There are well over 50,000 people living in and around the city of Lompoc; many have domestic pets, and some have larger animals such as horses, goats, sheep,and llamas. Sometimes animals are struck and injured by passing cars, and animal control officials are needed to help take charge of the wounded animals.
So, it’s clear some sort of readily available animal control service is needed that is accessible to these residents.
Lompoc city staff explained how this service has been provided in our city for decades this way: “For the past 20-plus years, the city has contracted with the county to provide adoption and sheltering services within the city.”
Local nonprofits helped with the upkeep of the Lompoc Animal Shelter, but in December 2020, without notice, the county shut down the shelter.
Residents were simply told they would have to travel to Santa Maria to reclaim their pets, and would just have to wait for an animal control officer to arrive if they called about stray or injured animals roaming around the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, residents know that if they call for service it can take hours for assistance to arrive, so they simply try to handle matters themselves.
Recently, one couple was preparing to take their dogs for a walk when they noticed someone reporting a lost dog on social media. They saw the runaway dog inside the bike skills course at Riverbend Park. Eventually this family, with the help of some passersby were able to calm the dog down and put a collar on her. Then they called the owners using information from the dog’s tags, and they came by quickly to be reunited with their dog.
On June 13 city staff received a five-year contract renewal proposal from the county for animal services with three options; in it they said they would stop any county “General Fund contributions” for shelter operation over the life of the contract, which seems to result in city residents paying for services in the surrounding communities of Mesa Oaks, Mission Hills and Vandenberg Village.
Costs would escalate from $347,000 to $407,000 per year. The services they proposed included keeping the Lompoc shelter closed.
Their proposal was presented to the City Council at its next scheduled meeting on June 21, just nine says before the current contract ended. Not surprisingly, councilmembers were irritated by the timing and content of this proposal.
Councilwoman Gilda Cordova expressed her frustration this way: “I don’t look at these options as options because we’re given these ‘options’ on the last meeting in June when we are a week-and-a-half away from having to make a decision on this and having to sign a five-year contract.”
Councilman Victor Vega was equally concerned: “I think we’re being blackmailed with substandard services, and we don’t have anything else to lean on unless we go around and do our homework there. We’re going to continue with substandard services because we [Lompoc] don’t have the facilities or the infrastructure, or even have any kind of agreements with other service providers.”
The council eventually approved the contract.
Mayor Jenelle Osborne said, “We’re caught over a barrel to sign this and not lose service that we do have, but I think it’s important that we not lose service while we figure this out. I disagree with how the county has handled this, and I disagree with the service level we’re getting, but I think what we have been provided tonight is a window. …
“We know that we have five years to come up with another plan. Hopefully, we can do it within a year or two.”
Why she and other councilmembers were surprised is itself a surprise. Contract renewals have been discussed several times over the last couple of decades, and longer-serving councilmembers such as Dirk Starbuck have always expressed concern over how this service is being handled and the escalating cost for a lower level of service.
During a July 2011 hearing concerning public facilities requests, the council approved a Community Development Block Grant request by the county for renovation funds for the Lompoc Animal Shelter in the amount of $24,000.
And in December 2020 Councilwoman Cordova requested a staff report concerning the “recent closure of the Lompoc Animal Shelter.” The council asked if “there will be any discount provided to the city of Lompoc because of the change in service?”
In January 2021 the county provided an answer; it turns out the county had been planning to close the shelter for several months, but never informed the city. And, concerning any “discount,” they got the answer in the current contract proposal when the county raised the fee.
Will the shelter be reopened, and service improved, or was it just a wind gust blowing through the City Council chambers on June 21? We’ll have to wait and see, but dealing with an aggressive monopoly like the county can be tough.
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry. He has been following Lompoc politics since 1992, and after serving for 23 years appointed to various Lompoc commissions, retired from public service. The opinions expressed are his own.
