Our founder lives in the Riverside County district of California. Recently, she protested outside her city's commissioners office over the mishandling and wasteful spending of $2,500,000.00.

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AN IMPORTANT COMMUNITY CAUSE

At BleuBully we love and care deeply for animals, just ask our sweet French Bulldog mascot, Gigi!  We also care about our community and recently we became aware of a local cause that quickly caught our attention and led us to participate in the “Stop The Contract – Recall Manuel Perez” protest in front of Supervisor Perez’s office in La Quinta, California on November 15, 2024. We protesters were there to make our voices heard and to further inform the public that Manual Perez, Jeff Van Wagenen and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors should  “Kill The Contract, Not The Animals”!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

First, a little background information is needed to better understand what the protest that we took part in was about, why we participated in it and how this important cause can be furthered. 

BleuBully is headquartered in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County in Southern California. Manuel Perez is presently the representative for Riverside's 4^th District Board of Supervisors. In 2018, former Governor Jerry Brown appointed Perez to the Board of Supervisors to fill an empy seat since he had already served in the California State Assembly. Supervisor Perez was reelected in 2022 when he ran unopposed and will be up for reelection in 2026, should he decide to again pursue the office. Supervisor Perez works directly with Riverside County Executive Officer, Jeff Van Wagenen who was appointed to his position by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors in February, 2021.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES (RCDAS) AND COACHELLA VALLEY ANIMAL CAMPUS (CVAC)

In order to have a better understanding of our “Stop The Contract – Recall Manuel Perez” protest, It is important to know that a  primary responsibility of Supervisor Perez in the 4^th District of Riverside County is to oversee the Coachella Valley Animal Campus (CVAC) which is a public animal shelter and provides services for the cities of Calimesa, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage.  CVAC is one of a total of four public animal shelters operated by Riverside County Department of Animal Services (RCDAS).

CVAC along with the three other shelters operated by RCDAS are Kill-Shelters.

All four RCDAS shelters are taxpayer funded.

THE HAYDEN ACT

To further understand the protest to recall Manuel Perez, it is important to be aware of The Hayden Act which was signed into law on September 22, 1998 and essentially declared California a No-Kill state. The Hayden Act which governs over RCDAS and therefore CVAC requires public animal shelters to make reasonable efforts to place adoptable animals into homes rather than resorting to euthanasia.  The term homes can consist of Permanent Homes by means of adoption, Foster Homes where animals reside to await adoption and No-Kill Rescues where animals also reside to await adoption. All housing areas are lawfully required to provide a safe environment, sanitary conditions, proper care and necessary veterinary services to the animals within their premises.

THEY DESERVED A CHANCE FOR A HOME

Even though The Hayden Act has been in effect in California for over 25 years, a disturbing and disheartening fact reveals that statistical data from Riverside County indicates that RCDAS has one of the highest kill rates in the entire country and has thus far in 2024, averaged approximately 1,000 animals euthanized per month.  Tragically, many of the animals, of which mostly consist of dogs and cats, that were euthanized were deemed to be healthy and adoptable. In calendar year 2023, available data from CVAC shows that a total of 1,323animals were euthanized and of those animals, 577 were healthy, adoptable animals who deserved a chance to find a home. Tragically, the only reason these healthy, adoptable animals lost their lives is because CVAC determined they were taking up needed kennel space and, to put it bluntly, labeled them as unwanted.

THOSE IN CHARGE COME UNDER FIRE

Due to these very disturbing statistics and the fact that The Hayden Act is being violated, 4^th District Supervisor Manuel Perez is rightfully under fire from the public, as he is directly responsible for overseeing CVAC, as is Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen rightfully under fire because he has the ultimate oversight of all RCDAS shelters. Both of these individuals have the duty to be transparent and to answer to the taxpayers of Riverside County and the city’s that CVAC serves, for these unsettling and disheartening RCDAS kill numbers.

THIS IS THEIR SOLUTION??

As the elected Supervisor of the Riverside County’s 4^th District what are Supervisor Perez’s solutions, if any, to this tragic and outrageous situation? What are Riverside County’s Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen’s solutions?

