Elected County Supervisors get all the attention. We praise them and we blame them. The opposite happens with the unelected managers that hold sway over the county bureaucracy and taxpayer dollars. Usually, we just ignore them.
Supervisor Andrew Do got flak for the 13.5 million dollars that the county sent to his 22-year-old daughter’s flimsy organization. But what about Dylan Wright and Cymantha Atkinson? They’re the top brass at OC Community Resources (OCCR), the agency that issued these contracts. They played games with the taxpayer’s money and are getting away with it.
LAist found documents showing that conscientious county staff raised red flags. But Dylan Wright, OCCR Director, told staff to get the contract done regardless. He didn’t address the problems, he didn’t give an explanation, he didn’t care about facts. He just pushed the contract through.
LAist now reports: Deadline Is Blown To Account For Millions OC Supervisor Sent To His Daughter’s Group. One audit found the recipient “failed to provide required proof of what it did with $4 million earmarked for meals during the pandemic.” State Senator Janet Nguyen told LAist: “It’s time that the county demand accounting and audit all of the contracts … for the full $13.5 million”.
What else is Dylan Wright’s OCCR up to? Never-ending revelations show the OC animal shelter is in a tailspin. The county shelter kept covid restrictions blocking visitor access into 2024. After Janet Nguyen’s scathing editorial, a modest change happened. But many dogs are still kept out of sight.
That’s just one bad policy among many. The headlines in the OC Register read Fewer dogs, more death and fewer ‘fixes’ mean more dead cats. Leaving no animal unharmed, the shelter sent bunnies and guinea pigs to a reptile organization, even though in a similar situation in San Diego small pets ended up as snake food. All this, in a $35 million dollar facility with a $25 million annual budget.
Under OCCR oversight, the shelter is delivering higher costs for the taxpayer and worse care for the animals. Just like with the flimsy contracts, Dylan Wright doesn’t seem to care about the facts.
After the shelter director left in May 2023, Dylan Wright’s OCCR gave a temporary promotion to the very person that orchestrated the deathly spiral of the animal shelter: Deputy Director Monica Schmidt. For the next six months, OCCR dragged its feet. In November, it finally started the search for a Director… or so it seemed. Twelve qualified candidates were interviewed in January. Then nothing. In March, Dylan Wright extended Monica Schmidt’s “temporary” promotion for another 6 months (for a total of 15). Then, in April, the county appointed the very same Monica Schmidt as Director. Dylan Wright is telling you that the bull that smashed the china shop is going to put it back together. Is this magical thinking, or another case of the OCCR brass, indifferent to facts, doling favors with the OC taxpayer’s money?
I complained to the County Supervisors about the shelter’s plight. Many of us did. But the Supervisors do not listen, because OCCR tells them fairy tales. To create a smoke-screen for its failure, the shelter lied about its safety record. It even produced completely invented statistics. Ordinary citizens are able to expose the misinformation, yet Supervisors fall for it.
The shelter has a great Strategic Plan, developed at taxpayer expense and approved by the Board of Supervisors. But OCCR is ignoring this plan and ignoring industry standards. Having no performance standards is convenient for the shelter’s incompetent manager, but disastrous for the animal shelter and the taxpayers. Last year, OCCR’s Dylan Wright promised Supervisors a Strategic Plan review. Then he dragged his feet. Then nothing happened. The shelter and OCCR are continuing to ignore the facts, harming the animals and disrespecting the taxpayer.
The Supervisors fall victim to OCCR’s disinformation. But shouldn’t they, at some point, demand facts, accountability, and action? County officials, elected or unelected, need to act to get the shelter back into shape and stop shady dealings.
Frank Kim is the county CEO. Mr. Kim, you are leaving your job, but all this happened on your watch. If you didn’t know that millions were handed over to a flimsy organization headed by a County Supervisor’s daughter, why didn’t you know? If you didn’t know about the shelter’s deteriorating performance and rising costs, why didn’t you ever talk to the community members that presented hard evidence? Do you just like being misinformed, or are you going to do something about this mess?
Lilly Simmering is Deputy CEO. Ms. Simmering, all of the above applies to you as well, except that you’re not leaving. You have an opportunity to turn a new leaf. Perhaps you, too, were kept in the dark about the shelter’s mismanagement and the suspicious contracts. What steps are you going to take to inform yourself? Are you going to be part of the problem or part of the solution?
Fellow residents of OC, if you want all this to change you can contact elected and unelected officials. For updates about the animal shelter go to OCShelter.com.
Margot Boyer has lived in Yorba Linda for 26 years. She is an experienced Event and Trade Show Manager, Green Industry Hall of Fame Director, and Event Director for the California Association of Landscape Contractors.
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