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455 County -City Building • South Bend, Indiana 46601 • (574)235 -9221 • Fax (574)235 -9173 • TDD (574)235 - 5567
Mary Beth Wisniewski Janice Talboom Kareemah Fowler
Chief Deputy Deputy Clerk Ordinance Violation Clerk
Derek D. Dieter
President
Oliver J. Davis
Vice - President
Karen L. White
Chairperson, Committee
of the Whole
Tim Scott
First District
Henry Davis, Jr
Second District
Valerie Schey
Third District
Fred Ferlic
Fourth District
David Varner
Fifth District
Oliver J. Davis
Sixth District
Derek D. Dieter
At Large
Gavin Ferlic
A t Large
Karen L. White
At Large
City of South Ben
Common Council
441 County -City Building • 227W. Jefferson Blvd (574) 235 -9321
South Bend, Indiana 46601 -1830 Fax (574) 235 -9173
http://www.southbendin.gov
June 24, 2013
-via electronic mail-
Dear Committee and Community Members,
This is an exciting time for animal care and control in the City of South Bend. In
2012, the City completed construction of the new, state of the art animal shelter.
The new shelter represents a significant investment made on behalf of the city to
address a serious problem that many residents care about. Similarly, in 2013, the
Common Council appointed a special committee to conduct a thorough review of
Chapter 5 of South Bend's Municipal Code. This is the chapter that governs
animal care and control within South Bend City Limits. The goal of this
committee is to prepare a summary of advisory recommendations for revisions
and updates to the Health & Public Safety committee of the SB Common Council.
Chapter 5 as it exists today was enacted in 1985. In the past 27 years, the
standards of care have changed significantly. It is the sincere hope of many that
the work of this committee will help to make South Bend a model city for animal
welfare in its ability to balance safety in its neighborhoods with the humane
-treatment of its animals.
To date, the South Bend Animal Care and Control Special Committee (SBAC3) has
had three meetings and has reviewed Sections 91.001 and 91.002 of the Fort
Wayne Chapter we are using as our working foundation. Topics discussed have
included public safety and enforcement considerations, legal shortcomings of
ordinance as it is currently written and impact of legislative actions on daily
shelter operations.
SBAC3 consists almost exclusively of South Bend residents each with an
extensive knowledge of animal welfare. The structure provides us with an ideal
opportunity to listen to the people we serve in order to ensure we are meeting
the demands and expectations of the community we serve. However, in order to
maximize participation and collaboration, we will be inviting the Director of
Code Enforcement, Ms. Shubhada Kambli to consider joining the committee. We
believe Ms. Kambli's knowledge and experience with the daily operations of the
department will provide the committee an important perspective in terms of
enforcement of the ordinances.
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Ms. Kambli has requested that we postpone this Thursday's (6/27/13) SBAC3 Committee
meeting while she readies the Department for the soon to be hired Director of
Administrative Services. In addition to the many administrative tasks such as monitoring
the division budget, its revenues and expenses, and preparing financial reports; this
individual will also be charged with overseeing the daily operations at the City's animal
shelter.
For this reason, we will reschedule this Thursday's (6/27/13) SBAC3 Committee meeting
for Thursday, July 25, 2013. This will provide a window of opportunity for increased
participation and collaboration between our Committee and the new team charged with
managing the Department of Code Enforcement and its animal care and control division.
Thank you for your time, interest and commitment to our City and this important endeavor.
S�icerely,
V/ -
Valerie Schey
Third District Council Membe
Cc: Shubhada Kambli, Director, Code Enforcement
Ann -Carol Nash, Assistant City Attorney
John Voorde, City Clerk
MaryBeth Wisniewski, Chief Deputy City Clerk
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