How many managers did the OC bureaucracy fire over the Andrew Do scandal? Or the flagrant negligence in the billion-dollar Airport fire? Or the animal shelter’s many deceptions on safety, statistics, and the grim fate of small pets? The answer: Zero.
This is not union issue. Senior county managers can be terminated at will. Yet they never are. Rare, quiet resignations, final acts of dereliction of duty, only serve to evade responsibility.
Norberto Santana called this “a culture of lax oversight and accountability” and “an executive class that has never been held to account.”
There are some secret ingredients in the county’s madness. Buried in its bureaucratic jungle, crucial decisions are made with no citizen input, no explanation, and no evaluation.
One shadowy department is the “CEO Risk Management” office under the direction of Michael Alio. Throughout the county machinery, any procedure with a safety connection (which is almost anything) must pass review by this office. This office doesn’t tell us what it blocked and what it required – or why. But we can see the dismal consequences.
The mission of the Risk office is “protection of the County of Orange against the financial consequences of accidental losses which are catastrophic in nature.” Ordinary citizens know that wildfires pose catastrophic risks. Yet this office did nothing to avert the risk of county operations causing a wildfire. Anywhere but in the OC bureaucracy, an event like the Airport Fire would mean dismissal of the head of the Risk office. But Michael Alio is still collecting his salary, and we, the citizens, bear the wildfire’s billion-dollar liability.
In other areas, the Risk office’s actions are just as bad as its inaction. In the animal shelter, the Risk office has not implemented across-the-board periodic training, skills evaluation, and safety awareness protocols. The Risk office allowed dangerously inadequate kennel staffing, ignoring national standards and warnings from shelter volunteers. It disregards safety guidelines of animal behavior experts. Instead, the Risk office waits till something bad happens, and then (startled by its own failure) goes for knee-jerk disruption of shelter operations.
Last month, the shelter was shipping dogs out of state. Two dogs died in a county van traveling through the desert. They were French Bulldogs who have breathing difficulties and don’t cope well with heat and stress. The county ignored risks known to ordinary dog lovers. As usual, the county responded with a flurry of PR—but has refused to release the full records of the dogs that died in its vans
This pattern just keeps repeating. The Strategic Plan specified that dogs should be in daily playgroups, because socialization reduces stress and increases adoptability. Properly socialized dogs are easier to work with – in the shelter and in the adoptive homes. Playgroups are the most efficient way to exercise and socialize the shelter’s 100-200 resident dogs, but county bureaucrats fail to grasp simple math – not for the first time. Lack of socialization means more stress, more difficulty in handling the dogs, and more safety problems down the line. The Risk office is probably not even aware of tried-and-true shelter safety programs. Playgroups for large dogs are widespread in modern shelters but absent in OC. The dark corridors of the county bureaucracy should stop blocking them.
It’s collusion of the incompetent. The Risk office knows nothing about animal sheltering. Shelter director Monica Schmidt has a degree in Political Science and background in Public Relations. The selection committee that gave Schmidt her promotion was stacked with ignorant insiders: People like Debra Rose (Lake Forest City Manager) and Debra Baetz (a manager at the OC Social Services and Health Care agencies – who left quietly when the Andrew Do scandal erupted). This managerial class dishes out mutual favors – and ignores the public good.
There are two ways to fix this deep-rooted problem.
One way is for the county to look to non-profits and businesses to provide the services that the county itself is, apparently, so bad at. Spare us another billion-dollar wildfire liability. Instead of a sub-standard animal shelter, give us a top-performing non-profit like the San Diego Humane Society.
The other way is to hold managers accountable. Show the door to Risk office director Michael Alio, shelter director Monica Schmidt, and the senior managers connected to the Andrew Do scandal. Hire qualified, honest outsiders. Put an end to OC’s culture of incompetence.
Jackie Lamirande is an OC resident and former volunteer at OCAC. She has been an advocate for homeless animals for over 30 years working and volunteering in both the non-profit and municipal shelter sector.
Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly said, Playgroups are widespread in modern shelters but absent in OC. The authors regret the error.
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