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incompetent, defensive, and as you may infer from public comments here, even deceptive leadership. I wonder what you must think, Commissioners, about this ninth-inning request for a large sum of funds accompanied by the concomitant threat to cease operations if the request is not granted. What about tonight's request for a private meeting with you? I know what this all sounds like to me. And I know that as a public servant myself, such behavior would be reprehensible, even while perhaps not technically illegal. What has this done to your trust and good will about this leadership, Commissioners? I urge you not to be swayed by individual anecdotes or pictures of animals. Such blatant appeals to emotion make a good story on either side of the debate, but have no place in this public argument. I urge you also to think rigorously about the information offered here tonight. The information that the volunteer family offered in good faith, about the staff member mentioning the PWC with regard to the injured turtle, is not inconsistent with what Dr. Schopler and Mr. LoBuglio stated, about some board members stonewalling the PWC. In fact, that is the whole problem we are discussing here tonight. No one in this room has a problem with the intentions and honesty of APS staff. Mr. Textoris and Ms. Illeano, it is illegal for Dr. Schopler to use the APS aviary. If you are not clear about why, you have not received proper information from your `leaders.' Remember: groupthink leads to poor leadership, the creation of walls, and an inability to perform expected duties. The APS board and leadership is a textbook example. Anne-Marie Meyer said that there are many benefits for working as anon-profit. She said that over the past few years, the APS leadership has proven to be ineffective at fulfilling the most basic needs of the County shelter. She said that the leadership should have spent their time and energy on gathering information. Judith Reitman's statement is as follows: APS's Board is pleading for its life I but it is the Board and the director -not the excellent field personnel and wonderful volunteers, who have put APS's neck on the chopping block, by actions such as this: APS is asking the County for money, yet it refuses to take its awn member dues as occurred today. This afternoon I had a distressing experience at APS when I attempted to renew my membership and Elliot Cramer's membership. I presented my two checks to Laura Walters. She told me she would "Put these aside" and took the checks and walked away. When I realized that I had not gotten a receipt, I asked to see Walters again and asked for a receipt. She refused, saying I should mail in my checks. When I asked why this was necessary, she outright refused my checks, either as renewals or as new memberships. She then walked into Darra Das's office and asked Darra to call the police. The police came and I explained my simple intent to them. The police spoke to Walters who requested I leave the premise because of the "disturbance." There was no disturbance; I merely wanted to give APS $50 to renew memberships, but I left without incident. I went to the office of APS attorney Ron Merritt who refused my checks just as his secretary was writing a receipt. I will have a copy of the police report to you and the press tomorrow. What right do Walters and the APS attorney have to further endanger the financial condition of APS by refusing money that APS claims it badly needs? APS has said that they want the County to pony up more money. Why should the County give APS more money when they are rejecting member renewals? In fact APS has sent out NO renewal notices for almost two years, as long as Walters has been in charge. APS's own bylaws state: "Membership shall be open to all interested persons on payment of dues." This has been the case far over 2Q years.