Cold water splashed on feline advocates by city manager after Elk Grove mayor, city council & police chief mocked
Even though they have appeared at several Elk Grove City Council meetings, feline advocates had cold water splashed on their hopes for more animal shelter services during the June 14 Elk Grove City Council meeting.
The feline advocates have been speaking during the public comment section of several city council meetings urging the mayor and city council to hire another veterinarian for the city’s animal shelter. The advocates have highlighted what they called frivilious spending to emphasize the city could eliminate that and use the fund for the additional veterinarian.
The advocates claim Elk Grove has an out-of-control feral cat population and that an additional veterinarian is needed to expand spay and neuter services. City manager Jason Behrmann dashed the advocates’ hopes, saying a new veterinarian was low-priority and was not included in the budget.
Behrmann said staffing recommendations over the next several years could include an additional veterinarian but added, “It is not among the higher priorities.”
To soften the blow, Behrmann noted the adopted budget includes three new animal care employees. Behrman made his comments after several speakers painted a bleak picture of the feral cat population and claimed the mayor and her city council are unresponsive to repeated communiques’.
Among the speaker mocking Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her city councilmen was Estaella Drake, who began her comments with a riddle asking what is the favorite insect of Elk Grove Police Chief Bobby Davis, Singh-Allen and the city council. Drake told the city council it was the cricket.
“Because this is what the taxpayer, constituents of the city of Elk Grove have been hearing since last year to get on the agenda, to team up, and come up with a plan to hire another veterinarian,” Drake said. “You have ignored our emails, phone calls, and our plead in person to get us on the agenda.”
She added, “Crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets.”
Watch the videos of Drake and Behrmann’s presentations below.
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