Originally Posted by
Lee Chowaniec
Dog Control Officer (DCO) Jean Karn addressed the Town Board at Monday evening’s work session to inform the board that she has now been in the department for three months and as administrator can’t keep up with the complaint calls the department is receiving. Karn requested the board consider making the DCO’S part time employees but with scheduled hours.
She declared that the present ‘call system’ is not working. “Our officers are with family, having dinner, at affairs and will not answer the complaint calls. If they are not scheduled, they will not answer. What I am requesting is that my people be paid one a part time basis, 19 hours per week and working scheduled hours.
Karn went on to say that she is working much more than the 30 hours of week that was agreed on when she was hired; claiming she is working 40-50 hours per week, and more.
When asked how many hours per week she should be working, she was told as many as it takes to get the job done. Karn supplied the board with a folder with information and data that indicated her job required her full time (40 hour) work week – especially if a census is included in the department obligations; and performed on duty time.
Karn declared the job was more detailed that anyone imagined – 197 complaints in August and with court related issues that are time consuming.
Councilman Matt Walter admitted that the department was mismanaged in the past, advised Karn to be patient as they will have a better idea of what policy and protocols need addressing after the winter and spoke on budget concerns.
General meeting
At the public comment session, the writer revisited the DCO conservation held in the work session. Stating I appreciated how much time and effort went into improving the DCO department, something came up at the work session discussion that still troubles me and that I have been questioning this board on for a long time. The answer I have been receiving has been inconsistent and generalized to; it’s a work in progress.
So again I asked: “With the hiring of another DCO tonight, what is the current staffing?” Supervisor Coleman said she didn’t have that number. Councilman Walter offered there were seven on staff; Coleman then interjected there could be six or seven. I asked if that number included lead officer Karn. Mrs. Karn interjected six and that included her – one full time part time and five part timers.
It appears that my assessment that the department is understaffed and that the ‘call in” program has shortcomings in filling the needs of a 7/24 operation totaling 168 hours per week. 5 part timers at 19.5 hours per week and a so-called full time part time working 30 hours per week falls way short of meeting state required standards. 197 complaints last month, a number of nuisance complaints handled by the police but where some strays were still involved and which police are not trained to handle – and three dog bites as well.
Councilman Walter interjected that he takes the program very seriously and in looking at the complaints he has to discern what calls were of a serious nature and what impact that has on the department operation. He proffered that previous administrations focused on fiscal responsibility. Looking at this year’s record keeping and improved operations this year’s budget does not reflect what is needed. We were not getting the correct information to base our budgeting on.
Comments
Mr. Walter is correct in saying that a number of the complaints (197) were of a nuisance nature that should be handled by the police and maybe 100 were DCO answerable. That is a far cry from the 40 to 50 complaints logged in the past few years.
Some individuals have suggested that Mrs. Karn is attempting to create a full time salaried position for her and that would burden the budget. They refer to a few years ago where the budget was Dog Control budget was lowered from $104,701 to $45,200 (2015) when Lancaster attempted to consolidate its services with Clarence. Well, that never happened and did not happen because Clarence did not approve of the proposed agreement.
The Control of Dogs budget for 2017 is $45,000. Budget time is at hand and to increase the budget line to where we were in the past ($104,701), or more depending on meeting proposed scheduling changes, fencing, kennel access doors leading outside, dog run, etc.
In 2014, the Control of Dog’s budget of $104,701 included a salary of $47,577 for the DCO and $45,000 for Assistant Dog Control Officers. The town has a dilemma; what is it willing to spend, and/or able to spend, to bring a mismanaged department to meeting state requirements?
Once again, this board is being put in a position to have to pay for the sins of its fathers.