are relevant to the “public body” analysis. Upon further review, we find that the corporate status of KCSPCA is not germane to our initial determination that the KCSPCA is a “public body.” This Opinion clarifies that, for the purposes of the FOIA Open Meeting requirement, the KCSPCA is a “public body” under 29 Del. C. § 10002(c) because the KCSPCA was established and empowered with statutory regulatory powers by the General Assembly."
Primary Sponsor:BlevinsAdditional Sponsor(s): Sen. Peterson Rep. M. Smith & Rep. Jaques & Rep. Willis CoSponsors:{ NONE...} Introduced on :06/19/2012 Long Title:ESTABLISHING AN ANIMAL WELFARE TASK FORCE TO CONSIDER AND EVALUATE THE STATE OF ANIMAL WELFARE IN DELAWARE. Synopsis:This resolution establishes an Animal Welfare Task Force to consider and evaluate the state of animal welfare in Delaware, including the resources devoted to animal welfare services and whether consolidation, collaboration, or reorganization can lead to more effective use of limited resources. Author: Senator Blevins Current Status:House Passed On 06/30/2012 ---------------------------------------- BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force shall be comprised of the following members: 1. Two (2) members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House; 2. Two (2) members of the Delaware State Senate, to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; 3. One representative from each of the five (5) operating animal shelters in Delaware; 4. One representative from the Governor’s office; 5. Five (5) members of the public to be appointed by the Governor; 6. One (1) representative from the Department of Agriculture; 7. One (1) representative from the Delaware Veterinary Medical Association; 8. One representative each from New Castle County government, Kent County government, Sussex County Government, and the City of Wilmington government; and 9. A representative of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Animal Medicine Program.
8 of the 22 members appointed were involved in the emails that appear to be collusion to drive KCSPCA out of dog control and/or business, or had vested interest in a future job. 5 of the members were involved in the email that discussed underbidding to put KCSPCA "underwater" New Castle County – 15 Kent County – 3 Sussex – 3
In what world is it appropriate for an AG investigator to reveal information about an ongoing investigation to a competing animal shelter board member? Remember, Wasserbach claimed to have recused himself from the audit. Not to mention the fact that they have had ongoing email conversations for months before about this investigation that started mid 2011 ------------------ From: Davolos, Anthony (DOJ) [mailto:Anthony.Davolos@state.de.us] Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 10:28 AM To: Wasserbach, Robert Subject: RE: Kent Co Lawsuit Still interviewing some former employees, investigation still active.
Not sure why the NCC Council was talking to Senator Blevins regarding a letter sent to them, but the following comment was interesting. -------------------------- Bob, Was there a breach of confidentiality with this issue by the discussion? Louis J. Hinkle, III Legislative Aide Office of Councilman Robert S. Weiner New Castle County Council 302-395-8362
"Can you host a lunch meeting in a private location for NCC/City animal control plans to make NCC a No Kill Community: Marlaine and Jim - NCC John and Leonard - City Michael and Kathy G Patricia Blevins and Jennifer You and Sharon Me We need a private location we can even bring lunch in and have it at the county. We dont want anyone but us to know about the initial conversations including other shelters yet." - Jane Pierantozzi
Just weeks after the NCC Auditor, who is also a Faithful Friends board member, had discussion with Faithful Friends Exec Dir about planning a meeting to talk to county officials about a no-kill partnership, the audit is released.
"I talked to Safe Haven tonight they have a board meeting together they need $200,000 to pay down those bills from boarding those dogs offsite for so long in the initial start of opening and some other bills and they are actually talking about declaring bankruptcy and closing in three weeks because they can't pay their bills. They can't get a loan out on their land and building - I gave them some suggestions from our financial meeting with out advisor and some other thoughts. If they close it will hurt the state terribly - KCSPCA will win and animals will lose and the no kill movement will lose." - Jane Pierantozzi
“Your problem is your business model — it doesn’t work. It’s not going to work, you can’t plan a budget on what you hope to get,” said Commissioner Eric Buckson.
"According to the contract, there is a termination clause but it requires a 60-day notice so Safe Haven will be paid for its services through August. Kent County commissioner Jody Sweeney confirmed that Safe Haven is still conducting dog control and will continue to be paid as their services continue. With the contract they will receive two more months pay, $72,414.33 per month."---------------------------Unfortunately this did not turn out to be the case and KCSPCA had to step in before the 60 days that Safe Haven was paid for.
To our knowledge, the OAW doesn't work for Faithful Friends, yet a letter to PETA was released to Nathan Winograd a day before the letter was even postmarked. Had Faithful Friends requested a letter to HSUS against statements they made, would the OAW director have done it, especially given her past employment there. Yet she thought it was appropriate to do a letter on the behalf of a shelter director against an organization that a number of Delawareans support. Ironically, Nathan Winograd posted it, but he didn't realize that the OAW director had called him an extremist months earlier. Attached are the emails between PETA and Rita Landgraf regarding PETA's concern that a letter addressed to them was posted publicly before even sent to them. Quite unprofessional. Not surprising that DHSS failed so miserably with the Medical Examiner Office.
