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I was shocked by the news that millions of dollars in county contracts were given to an organization headed by a County Supervisor’s 22-year-old daughter. There’s no clear accounting of how the money was spent. Junior county staff expressed concerns about the contracts, but Dylan Wright, Director of OC Community Resources (OCCR), pushed the contracts through without any explanation.
This is not an isolated problem. I personally tracked another questionable contract last year. Dylan Wright’s OCCR gave Sean Fulton, a former OC Animal Care employee, a contract for Short Term Consulting Services to deliver updated policies and procedures to OC Animal Care (OCAC – the county animal shelter).
The contract had deliverables, including a Policy Inventory and new program / administrative / operational policies. Queried via Public Records requests, the county admitted that it didn’t have any of these deliverables. This contract produced no tangible value to the animal shelter.
Here’s some more background. Before moving out of state and becoming a “Contract Employee” for OC Animal Care, Sean Fulton started working for OCAC in 2007, one of his last positions there was Administrative Manager at OCAC. He didn’t develop, update or revise the procedures as shelter manager then. No wonder he didn’t get them done as a contractor, either.
Instead of updating procedures and operations, Sean Fulton led an effort to hide animal shelter safety data that contradicted the county’s rosy statements. (Just like Dylan Wright, he overruled conscientious junior staff in the process.) He was also involved in producing false statistics that the shelter was later forced to withdraw, only after they were brought up to light through a news article.
Despite all this (or perhaps because of it), he was awarded a nice contract. Pushing for this contract behind the scenes was Cymantha Atkinson, Assistant Director of OC Community Resources. In Public Records, she bragged that Sean Fulton was the “smartest, cheapest and most reliable source to update these critical P&Ps”. It turned out the opposite: ignorant, expensive, and doomed-to-failure.
In her lobbying fervor, Cymantha Atkinson made some stunning admissions of her (and Dylan Wright’s) failures. She referred to “OCAC’s outdated Policies.” She said that the “bulk of policies were last updated between 2005 and 2014, before the new shelter was even constructed. Many are not consistent with current OCAC operations practice.” Who neglected the shelter’s policies? Who allowed the shelter to operate with obsolete procedures? Dylan Wright and Cymantha Atkinson, that’s who. And they compounded the damage by doling out a contract to Sean Fulton.
I attended the Board of Supervisors meeting (September 12, 2023) where this controversial contract was discussed. Dylan Wright argued for it in person. Supervisors Don Wagner and Vicente Sarmiento were critical of this contract choice. The contract went through only via the intervention of Supervisor Katrina Foley. Can she explain to us what Sean Fulton’s role really was? We doubt it. On anything related to the animal shelter, Supervisor Foley time and time again has shown favoritism and simple blind faith in the bureaucracy and zero interest in the concerns her constituents bring up.
As it spent money so thoughtlessly on an out-of-state contractor, OCCR kept the number of animal care attendants well below industry standards. These frontline staff members have to clean the kennels, feed the animals, oversee adoption visits, take animals out of the kennels, and a myriad other tasks. Apparently, OCCR considers them less valuable than a contractor sitting at his computer, hundreds of miles away, doing who knows what.
Something else happened during that Board of Supervisors meeting. In my public comments, I pointed out that the contract that is desperately needed is the review of how badly the shelter is doing relative to its Strategic Plan. Other community members echoed this interest in implementing, at long last, the Strategic Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2018. This plan cost the county taxpayers a total of $432,250. That need has yet to be filled. Stalling, scheming, and cherry-picking, Dylan Wright and Cymantha Atkinson are continuing the suppression of the shelter’s Strategic Plan as a whole. Just like their hand-picked contractors, they overpromise and underdeliver.
The most recent blow to the animal shelter was the appointment of Monica Schmidt as shelter director. Who was responsible, alongside Sean Fulton, for false statements about the bites at the shelter, the false statistics? Who fabricated an assortment of other misrepresentations? All records seem to lead to the same person, Monica Schmidt. Is this a case of malfeasance or just a tight-knit group covering up each other’s failures?
OC Community Resources’ motto is “Connecting People and Resources.” But it looks like resources only go to those with the right connections. Is OCCR giving taxpayer-funded contracts without receiving any deliverables? Is anyone being held accountable for what seems like a misuse of taxpaper’s funds? Will OCCR finally hire enough kennel staff to meet industry standards? And will the shelter ever stick to its Strategic Plan?
Romina Yamashiro, a resident of Santa Ana, is an advocate for animal welfare and shelter reform. Fueled by concerns about OC Animal Care, she champions transparency and change, calling for external audits. Romina actively promotes Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) programs and helps organize spay and neuter clinic events, striving to make a positive impact on animal welfare and her community.
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
Voice of OC is interested in hearing different perspectives and voices. If you want to weigh in on this issue or others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.
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