Draft of ASAB Annual Report Work Plan 2017 2018

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different community relations Making County Government Accessible, Understandable and Transparent • Serve as a sounding board for various issues and policy concerns. • Coordinate with staff to inform the County Manager and the BOCC of strategic initiatives and significant policy considerations • Conduct research and make policy and/or program recommendations to the BOCC as needed • Identify needed amendments to the UAO for based upon the experience of the Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool. Advisory Board Roles and Responsibilities • Provide a setting for stakeholder communication about animal- related matters • Providing leadership to the appeal hearing panels by having three (3) board members be part of the Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool and chair the hearing panels • Recommend ASAB applicants to the BOCC and orient new members to the role and responsibility of the advisory board. • Supporting the Pat Sanford Animal Welfare Grant with board members serving along with staff on the annual grant application review panel. What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the upcoming year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the Commissioners’ attention? Unified Animal Ordinance: Several items of concern have arisen in the hearing process experience over the last year. Some of these are more technical issues but there is a general policy issue as well, namely, whether there should be more gradations in the manner in which a dog is declared a danger to the public. As one panel member recently intimated after a challenging hearing, the ordinance does not have a lot of flexibility in this area and everyone would feel better about their service if more tools were available to use in administering this part of the ordinance. Thus, the ASAB will be considering whether there are reasonable options that may be put into the language of an amendment for consideration by the BOCC. Managing Pet Overpopulation: The board will continue to work with staff to implement a plan for managing free roaming cats. In particular, the board will coordinate with staff to coordinate with the Agricultural Preservation Board and other entities to advance the “working farm cat” program. The board will also continue to work with staff to develop community partnerships and resources for addressing the challenges presented by free roaming cats in Orange County.