10.2.3.8: We believe the euthanasia room should be accessible to a pet owner who is requesting euthanasia so that an owner can remain with his/her pet at the very end of its life until it takes its last breath. This should not be denied to a grieving pet owner. Agency Response: The Agency appreciates and acknowledges these comments. These regulations apply only to Animals Held in Shelter, 16 Del.C. Chapter 30F. Therefore, regulation 10.2.3.8 only applies to animals in custody of an animal shelter, not privately-owned animals. If an animal shelter provides euthanasia services for public animals, this procedure may only be performed by a Delaware licensed veterinarian pursuant to 23 Del.C. Chapter 33. The regulation will remain as written.
KCSPCA took over dog control with less notice, yet the state is encouraging counties to take legal action. Why was the state in such a hurry that they couldn't do real legislation than?-------------"Hettie Brown, executive director of the Office of Animal Welfare, said Monday’s meeting included “an open dialogue to discuss what options were available (to the counties and Wilmington) regarding dog control services” but it was “a little premature to discuss short- and long-term possibilities” at this point. Ms. Brown said all affected parties would “circle back” after considering paths to move forward and “we continue to work together in a collaborative effort” to find the best solutions for the future"
"The Joint Finance Committee added an epilogue to the state's operating budget that would transfer authority from the counties and give it to the state. If approved, the Office of Animal Welfare would control stray animals, regulate and inspect kennels and shelters, among other things."
Senator Blevins testimony in legislation session to Senator Bonini regarding the State of Delaware plan to take over dog control. A number of untruths are told by Senator Blevins. She stated that the state taking over dog control was a recommendation of the task force which it was not, and that all the KCSPCA / First State Animal Center trucks have mileage of over 300,000 miles which was not true either.
OAW - She could not estimate the capacity of other shelters and rescue groups. All will be invited to bid for state contracts to house animals, she said.
Still no discussion about where animals will be held and clearly DHSS oversight of medical examiner office was an abject failure. "Having the state provide animal control while contracting for shelter services allows uniform training and deployment of the 14 animal control officers authorized by the General Assembly, permits greater competition and allows a better delegation of duties, Brown said."
Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover, raised concerns on the Senate floor when the bill was voted on. He expanded on his thoughts in an interview Thursday. “I’m just very concerned that it’s not going to happen and it’s going to end up costing taxpayers a whole bunch of money and that animals may end up suffering in the long run,” he said.
“Although we are confident that the Office of Animal Welfare can meet the challenge presented by the decision of the Board of the Directors at First State Animal Center, we are surprised they rejected this approach.”----Considering that Senator Blevins wanted FSAC "underwater", how could the shelter believe that she wouldn't stick them with the difficult dogs while the other shelters got the more adoptable ones?
The New Castle County Ethics Commission has been asked to investigate if Auditor Bob Wasserbach’s role in a 2013 audit of the county’s animal control provider broke conflict-of-interest rules. The complaint was filed last week by Kevin Usilton, executive director of First State Animal Center and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was called the Kent County SPCA when the audit took place. Usilton said Wasserbach inappropriately influenced an audit of the KCSPCA to benefit another nonprofit animal shelter group, Faithful Friends Animal Society, where the auditor now is president of the board. The News Journal in May reported on thousands of Wasserbach’s emails that show his discussions of the audit and Faithful Friends. Some of the correspondence indicates that Wasserbach was involved in a push to get the government contract changed in a way Faithful Friends could benefit and share in handling services for New Castle County. The contract is worth about $1 million annually.
Until the state office is fully staffed, local governments will need to shoulder the burden of animal control, Office of Animal Welfare Director Hetti Brown said Tuesday. A closed-door meeting between state and county officials to discuss possible scenarios is scheduled for Monday.
Some shelter's didn't want to participate unless they could just choose the cute fluffy dogs. “Currently, there's only one agency that even bids on the contract. It's not that the shelters weren't interested in engaging with the state; they didn't feel they could provide the enforcement section,” she said. “It increases competition in the process. The more partners we have, we feel the more animals can be saved.”
“If First State wanted to reach out to speak to us about alternative plans, of course we would be open to that dialogue,” Brown said. “But we have not reached out to them.” According to epilogue language in the recently passed state budget, animal-control duties would be assumed by the nearly 2-year-old Office of Animal Welfare as each contract with First State expires. Sussex County's animal-control contract with First State would have been the first to expire at the end of 2015, followed by New Castle County on Dec. 30, 2016, Wilmington in February 2017 and Kent County on June 30, 2017. However, the language also states that each county and the City of Wilmington will be responsible for animal-control duties until the new state office is staffed and ready to take on those responsibilities. “The plan always was that we would absolutely assume animal-control enforcement responsibilities as the current contracts expire,” Brown said. Brown said her office also is considering interim solutions. “We're committed to supporting the counties in any way,” she said.
