No Kill Long Beach 2020 Voter Information Guide
(7-minute read)
No Kill Long Beach polled City Council candidates on issues related to the Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) animal shelter currently under discussion by the Long Beach City Council. View the video of the Jan. 21, 2020 meeting here.
Key issues we asked the candidates reflected many of the issues discussed at the Jan. 21 meeting. Specifically, we asked candidates to weigh in on:
1) Whether LBACS should become an independent shelter that is operationally autonomous of spcaLA so that it can meet the needs of Long Beach. The operational arrangement between spcaLA and LBACS was called “challenging” in City Auditor Laura Doud’s last audit of LBACS;
2) Whether LBACS and spcaLA should be required to publish all of their animal outcomes (e.g., adoptions, return-to-owners, euthanasias, etc.), which is a key component of the No Kill model; and
3) Whether the candidate supports making Long Beach a No Kill city, which is defined as saving all healthy and treatable animals in its shelter(s). This is in alignment with Governor Newsom’s recent call to make California a No Kill state by 2025.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order in two separate groups for each district according to whether they spoke with No Kill Long Beach or not. They are not ranked. These are not endorsements.
Candidates who took the time to speak with No Kill Long Beach are noted as having spoken with us. Quotes come from candidates’ survey responses.
District 2
Robert Fox (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Robert Fox supports making LBACS an autonomous No Kill shelter that saves all healthy and treatable animals, with its own adoption program independent of spcaLA. Fox has supplemented his already considerable knowledge of civic matters in Long Beach by making efforts to learn about the city animal shelter. He also has a strong positive orientation to transparency in city government, which is currently lacking in matters concerning the city animal shelter. So it comes as no surprise that he strongly supports the idea that LBACS and spcaLA provide a complete monthly report detailing the outcomes (e.g., number of adoptions, return-to-owner, transfers, euthanasias) for all animals in the two shelters. Fox appears to have a good understanding of what is needed to make LBACS a No Kill shelter.
Eduardo Lara (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Eduardo Lara states that he supports making Long Beach a No Kill city that saves all healthy and treatable animals in the shelter, and he took the time to learn more about the issues surrounding LBACS. He supports the idea of LBACS and spcaLA reporting their animal outcomes, and he would like to see LBACS have its own adoption program. He is also in favor of LBACS establishing a clear operating agreement with spcaLA, which would likely mean that operations would continue to be shared by the two shelters. This has been challenging in the past.
Ryan Lum (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Ryan Lum is the only candidate to our knowledge who has explicitly made his support of No Kill part of his campaign website. His responses to our survey indicate that he has a genuine concern for the welfare of shelter animals. He strongly supports LBACS’ having a fully-independent adoption program. He also strongly supports full transparency from both LBACS and spcaLA when it comes to publishing their animal outcomes. Lum is an animal advocate and a vegan.
Cindy Allen (2)
Cindy Allen is in favor of making Long Beach a No Kill city, though her view of animal sheltering, like that of Mayor Garcia, appears to rely more heavily on transferring animals to the non-profit community (we understand this to mean spcaLA and rescue organizations) than on doing outreach and adoptions to the public, which are key elements of the No Kill model of sheltering. Allen supports transparency from both LBACS and spcaLA and would request that LBACS disclose their monthly animal outcomes. She supports the idea of spcaLA being required to disclose animal outcomes. Her answers indicated that she supports continued interactions between the two shelters, rather than an independent LBACS.
Jeanette Barrera (2)
Jeanette Barrera stated that she supports a No Kill animal shelter in LB, but her responses to our survey were short. We take that to mean that she may need more information in order to comment on the issues.
Jesus Cisneros (2)
Jesus Cisneros stated that he supports No Kill and would like to see LBACS become an independent shelter; however, his short responses indicated that he may lack specific knowledge of the issues. We would like to hear from him after he has learned more about the issues surrounding the animal shelter.
Nigel Lifsey (2)
Nigel Lifsey supports the idea of No Kill shelters, though he admits that he doesn’t know a lot about the issues surrounding LBACS. He believes both LBACS and spcaLA should become more transparent by publishing their animal outcomes; however, he does not appear to have enough information about the situation to take a strong stand on LBACS becoming operationally independent. He did say that he supports LBACS having its own adoption program. We would like to hear more of this thoughts on this once he has more information.
District 6
Suely Saro (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Suely Saro was honest in admitting she knows “a little about the issue of shelter animals in Long Beach.” Her answers indicated that she would likely consider the issues thoughtfully after learning more about them by requesting more information about how lifesaving changes could be made at LBACS. She supports the idea of LBACS having its own adoption program, but did not take a stance on independence for LBACS. She is interested in learning more about Gov. Newsom’s call for California to become No Kill by 2025. Regarding the reporting of animal outcomes by LBACS and spcaLA, she thinks it is important to have such information and would like to explore that topic in greater detail.
