“I'm in favor of expanding the shelter. However, it's not a high priority for me. The animal control budget increased from 7.7 million in 2023 to 8 million in 2024. Many departments had their budgets cut including the police department. The Police Department (General Fund) went from 8.193 million in 2003 to 7.5 million in 2024. Which makes the animal control budget bigger than the police budget. Get the "special interest" though it's your job and your interest to get as much as you can, even though there are other concerns that the community seems to be more concerned about. Besides like the questioned addressed there is 7.5 million dollars in SPLOST already dedicated to the project. 7.5 million can build a very nice facility even with inflationary cost.”
“I do think we should put some constraints on breeding. I'm not an expert but I'm always willing to do what makes sense. I'm definitely for the spaying and neutering of pets for non-breeders, while granting a waiver and possibly a fee for those pet owners who desire to breed their pet with another animal that they have personal knowledge of. I'm not for a lot of ordinances and tribunals for people who are not able to take care of their pets, unless it involves cruelty or neglect, and there are already laws on the books for that already.”
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"We should start with hiring the director first. Then work with the director, so their vision and direction can be included in the direction that the County desires to go in. As I stated before there are other priorities that I believe come before this issue but there may money available by managing the budget more efficiently. Right now, my primary concerns are economic development, wrap around services for our youth and seniors, to include vocational training. The budget was just increased by over 3 million dollars.”
I think pay should be based on market pay rate for the area. If we pay someone in DeKalb the same pay someone makes in New York or San Francisco, the taxpayer will be overpaying for the service.
“Good ideas. Where is the money going to come from?”
“I think, when possible, a pet should be reunited with their owner. If the pet care organization chooses to take care of the pet, and the owner wants their pet, the owner should be given a reasonable bill of services, however if the owner does not want the pet there should expediate means of making an attempt to shelter the animal in a permanent home. What we don't want to happen is an unlimited care bill to the taxpayer. The pet care organization chooses to take care of animal for 3 years, and then they want to stick the taxpayer with the bill. It won't happen on my watch. There would have to be a maximum time limit put in place before I would even consider it.”