Sudden change in chiefs at county animal shelter
After less than a year on the job, Brigid Wasson, director of Sonoma County Animal Services, was fired this week without advance notice, leaving behind a department in ever greater turmoil.
Wasson, who served in the top post for just 11 months, is being replaced by Brian Whipple, a supervising animal control officer, whose interim appointment makes him the third person to lead the troubled agency in the past 14 months.
Wasson said she was approached by two managers in the county’s Department of Health Services - Ellen Bauer and Dan Taylor - at about 3 p.m. Monday and told to pack her things. She was then escorted from her office at the county’s animal shelter north of Santa Rosa.
“I’m in total shock,” said Wasson, who was a month from completing her one-year probationary period as a new county manager. “I didn’t see this coming, I didn’t sleep last night.”
Wasson was fired by Health Services Director Rita Scardaci, whose department has overseen Animal Services since late 2010, when a leadership shakeup at the top of the agency occurred, setting off what has been a tumultuous four-year period for the county’s shelter and animal patrol division.
Wasson’s dismissal comes less than two weeks after high-profile animal welfare advocate Odessa Gunn aired her concerns about conditions at the county shelter off Century Court. Gunn alleged that pets were enduring sweltering temperatures inside the shelter, putting the animals at risk. Wasson disputed the claims but later made some changes to address some of the concerns. The two women, however, never spoke or met.
County officials would not disclose on Tuesday why Wasson was fired, citing confidentiality rules that pertain to county personnel matters.
Bauer, the county’s public health director and Wasson’s direct supervisor, simply said the Animal Services division was in a time of “transformation.”
Scardaci, who Bauer said was traveling Tuesday, did not return calls for comment.
The dismissal raises serious questions about the strength of leadership overseeing the animal control agency and the county’s ability to stabilize the operation going forward. County officials acknowledged they were concerned about their ability to attract and retain a new director and restore morale within the agency, including about 30 employees, a corps of 50 active volunteers and an annual budget of $4.9 million.
The agency has long operated under the watchful eyes of a passionate cadre of animal welfare advocates, who have pressed the county to improve shelter conditions and decrease rates of animal euthanasia.
“There’s a delicate dynamic any time you’re dealing with animals and the public. It does take someone with very strong leadership capabilities to deal with those complexities and assess public concerns,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who has been highly involved in discussions about the agency’s organization within county government. “Morale is something we’ll have to work on, and we need to focus on recruiting someone who will have some longevity.”
Carrillo said Scardaci told him and his Board of Supervisors colleagues on Friday that she had decided to terminate Wasson before her probation period ended.
“I talked to Rita Friday and she informed the board of the decision,” Carrillo said.
Wasson, a former manager of Santa Clara’s animal shelter, was brought on as director of Animal Services in September in a move that Scardaci said at the time would help the embattled agency to continue “moving in the right direction.”
She was charged with implementing more than a dozen sweeping changes at the agency, including the reduction in euthanasia rates for sheltered animals, improving data collection on animal intake, and launching a social media presence for the shelter.
Bauer said Tuesday that Wasson had largely met those goals, raising additional unanswered questions about why she was dismissed. Bauer said the number of rescue animals placed in homes has increased while euthanasia rates have declined during Wasson’s tenure. The shelter’s live release rate is now at 85 percent, up from 59 percent in 2008, according to the county.
Bauer also commended Wasson’s overhaul of data collection on lost and recovered pets, an effort that animal welfare advocates have applauded in recent months.
“Brigid brought a fresh perspective on ways to modernize animal services, including the use of data to identify potential program improvements and efficiencies,” Bauer said in an email to Animal Services staff on Tuesday morning announcing Wasson’s departure and Whipple’s appointment. Whipple, in his post with the county since November, has served in field and management posts with animal care and control operations in Oregon, New Hampshire and Delaware.
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