In response to the legitimate questions posed by the taxpayers of Riverside County about the unacceptable kill-rates occurring at RCDAS (and CVAC) and what solutions are being considered and/or incorporated to alleviate the situation, Supervisor Perez’s and Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen’s only solution has been to hire a “consultant” for $2.5 million dollar which totals over $19,000 per month of taxpayer money.

JUSTIFIABLE OUTRAGE

Animal advocates across the Coachella Valley are rightfully outraged to learn of the hiring of this so-called freelance shelter “consultant”, in particular for the outrageous amount of taxpayer dollars allocated to do so. 

To add to this outrage, a simple background check proved to show that the so-called “consultant”, by the present name of Kristin Hassen and formerly known as Kristin Auerbach, does not have an educational background in animal studies, animal behaviorism or animal management, that although she possesses a background in shelter management her resume contains a list of  achievements that appear to be self-serving at best and that her documented shelter management policies at the Mission Hills Shelter in Los Angeles County where, by the way, she was paid a “consultant” fee of $24,995, which is a far cry from $2.5 million dollars, have been uncovered to be unconventional, if not tainted.  Even more outrageous to animal advocates, is that verifiable information has been uncovered  that in Austin, Texas, in El Paso, Texas, in Tucson, Arizona and in Fairfax County, Virginia, Ms. Hassen’s management policies were found to be extremely controversial and in at least one instance, deadly.

DEMANDING ANSWERS

If anyone reading this blog is wondering why $2.5 million dollars of taxpayer money is being spent for “consultant” Kristin Hassen, you are not alone.  We at BleuBully along with a substantial portion of Riverside County taxpayers are rightfully demanding answers and Supervisor Perez along with Jeff Van Wagenen have been less than transparent, if not at times, hostile in their responses.

So, because of this dire situation that is continuing to occur at RCDAS and CVAC and because of how this situation is being handled or more like, mishandled, by Manuel Perez and Jeff Van Wagenen and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, we felt it very important to join the protestors at the  “Kill The Contract – Recall Manuel Perez” protest to demand that they “Kill The Contract – Not The Animals”.

LAWSUITS ARISE

At BleuBully we are closely following another important factor that has arisen due to this distressing and ongoing controversy and relates directly to the outrageous “consultant” fee and the apparent questionable qualifications of Kristin Hassen. Two groups of Riverside County taxpayers have filed two lawsuits against Riverside County and Jeff Van Wagenen for “illegal expenditure and waste of taxpayer funds in the county Department of Animal Services,” and  especially for committing $2.5 million dollars to hire freelance sheltering consultant Kristin Hassen to direct Riverside County Department of Animal Services (RCDAS). The lawsuits contend that this $2.5 million dollar payment to Ms. Hassan is  “an extraordinary waste of taxpayer funds”.  The lawsuits also contend that there are other serious issues involving wasteful use of taxpayer funds regarding hiring practices at RCDAS.

CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE?

This situation that is occurring here in Riverside County is to say the least, quite serious and quite complicated, but If you are curious about learning more about the “Kill The Contract – Recall Manuel Perez” protest; if you are curious about where the taxpayer-led recall motion against Manuel Perez presently stands; if you are curious about learning more about how Manuel Perez and Jeff Van Wagenen have mishandled taxpayer money; if you are curious about the pending lawsuits against Riverside County for the hiring of “consultant” Kristin Hassen; if you are curious about other hiring practices by Riverside County in regards to RCDAS that have been uncovered and deemed as nepotism; if you are curious to learn more about “consultant” Kristin Hassen’s long list of exceedingly controversial shelter management practices; if you are curious about alternative solutions proposed by animal advocates in Riverside County as to how the $2.5 million dollars of taxpayer funds could be used more transparently and effectively to directly benefit the animals held at RCDAS shelters; if you are curious to learn more about animal advocate strategies designed to help  decrease the devastating kill-rates that are occurring; and if you are curious as to how this entire controversy became highly publicized, then… 

Stay tuned for Part II of “Kill The Contract, Not The Animals” – A BleuBully Blog.