Dog Watch: Humane Society Bond
On March 17, in a small conference room at the Washtenaw County administration building, Carolyn Raschke, finance director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley, reported to an even smaller group of Washtenaw County officials.
Washtenaw County Humane Society Oversight Committee meeting. Starting with the conference call phone and going clockwise: county administrator Bob Guenzel (who joined the meeting via phone, because he was getting a tour of the jail); Mechelle Hardy, management assistant with the county; Peter Ballios, the county's recently retired finance director; Bob Martel, acting as construction manager for HSHV; Carolyn Raschke, finance director of HSHV; Curtis Hedger, corporation counsel for the county.
The HSHV had held a grand opening for its new animal shelter the previous week. Raschke said the recent warmer weather had started to bring visitors out “in droves” to the shelter, and that the shelter had promoted the grand opening as a “celebration.” She reported that the promotion included discounts on adoption fees for animals at the shelter. Also part of the grand opening, said Raschke, was an invitation-only reception for the larger donors to the shelter’s fundraising campaign.
The meeting lasted a little more than five minutes – probably a record for the shortest public meeting of any The Chronicle has covered.
So what was the point of that meeting between Raschke and county officials?
It was the regular gathering of the county’s oversight committee for the Humane Society. The body exists only because of the bonds the county issued in 2007 to finance construction of the HSHV’s new shelter. The structure of the bonding has no impact on the county’s pocketbook, but included the creation of the oversight committee as a way for the county to maintain a kind of “leash” on the money it had backed with its full faith and credit.
The county’s connection to HSHV is not philanthropically based. The county has a contract with the nonprofit, worth $500,000 in FY 2010, to house stray dogs picked up by sheriff’s deputies. That contract satisfies the county’s statutory obligations under the Dog Law of 1919. [Full Story]