The current CLAWS board is pulling the organization down. As my dear Grandmother would say, the proof is in the pudding.
Let”s look at some facts: When the old CLAWS board served with five members, they had over six figures in their coffers. They were going strong with vouchers, and they never had to limit them. They had pit fixes, feral cat spay and neuter. Once a year we looked forward to a lunch where all the membership got together and discussed the accomplishments over the past year and how to make things better for the next.
Since the new board has taken over they have done nothing but lose money. They lost the thrift store in Lakeport, and are talking about closing the Clearlake store. CLAWS functions planned in the past two years by their staff have fallen apart when the board stepped in at the last minute and changed things.
What happened? CLAWS ended up in the hole. I could make a list, but the board would not listen, or they would make a list of excuses twice as long. The bottom line is CLAWS suffers because of poor judgment by the three core board members who can”t seem to keep anyone on the board with them.
Now I”ve heard they had to hire a personnel director for four employees. This new personnel director is a personal friend of one of the board members and is from out of county. Do they need to bring in the big guns to fire their employees?
As a former Animal Control Officer I feel we mustn”t lose sight of the important issue here: The animals CLAWS helps spay and neuter. Look at the numbers. How many animals come to Animal Care and Control every week? How many are from Clearlake? How many never have anyone to come and find them?
Litters of kittens and puppies born just to be put down. I was one of those officers that had to euthanize thousands of innocent animals. Most people see the Animal Control truck drive away, loaded with dogs, cats and never give it another thought. I still cry over the healthy animals I myself had to kill.
CLAWS is the only agency in Lake County working actively to end this problem. The board of CLAWS is running it into the ground, and they should be investigated. Compare the facts and figures, and you will see that there is a problem with the way the board is managing CLAWS.
I once again ask the Board to please resign and let new members of the Lake County community bring CLAWS back to what it was. There are at least 600 people in town that share my point of view.
Janet Cammarata
Clearlake
