A Letter to Mayor Steve Holt

Dear Mayor Holt:

First, let us say that we believe you've done more in your 18 months in office than Mickey Haddock did in four years. Kudos!

Second, we know you drew some fire Tuesday night over conditions/incidents at the animal shelter. We understand that you cannot stand before a group and say that you want to kill/paddle/curse/fire a city manager. Not good form. We believe that you will do the right thing.

Have you or the city wasted money on the animal shelter plans? We'd say it was more of a flim-flam man holding the city for ransom over plans you didn't want or ask for. Sad that there are those like that out there, but that happens in all sectors.

Third, all that being said, some things in life are hard. We don't know who at the shelter has abused animals, but whoever it may be, he/she has to go. That's all the way to the top. We believe that you're dedicated and kind hearted and this is difficult for you. We've prayed before even putting this out here, but the animals have to come first.

Fourth, a suggestion. We know there are budget restraints, etc., but ideally the shelter should have two managers - one for administration and one for operations. Neither should interfere with the other except in the case of the admin telling the other manager how much money is there to be used in operations. Let the administrator run the office and apply for grants and speak at the Rotary. Let the ops manager allocate space, choose cleaning supplies, schedule workers, and whatever else is needed to keep the animal end on an even keel. 

Above all, let's put the animals first!