Once again, the Kane County board is turning their attention to that ongoing fiasco known as Animal Control. As board member T. R. Smith told the Chronicle, “This has seemed to occupy so much of our time. This is a simple thing that should have been done a long time ago.”
Ain’t that the truth!
So now they’re talking about going back to an administrator instead of a head honcho veterinary experience which probably isn’t a bad idea. This is a clear case of the inmates taking over the asylum and those particular county employees have gotten used to doing whatever they damn well please.
And it’s not all their fault either. When the former county chairman and former health department director insisted upon turning that facility into their private patronage playground, the staff quickly figured out that no one had the cohones to rein them in. Ms. Verzal was an environmental science joke and they ran off the brand new director in three short months. 
One of my favorite things about Animal Control is you can’t simply walk in to see if you’d like to adopt a dog – you have to make an appointment. And that’s very difficult thing to do when they don’t even bother to answer their phones. I’m sure you all remember my column about that crew sending out rabies violations despite a one year backlog entering vaccination data as well.
The frightening truth is, KCAC may well be chairman Chris Lauzen’s biggest challenge. He’s got to choose a director who can walk right into that building, kick some butt, and micromanage the recalcitrant staff until that facility is running the way it should be.
As another board member put it, it’s got to be like a hostile corporate takeover – swift and merciless. I’ll be watching!
