TODAY IS OUR DAY! TODAY IS OUR DAY! TODAY IS OUR DAY!!!!!! We are jumping up and down with joy and elation!!! Led by Commissioner BB Nolden and Commissioner Mark Young, the Genesee County Board of Commissioners voted to SUSPEND Stepheni Lazar from her position as the Director of Genesee County Animal Control. This is effective IMMEDIATELY! The suspension is temporary at this time because she has the right to appeal. There is even better news for the animals! They will not have to wait one more day for a compassionate leader to put an end to the abuse and neglect that they have been enduring. The County has hired Paul Wallace to replace Lazar as the Interim Director and Chief Animal Control Officer, and Karen Dombrowski as the Interim Assistant Chief Animal Control Officer. If these names ring a bell, you may recall that when the County held interviews for the Director position last year, the three finalists were Lazar, Wallace and Dombrowski. We at GRACE got to know Paul Wallace during the time that he was applying and interviewing for the job. Paul has had an impressive career in law enforcement that goes back to 1982. He has tremendous experience in people management and working with unions. In fact, at one point in his career Paul was the Chief Steward of A.F.S.C.M.E. Local 916F. Of course, when we first met him, our primary concern was finding out how he felt about animals. When we met to talk with him, we brought along one of our pit bull dogs to the meeting. Paul was at ease and very friendly with him and enthusiastically told us about his own pets. The Wallace family has two dogs, Kooper who is a 10 year old mixed breed and a 2 year old Yorkie named Mister Baggins. They also have a 17 year old cat named Spot. Our impression was that Paul was a sincere animal lover. He had great employee management and union experience, but we were nervous that he did not have any animal shelter experience. However, we reminded ourselves that several failing animal shelters have been completely turned around by a person with no experience. This is because the most important thing that a successful shelter director needs is COMPASSION. All of the other skills can be learned. As we have seen, compassion cannot be taught or, sorry Lazar, even faked. If Paul Wallace had been hired last year, we would have been thrilled, and eager to help him learn what he needed to in order to excel in his new role. We have known Karen Dombrowski a little longer, as Karen is very active in the animal welfare world. She has managed the Detroit area 501(c)(3) rescue group called Feline Friends since 1986. In this role, Karen has gained tremendous animal care, foster care program management and volunteer coordination experience. Karen has worked as an Animal Control officer and was part of the team that conducted the operational assessment at Saginaw County Animal Control in 2013. This assessment lead to the state investigation and ultimately the removal of that Director. Karen is a Certified Animal Control Officer, an active member of the Michigan Association of Animal Control Officers, and she is MI-SART and FEMA certified to handle animals in disaster or hording situations and emergency planning. In addition to her two cats, Karen has three dogs that are all special needs rescues. The two Pomeranians in the picture are puppy mill survivors, and she has a Pekingese that survived a spinal cord injury. The combination of Paul Wallace’s law enforcement, people management, and union background with Karen’s animal care and sheltering background is everything we could want to see on paper. And more importantly, they are both quality people who are enthusiastically looking forward to bringing compassion to the animal care at GCAC. This is exactly what we have been working and praying so hard for. We feel that they will make an immediate positive impact at the shelter and that their leadership will be made permanent by the Board of Commissioners once Lazar has either exhausted any appeal effort or resigns. What is next? We need to wait for Interim Chief Director Wallace and Interim Assistant Chief Dombrowski to assess the situation and let us know how we can support them. We suspect that they are going to need a lot of volunteer help. We have let them know that Genesee County has the best animal-loving people in the world who stand ready to jump in with whatever they need. Together, we will Evolve Genesee County Animal Control into a shelter that is a safe haven for lost and homeless pets, and a source of pride for our Community.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:43:31 +0000
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