Amy Cooper resigns as Sonoma County animal control director

Amy Cooper, Sonoma County's Animal Care and Control Department director who was dismissed and rehired in a controversy that ended two years ago, stunned employees and animal welfare advocates Tuesday by announcing her resignation, effective Friday.

In an interview, Cooper said she was stepping down immediately for personal reasons that include her desire to spend more time with her ailing 81-year-old mother in Montana as well as her husband.

Cooper, 51, also acknowledged the demands of running an agency with a highly visible public role, 32 employees and a budget of about $4 million.

"It's a demanding job. It's a public-facing job. It's a political job," she said.

Cooper leaves her post two years after she was rehired by the county. Her dismissal in 2010 sparked numerous county investigations, a department reorganization and the departure of former Agricultural Commissioner Cathy Neville, who fired Cooper two days before her original probation period was up.

County officials Tuesday put a positive spin on suddenly losing a department head they fought so hard to get back, and one who by many accounts was leading a dramatic turnaround of the long-troubled animal care department.

"I did not expect this, but I'm very happy for her and I applaud her for focusing on her family," said county Public Health Director Ellen Bauer, Cooper's immediate supervisor.

Bauer would not address whether the county had concerns with Cooper's job performance but said Cooper had not been asked to resign. She said she wanted to "focus on the improvements we made" under Cooper's leadership.

She said those included Cooper reintroducing a mobile spay and neuter program and her work on an adoption agreement with the Sonoma Humane Society that also was announced Tuesday.

"We were really on a roll," Bauer said. "I have a whole drawer of current projects we've been working on with Amy Cooper."

Turnover in department

Bauer said that momentum won't be lost with Cooper's sudden departure, which again highlights the challenges the county has had in retaining someone for that position. Passions in animal welfare circles run high and the animal control director often has been the focus of those passions.

For the three years prior to Cooper's arrival, the shelter had two managers. And the Agricultural Commissioner's Office, which at the time oversaw the department, had two directors. At the time, a management audit of the animal care division found a slew of problems with shelter operations.

Cooper's firing sparked a county investigation that ultimately led the Board of Supervisors in September 2010 to authorize the transfer of Animal Care and Control from the Ag Commissioner's Office to the Health Services Department.

The move placed Cooper under the wing of a much larger county agency. But she said Tuesday she didn't have any difficulties working with county health officials.

"Not at all. I think DHS is the best place for Animal Care and Control," she said.

She said her motivation for leaving the job so suddenly was out of concern for her family and because she and her husband, Mike, were growing weary of their busy lifestyle. She said the couple is planning to move from Novato to someplace nearer his job as a chemist in Menlo Park to cut down on his commute time.

"We began talking last year about the kind of hours we both put in. The commute. The fuel costs. The inability to really get to know the communities we work in," she said.

She said she had intended to inform county officials of her plan to resign the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Instead, she was summoned to Montana that weekend and spent the week there after her mother's health took a precipitous turn for the worse.

A "wake-up call"

"It was a good, difficult, needed wake-up call to remind me that my work is important. But my family is more important," she said.

Cooper, who earned about $105,000 as animal care director, appeared to suggest that her workload was too much when she said the county might consider hiring a deputy in addition to the top-level post.

She said she did not want to stick around to oversee hiring for three key vacant or newly created positions, including a new shelter supervisor, a community outreach manager and a second supervising animal control officer.

"I wanted to be very mindful about not staying just long enough to hire and then hand them off to someone else. I really don't think that's the best approach," she said.

Bauer said the county already has begun the process of seeking Cooper's replacement.

Sheri Cardo, a former spokeswoman for the Marin Humane Society and a longtime animal welfare advocate in Sonoma County, expressed shock Tuesday at Cooper's resignation.