Orange County NC Website
18 <br />Jennifer Frye: I couldn't pronounce the name.. <br />Well come ahead and make your own statement. <br />Jennifer Frye: I'm just coming forward as an observer and someone who is fairly <br />new at this controversy, but what I'm heazing from two sides is pretty controversial <br />stuff.. On the one hand, we're hearing that the board of APS is running the shelter. <br />As a board member myself of another organization and someone who has experience <br />with nonprofits, I understand that it's not the board's responsibility to micromanage <br />an organization. The executive director is not a pawn of the board but someone who <br />works with the board. I understand that there is a lot of controversy with the last <br />executive director and I think that interim one is doing a very fine,job which he's <br />doing it sort in addition to another full-time job. I think that it would be fair to give <br />the new director a chance to work with the board and if a compromise can't be made, <br />then to go through the bylaws and the process of managing a nonprofit organization <br />to try to straighten out some of the issues before turning over the organization to the <br />county. Because I know that a board, no matter how strong a board maybe, no <br />board member or group ofboard members can force an APS employee to euthanize <br />an animal. These employees do not enjoy euthanize animals. There are extenuating <br />circumstances that necessitate sometime euthanization of animals such as when they <br />are going nuts in their cage because they have been there for two months and can't <br />be adopted. I know it doesn't seem humane to kill animals. Nobody wants to do it, <br />but I think those issues should be left separately from sepazating the staff and the <br />board. There is no connection there. Again, I don't have an opinion on this issue <br />yet, I,just wanted to make sure that in this debate, we all remember as a task force or <br />people listening, or people speaking that being objective is good. Personal vendettas <br />against board members and all that kind of stuff should be left out of the debate in <br />my opinion. Thank you. <br />Thank you. <br />Beverly Rockhill: My name is Beverly Rockhill. I usually have a prepared <br />statement but I don't tonight, I'm sorry.. I used to be a volunteer at the shelter for <br />actually for more than several years. I have to admit that I haven't been in the shelter <br />since August, I guess. I have deliberately detached myself from the shelter because I <br />was getting very emotional about it. I now do some volunteer work with an <br />organization in Raleigh that is committed to low cost spay/neuter. I also heard on <br />NPR this morning, the local NPR report of how the Wake County animal shelter is <br />dedicating itself to becoming a no kill shelter and is moving ahead with great <br />spay/neuter programs and adoption programs. They are really committing <br />themselves to that. I guess I'm here to say I wish that somehow that by the end of all <br />of the process that you are charged with that our shelter in Chapel Hill can move <br />towards that because other places aze doing it We should be able to. I feel that what <br />the APS board did, I guess it was over two years ago now, was completely ethically <br />indefensible.. You have your own opinions of that. Whether you think that was sign <br />