Page 6 - Reedley Exponent 1-31-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A6 Thursday, January 31, 2019
TOWN HALL Continued from page A1
know what their services are.”
Zieba also told those in attendance that the homeless population they were talking about were not those who have temporary emergencies that have left them without a place
to stay.
“Some of you may know that we
opened the Faith House, along with the Heritage Church of God,” she said. “We serve families in transition, and so that population of homeless we are not going to be talking about to- night because we have been relatively successful in helping them. Who we want to talk about is the population of homeless who we are seeing out on the street.”
Gary Kincaid, Reedley Police ser- geant, said the police department take all issues regarding homelessness se- riously and they always follow up on resident concerns.
“We’ve offered them many servic- es, through the Poverello House and a lot of them — or most of them — won’t accept the services,” he said. “So it’s really hard for us to get these people off the streets and into jobs. We have people and organizations that are will- ing to help us and stand by side with us and go out to these encampments, and it’s just very hard to try and get them to accept the services we are of- fering.”
Reedley police also wanted to let property owners know that if they have concerns about a homeless camp on their property, there are steps that
RC candidate forum
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Joe Garza, Reedley police chief, addressed the homeless issue with more than 60 community members in attendance at the first Reedley Town Hall meeting on Jan. 28. The topic was “So Many Homeless People in Reedley Now!”
can be taken to make sure the indi- viduals can be held accountable.
“Basically, a standing order from a property owner that allows us to ar- rest them for trespassing,” said Lt. Marc Ediger.
The meeting lasted just over an hour. It was called a success by those in attendance as well as those who watched portions of the live stream on the Exponent’s Facebook page.
Reedley City Council members Ray Soleno and Bob Beck were among city leaders seated in the audience. Preston Prince, CEO for the Fresno Housing Authority, also attended the meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. The Town Hall is called “Why Don’t We Have a Target Yet?” with the city’s economic development the topic of discussion.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley College president candidates Donna Berry, top, and Jerry Buckley, above, both spoke for an hour during a candidate forum session on Jan. 29 in the college’s Student Center. Berry and Buck- ley are the two finalists for the permanent president positiion. More on the forum in the Feb. 7 issue of The Exponent.
ANIMALS Continued from page A1
to you tonight an agreement that the city council can work with,” he said.
But Hernandez added that the revised agreement had substantially changed from the previous one and they felt the previous agree- ment was “inadequate, weak, and not monitored.”
The main changes to the agreement, Hernandez said, were made in regards to li- ability insurance and work- ers compensation insurance, as well as requiring FOCAS to provide their tax returns to the city every year.
However, once Her- nandez’s presentation was finished, FOCAS Figueroa said she wanted to clear up some details before they pro- ceeded with approval of the agreement.
“There are some issues though, that we hurried through,” Figueroa told coun- cil members. “We did the last meeting in a hurry, and there are some things that are still not stated here.”
Among her concerns, Figueroa said, were quaran- tine responsibilities, kennel counts, shelter hours, re- sponsibility of termination and disposal of animals, as well as access to the shelter grounds by FOCAS members in case of an emergency situ- ation.
“So if something were to happen like it happened the last time,” she said. ‘”We
just wanted it to be clear that we would cease work, but not be locked out of car- ing for the dogs. That we’d have some time, written, in writing that we could get the dogs and our property out of there,” she said. “We want that stated in the con- tract somewhere, that we wouldn’t be locked out like we were this time.”
Hernandez then inter- vened, “How many more of these are you coming up with?” he said.
“The only thing that real- ly has changed was the hours and the dogs that are new, or the incoming dogs,” Figueroa replied.
“Mayor, I have a problem with this,” Hernandez then told the council and Mayor Victor Lopez.”Because those are issues that have come up since we have agreed to
I’m sorry, I’m just a little sidetracked right now. Because I truly believed tonight was the night we were going to be able to
After some public com- mentary, and comments from other FOCAS supporters, the group of animal advocates left the meeting visibly frus- trated and disappointed.
“I’m sorry, I’m just a little sidetracked right now,” Figueroa said following the meeting. “Because I truly be- lieved tonight was the night we were going to be able to get this resolved.”
According to their Face- book page, FOCAS is respon- sible for the sheltering of an- imals impounded by the city of Orange Cove, and their mission statement is to strive and provide the best possible care for animals while they are in their custody.
Last Dec. 20, the city can- celed its contract with FO-
CAS for a status suspension the group had with the Cali- fornia Franchise Tax Board. The group is now back in good standing with the tax board; however, a new con- tract has not yet been agreed upon and Figueroa said vol- unteers are not allowed on shelter grounds.
Because of that, Figueroa said some of their dogs could be in danger if not properly cared for.
The group, a small non- profit organization, has one parttime paid employee. The remaining members are volunteers who raise funds, clean the kennels, network, transport dogs and more.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 13.
get this resolved.
- Adriana Figueroa, representative for Friends of Orange Cove Animal Shelter
that. I have a problem with that, because here I am tell- ing our City Council that we agreed to everything and then all of the sudden we are coming up with new items? Okay.”
After some tense mo- ments between Hernandez and Figueroa, Hernandez then told council members he was not willing to make a recommendation based on the new findings, and be- cause Joe Estrada, the city’s public works superintendent, was not present.
“There were a few items that we said we were still a
little concerned about that you said we could bring up tonight,” another FOCA member told Hernandez.
“No I don’t remember saying that, I don’t recall,” Hernandez replied. “This is what I said, this is what I would recommend to the council, to what we agreed on.”
Lopez then implored both sides to come to an agreement before their next meeting to avoid any further delays.
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