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By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Amy Cooper
Supporters of Sonoma County’s deposed Animal Care and Control director showed up in force at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to denounce her firing and urge county officials to bring her back.
Supervisors discussed Amy Cooper’s firing in closed session but did not report taking any action on the matter.
Critics of the dismissal, which occurred 48 hours before Cooper’s yearlong probationary status was to expire, have waged a public campaign to get her back.
Some have also called for the ouster of Agricultural Commissioner Cathy Neville over her decision to fire Cooper, and for the two departments to be separated. Currently, the ag commissioner’s office oversees animal control.
John Prouty, president of the Sonoma Humane Society’s Board of Directors, told supervisors that Cooper had helped establish one of the strongest collaborations between the society and county shelter in the long history of the two agencies.
“Her efforts in reaching out to shelters and rescue groups have saved countless lives of animals and reduced euthanasia rates tremendously,” Prouty said.
Prouty urged supervisors to bring Cooper back and to make animal control its own agency, saying “the public and our animal companions may be better served by a separate, newly formed department.”
Warin Parker, a former Windsor mayor, said Cooper’s departure reflected “serious management issues” and an added burden for taxpayers because of the costs associated with finding and hiring her replacement.
He called for Neville to be fired and for Cooper to be re-instated.
Cooper, who was dismissed July 12, earned $101,916 annually and was an at-will employee, which meant she could be dismissed for any reason without explanation. She has no right to appeal the decision.
At the time, Neville said she would move quickly to find a replacement for Cooper. But as yet, that process has not formally begun.
“We’re waiting for the approval to get the recruitment open,” said Jennifer Murray, the county’s interim assistant human resources director.
Several animal control employees attended Tuesday’s meeting to show their support for Cooper.
Employees previously submitted letters to supervisors demanding Cooper’s re-instatement and have been meeting with a county official to relay their concerns about her departure.
Outside board chambers on Tuesday, Jeff Clemens, an animal control officer who has been speaking on behalf of the department’s 32 employees, said they won’t be satisfied with anything less than Cooper’s return.
He added that many have also lost confidence in Neville.
“I think it would be very difficult for our department to remain under the current management of Cathy Neville,” he said.
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Sorry for the spelling in the last comment: meant hear instead of here
Dogfather says:
August 7, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Gee, how could so few people be so influential? What a bunch of crybabies. You’d all say just about anything.
Dogfather we can say just about anything because we are in the U.S. and we have something called the 1st Amendment ever here of it?
Also you mention that making the ACC it’s own entity would make Amy Cooper Dictator in Chief. If this was so, this dictator would have the backing of 95% of her staff. I think you put the Moniker on the wrong person. Ms.Neville appears to be more of what you mention.
I’m not a farmer, but you would think that the Ag Commissioner Cathy Neville would have known the basics of farming practices! “You reap what you sow”. In any case, when one sows seeds of destruction, evil, etc, you better start praying for crop failure! In this case however it,s too late! The only way to deal with some weeds is to uproot them and discard them to the side!
Making the ACC it’s own entity along with bringing back Amy Cooper effectively makes her Dictator in Chief. So much for accountability.
On behalf of the Animal Care and Control staff we would like to thank all of the people and organizations that have shown their support. Your sincere concern for Amy Cooper, Staff, Community and the Animals is heart felt and greatly appreciated. The outpouring of support is overwhelming and reassuring. Our hope and prayer is that Amy Cooper will be reinstated and that ACC will become a stand alone agency! Thank You for being there for us in a time of need!
Sincerely, Your Public Servants and Friends, The ACC Staff!
Supporters of Amy Cooper and Animal Care and Control are coming together again in force this Tues at 2pm again to speak to the Board of Supervisors at their chambers. If you can make it, support reinstating Amy and making Animal Care and Control it’s own entity, then come out early to secure a speaking spot. Bring friends and family to fill the room and remind the Board that we will not rest until the right this wrong. The people and the animals of Sonoma County deserve the best and Amy is it!
Gee, how could so few people be so influential? What a bunch of crybabies. You’d all say just about anything.
The county needs to evaluate their processes for firing “at will” employees. It doesn’t seem to have any checks and balances. Cathy Neville did not consult with one official before firing Amy Cooper. It sounds like she is being led by the vocal minority, i.e. R.J. Kamprath, Mary Quinn, Patrick Bohler. R.J. herself has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars with her obsessive need for county employees to spend time researching, creating, gathering information for her. This information seems to fill some kind of void in her life but never seems to help the animals. Cathy Neville is just as bad as these folks, does she not get it? The vocal majority is speaking and is not going to stop until Cathy Neville is fired and Amy Cooper is rehired.
@bats, I read that and it concerns me as well.
Michael, I agree with what your stating. I also agree that \The bottom line is we don’t know what happened and we may never know.\
But what troubles me most about this whole issue is (Quote from PD article) \In a highly unusual move, the signatories included two of the division’s three highest-ranking managers, including Bob Garcia, who was tapped by Neville to lead the organization until a successor for Cooper is found.\
Mr.Garcia was hand picked by Ms.Neville and he even signed the letter by Animal Control and Care staff to the BOS asking for Ms.Cooper’s reinstatement.