Craig Ursey (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Craig Ursey believes No Kill is possible and thinks that all shelters should be required to publish the same outcomes that LBACS does, though he expressed some doubt as to the necessity of monthly reports. He supports closer cooperation between LBACS and spcaLA, which have a relationship that recent City audits have described as “challenging.” He was interested in learning more about the audits of LBACS over the past two years.
Josephine Villasenor (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Josephine Villasenor is supportive of No Kill, and she stated that she is in favor of making sure every animal has a home and is loved. Though her answers were general, she is in favor of transparency for both LBACS and spcaLA and supports an adoption program at LBACS. We believe she cares for animals, and as an animal rescuer and former volunteer at LBACS, she could offer a personal perspective on the problems at LBACS.
Sharifah Hardie (6)
Sharifah Hardie states that she is an animal lover and supports No Kill. Her responses were positive, but because they were very general, it appears her knowledge of No Kill is limited. It appears from her responses that she has not been following developments with regard to the Long Beach shelter over the past year. If she is interested in helping shape the future of LBACS, we would be open to helping her learn more about this issue.
Dee Andrews (6) did not respond to the survey.
Ana Arce (6) did not respond to the survey.
District 8
Juan Ovalle (8) - Spoke with NKLB
Juan Ovalle has told advocates on multiple occasions that he fully supports making LBACS a No Kill shelter. He supports making LBACS a fully independent shelter, both physically and operationally independent, so that LBACS can achieve No Kill. His active interest in transparency and accountability from the City would give the public much-needed clarity around the question of how our shelter pets fare at LBACS. Ovalle strongly supports requiring both LBACS and spcaLA to post their animal outcomes on a monthly basis. He also has a number of innovative ideas about how to make LBACS a “world-class No Kill center that is sustainable and community-oriented,” for example, by encouraging pre-vet college students to volunteer at LBACS.
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk (8) - Spoke with NKLB
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk states that she supports No Kill and has taken some time to learn about the issue. According to her survey, she has visited LBACS and spcaLA, and states she supports the idea of transparency from LBACS and spcaLA. Because a number of her responses were fairly short, we would be interested in learning more about her thoughts on this issue.
Al Austin (8) did not respond to the survey.
Key issues we asked the candidates reflected many of the issues discussed at the Jan. 21 meeting. Specifically, we asked candidates to weigh in on:
1) Whether LBACS should become an independent shelter that is operationally autonomous of spcaLA so that it can meet the needs of Long Beach. The operational arrangement between spcaLA and LBACS was called “challenging” in City Auditor Laura Doud’s last audit of LBACS;
2) Whether LBACS and spcaLA should be required to publish all of their animal outcomes (e.g., adoptions, return-to-owners, euthanasias, etc.), which is a key component of the No Kill model; and
3) Whether the candidate supports making Long Beach a No Kill city, which is defined as saving all healthy and treatable animals in its shelter(s). This is in alignment with Governor Newsom’s recent call to make California a No Kill state by 2025.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order in two separate groups for each district according to whether they spoke with No Kill Long Beach or not. They are not ranked. These are not endorsements.
Candidates who took the time to speak with No Kill Long Beach are noted as having spoken with us. Quotes come from candidates’ survey responses.
District 2
Robert Fox (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Robert Fox supports making LBACS an autonomous No Kill shelter that saves all healthy and treatable animals, with its own adoption program independent of spcaLA. Fox has supplemented his already considerable knowledge of civic matters in Long Beach by making efforts to learn about the city animal shelter. He also has a strong positive orientation to transparency in city government, which is currently lacking in matters concerning the city animal shelter. So it comes as no surprise that he strongly supports the idea that LBACS and spcaLA provide a complete monthly report detailing the outcomes (e.g., number of adoptions, return-to-owner, transfers, euthanasias) for all animals in the two shelters. Fox appears to have a good understanding of what is needed to make LBACS a No Kill shelter.
Eduardo Lara (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Eduardo Lara states that he supports making Long Beach a No Kill city that saves all healthy and treatable animals in the shelter, and he took the time to learn more about the issues surrounding LBACS. He supports the idea of LBACS and spcaLA reporting their animal outcomes, and he would like to see LBACS have its own adoption program. He is also in favor of LBACS establishing a clear operating agreement with spcaLA, which would likely mean that operations would continue to be shared by the two shelters. This has been challenging in the past.