Even though FSAC is the only shelter with ACO's, the OAW just sent this email to the other 3 shelter. From: Brown, Hetti (DHSS) [mailto:hetti.brown@state.de.us] Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 9:02 AM To: Andrea Perlak; jane@faithfulfriends.us; pcarroll@dehumane.org Subject: Animal control positions Hello DAWA, You have all asked about our schedule for hiring animal control officers. I just wanted you to know that several positions posted on Friday evening. They can be found by searching for Investigator positions at http://delawarestatejobs.com/. As is customary for state positions, these posts will only be open for 1 week. Therefore they will close this Friday. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please feel free to forward. Hetti Brown Executive Director Office of Animal Welfare Delaware Division of Public Health 1901 N. Du Pont Hwy New Castle, DE 19720 Phone (302) 255-4612 Fax (302) 255-4621
First State Executive Director Kevin Usilton said. "We're fighting for the victims of the state taking this over. ---"The letter outlines that First State would amend its contracts with the governments to expire on June 30 if the state agrees to pay an estimated $480,000 in severance pay for as many as 40 employees and as much as $40,000 in bonuses ($1,000 for each employee). Also, the state would be responsible for any unemployment compensation claims filed by the employees after their severance runs out, totaling as much as $260,000. The state would likely seek reimbursement from the local governments for the added costs, Usilton said. The proposal also allows for employee overtime if First State loses additional animal control officers before June. So far, three of the agency's 26 animal control officers have either left or gave notice for Sept. 15, Usilton said. If the governments decide to terminate their contracts with First State before June 30, they would still be responsible for making all contract payments, according to the letter. Reached late Monday, state, county and city officials said they needed more time to review the proposal.
An eye opening video clip, for those unaware, of Senator Blevins' and the Office of Animal Welfare's (OAW) deceitful presentation to the FSAC-SPCA board regarding the future of animal control statewide. Note how Senator Blevins states how she would like all of the shelters to come together to make a plan for a Dog Control in the state, and create an establishment of a public/private partnership. No meeting after this one ever occurred to discuss the matter any further. There were no meetings with board members, government, or the public as she stated. Instead, the change for the state to take over Dog Control was decided in the wee hours of the morning, pushed through by Senator Blevins, herself, as part of the state budget. ----------------- Furthermore, Senator Blevins again made untrue statements to the Senate when questioned by Colin Bonini. Her first false statement was that the Animal Welfare Taskforce decided that the state take over Dog Control. This was not decided by the group, it was merely a recommendation to investigate animal control. Secondly, Senator Blevins stated the FSAC used "large vans" for dog control, all which had over 300,000 miles on them. She stated that the equipment would not be an issue. FSAC uses trucks for dog control and one van to transport animals between the satellite shelters and the main shelter located in Camden. The mileage of the Dog Control vehicles is as follows: 1-2007 truck with 300k miles 3-2007 trucks with 230k, 143k, 152k miles 1-2008 truck with 122k miles 3-2010 trucks with 100k, 171k, 90k miles 1-2011 truck with 15k miles 6-2013 trucks with 15k, 15k, 15k, 15k, 10k, 10k, miles 2-2014 trucks with 5k miles 1-2015 truck with 5 k miles If this is Senator Blevins' idea of "working closely" with FSAC, the animals are in big trouble. She failed to even ask FSAC if they'd be willing to house dogs picked up by the state before pitching this tale to the Senate. Senate audio of Senator Blevins claiming high mileage on FSAC vehicles (forward to 4:20) can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/justicefordelawareanimals/senate-dog-control
"State officials have rejected First State Animal Control and SPCA's most recent proposal to extend their role in animal control and offer severance packages to their soon-to-be unemployed employees. In an Aug. 3 letter to state, county and city officials, First State proposed extending contracts to June 30, 2016, instead of terminating them Tuesday, Sept. 15, only if the state would reimburse bonuses, severances, unemployment and agree to other concessions. Deputy Attorney General Sarah Fishman Goncher responded to First State's proposal on behalf of the Delaware Division of Public Health, which oversees the state Office of Animal Welfare, Aug. 4. In the response letter shared with the Cape Gazette Aug. 7, Goncher states that the division's position remains that First State does not have the legal grounds to terminate its contracts early." ----- The state is playing hardball despite the fact that the original RFP clearly shows that there is a termination clause. In fact the states termination clause is only 15 days if Senator Blevins decided to dump FSAC at some point, which would clearly create an issue with layoff notification requirements for businesses. Here is the RFP http://bidcondocs.delaware.gov/HSS/HSS_13037AnimalControl_rfp.pdf
If anyone has any doubt that New Castle County and the State of Delaware are ignoring the implications of corrupt behavior that occurred, look no further than the recent Governor signing of a couple of animal bills on 8/11/15.
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