That tells me that even a good part of management of that Dept. agrees with the staff.
I had the same initial reaction as most people when I heard this, the reaction being that a micromanaging director was threatened by a competent and well liked manager.
However, we shouldn’t forget that there is the possibility that Ms. Cooper did something serious that made terminating her prudent. In which case we are jumping to conclusions in our judgment of Ms. Neville. People say they want answers, well the fact is if this was a disciplinary matter and the County made the details public, they would be sued. The law protects the privacy of the employee in this case and the County’s hands are tied. So you ask: why didn’t they give a reason to Ms. Cooper? After all that seems only fair, well if you let an at-will employee go without cause they really don’t have a leg to stand on in court, but if you give them a reason, then you are no longer letting them go without cause and they could go to court and argue the merits of the case against them.
All that said it concerns me that she was fired and is supported so strongly by her employees, is that not typically the sign of a great manager? Further, someone speculated that she was let go because she went against some of Neville’s more controlling policies; which sounds like a terrible, but likely reason that she may have been let go.
The bottom line is we don’t know what happened and we may never know.
I might get some hate over this, but I’m really just trying to add some reason to the discussion.
Neither the CAO nor the supervisors, and, thus, certainly not the County’s lawyers, had an inkling that Cathy Neville was going to fire her high-profile, exemplary employee, which you will see, Clifford, if you take the time to read all of the PD’s news articles on this issue. Pretty amazing, huh? Speaking as someone who is quite definitely in the loop, there were no valid issues leading to Amy Cooper’s dismissal — although it’s likely some have been fabricated since then to cover somebody’s you know what.
@ Sick and Tired, you cannot fire a non-probationary employee without cause. You cannot force employees into early retirement. You may, However, fire a probationary employee without cause or a at will part time employee. There is no way that Cathy Neville woke up one morning to go to work and fire Amy Cooper for kicks and giggles. I also doubt that this wasn’t at least approved by senior members or lawyers in their risk management division. It doesn’t matter what others in Animal Control thought or think of her, they’re out of the loop. They see whats on stage, not what’s backstage. You’re nuts if you don’t think there is more to this than poor judgement on Neville’s part.
What a fabulous show of support for Amy Cooper. It appears that every legitimate agency in the county has stepped up to defend Amy. According to staff, Cathy Neville assured them that Amy did nothing illegal or inappropriate. It is obvious that a mistake was made that needs to be righted immediatly. Bring back Amy Cooper!!
Clifford–I must respectfully differ with your opinion. I have seen the inside of the County ops and for sure, people have been fired or retire early without just cause. It’s true that there are things the public will never know, but County admin has had significant problems in the past.
I’d like to see Animal Care out from under AG; the shelter was doing a great job under Cooper.
It could be ethical or policy violation on Cooper’s end or vendetta on Neville’s end:
Twenty seven of the 32 animal control employees submitted letters of protest to county supervisors on Thursday demanding that Cooper be reinstated.
“This was a shock to our department. The Animal Care and Control staff disagrees with this decision,” the letter states.
In a highly unusual move, the signatories included two of the division’s three highest-ranking managers, including Bob Garcia, who was tapped by Neville to lead the organization until a successor for Cooper is found.
What everybody is overlooking and letting emotions over ride is the fact that Amy Cooper may have committed some policy or ethical violation leading up to her dismissal that the County of Sonoma, by law, cannot release. People at the County of Sonoma don’t get fired without a reason, there’s something there that we don’t know. Calling for the firing of Cathy Neville is ridiculous. If Amy Cooper doesn’t sue the County then you’ll know I was right.
Now is the time to give back to the Sonoma County Animal Control Department.
This department brings in the most monies for the Ag Depart., but they never get the recognition and additional necessary tools to work with. How about some new computers and lap tops for the office and their trucks so report completion can be at its best. It is about time to separate this department, give them their leader back, Amy Cooper,
and continue the working relationships with the other agencies in Sonoma County
It looks very obvious from the public outcry that:
1. Ms. Neville handled this issue very badly.
2. Ms. Neville seems completely out of touch with her staff at Animal Control and Care.
3. The County let go the wrong person, it should have been Ms. Neville.
Sometimes I think the County Motto should be: “Progress through error”
Everyone is watching to see if the Board of Supervisors makes the right decision. They have the ultimate authority to reinstate Amy Cooper. Cathy Neville already fired her once and look at the public outcry directed towards her decision. If the BOS do not re-hire her, they will have fired her twice. They do not want the same uprising directed towards them. That would surley be the key to a short lived career. I am certain they wont make the same mistake twice!
Our visit to the County Animal Center, to adopt our new dog was a great event, and the staff gave us a great experience. Ms Cooper does not need to be replaced without cause. Doing so on the last 2 days of her probation is a cheap shot and not fair to anyone at the facility. I have also done business with the Ag’s office and all they could do was complain that they did not have enough staff to do the job and were rude and unwilling to help(except for one staffer).
Our best to Ms Cooper
Waiting on the supervisors to do the right things … move Animal Care and Control, rehire Amy Cooper, dismiss Cathy Neville … not necessarily in that order.