Ryan Lum (2) - Spoke with NKLB
Ryan Lum is the only candidate to our knowledge who has explicitly made his support of No Kill part of his campaign website. His responses to our survey indicate that he has a genuine concern for the welfare of shelter animals. He strongly supports LBACS’ having a fully-independent adoption program. He also strongly supports full transparency from both LBACS and spcaLA when it comes to publishing their animal outcomes. Lum is an animal advocate and a vegan.
Cindy Allen (2)
Cindy Allen is in favor of making Long Beach a No Kill city, though her view of animal sheltering, like that of Mayor Garcia, appears to rely more heavily on transferring animals to the non-profit community (we understand this to mean spcaLA and rescue organizations) than on doing outreach and adoptions to the public, which are key elements of the No Kill model of sheltering. Allen supports transparency from both LBACS and spcaLA and would request that LBACS disclose their monthly animal outcomes. She supports the idea of spcaLA being required to disclose animal outcomes. Her answers indicated that she supports continued interactions between the two shelters, rather than an independent LBACS.
Jeanette Barrera (2)
Jeanette Barrera stated that she supports a No Kill animal shelter in LB, but her responses to our survey were short. We take that to mean that she may need more information in order to comment on the issues.
Jesus Cisneros (2)
Jesus Cisneros stated that he supports No Kill and would like to see LBACS become an independent shelter; however, his short responses indicated that he may lack specific knowledge of the issues. We would like to hear from him after he has learned more about the issues surrounding the animal shelter.
Nigel Lifsey (2)
Nigel Lifsey supports the idea of No Kill shelters, though he admits that he doesn’t know a lot about the issues surrounding LBACS. He believes both LBACS and spcaLA should become more transparent by publishing their animal outcomes; however, he does not appear to have enough information about the situation to take a strong stand on LBACS becoming operationally independent. He did say that he supports LBACS having its own adoption program. We would like to hear more of this thoughts on this once he has more information.
District 6
Suely Saro (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Suely Saro was honest in admitting she knows “a little about the issue of shelter animals in Long Beach.” Her answers indicated that she would likely consider the issues thoughtfully after learning more about them by requesting more information about how lifesaving changes could be made at LBACS. She supports the idea of LBACS having its own adoption program, but did not take a stance on independence for LBACS. She is interested in learning more about Gov. Newsom’s call for California to become No Kill by 2025. Regarding the reporting of animal outcomes by LBACS and spcaLA, she thinks it is important to have such information and would like to explore that topic in greater detail.
Craig Ursey (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Craig Ursey believes No Kill is possible and thinks that all shelters should be required to publish the same outcomes that LBACS does, though he expressed some doubt as to the necessity of monthly reports. He supports closer cooperation between LBACS and spcaLA, which have a relationship that recent City audits have described as “challenging.” He was interested in learning more about the audits of LBACS over the past two years.
Josephine Villasenor (6) - Spoke with NKLB
Josephine Villasenor is supportive of No Kill, and she stated that she is in favor of making sure every animal has a home and is loved. Though her answers were general, she is in favor of transparency for both LBACS and spcaLA and supports an adoption program at LBACS. We believe she cares for animals, and as an animal rescuer and former volunteer at LBACS, she could offer a personal perspective on the problems at LBACS.
Sharifah Hardie (6)
Sharifah Hardie states that she is an animal lover and supports No Kill. Her responses were positive, but because they were very general, it appears her knowledge of No Kill is limited. It appears from her responses that she has not been following developments with regard to the Long Beach shelter over the past year. If she is interested in helping shape the future of LBACS, we would be open to helping her learn more about this issue.
Dee Andrews (6) did not respond to the survey.
Ana Arce (6) did not respond to the survey.
District 8
Juan Ovalle (8) - Spoke with NKLB
Juan Ovalle has told advocates on multiple occasions that he fully supports making LBACS a No Kill shelter. He supports making LBACS a fully independent shelter, both physically and operationally independent, so that LBACS can achieve No Kill. His active interest in transparency and accountability from the City would give the public much-needed clarity around the question of how our shelter pets fare at LBACS. Ovalle strongly supports requiring both LBACS and spcaLA to post their animal outcomes on a monthly basis. He also has a number of innovative ideas about how to make LBACS a “world-class No Kill center that is sustainable and community-oriented,” for example, by encouraging pre-vet college students to volunteer at LBACS.
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk (8) - Spoke with NKLB
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk states that she supports No Kill and has taken some time to learn about the issue. According to her survey, she has visited LBACS and spcaLA, and states she supports the idea of transparency from LBACS and spcaLA. Because a number of her responses were fairly short, we would be interested in learning more about her thoughts on this issue.
Al Austin (8) did not respond to the survey.