AD74 Assemblyman and SD2 Supervisorial Candidate Allan Mansoor is getting GOOD on two issues very germane to the District he wishes to lead. Unlike his carpetbagging opponent Michelle Steel, Mansoor has already been very active in opposing Caltrans and OCTA plans to convert at least one traffic lane on the 405 to be a Measure M-funded toll lane. Steel (and other local pols who represent all or part of the Corridor Cities) hasn’t had word one to say in opposition to this awful strategy that use our locally-collected tax funds for a project they were never intended or promised for. OCPB is recommending Allan for the Supervisor’s post being vacated by John Moorlach.
Coyotes are Dining on Family Pets
Mansoor’s Town Hall is in response to increasingly numerous stories in the Register here and here, our post here, and other local publications (this from 2012 in the FV Patch) re. the ongoing coyote infestation. Ordinary family pets, cats and especially small dogs, are vulnerable to being eaten alive by this night-roaming vermin. Both the State Fish and Game Department, and OC Animal Control, have failed at keeping this vermin away from our residential neighborhoods — in fact, they’ve never even attempted any level of control or eradication other than warning educated, mature adults and responsible homeowners to cover their trash cans.
Coyotes breed IN Mile Square Park and find their way into Fountain Valley neighborhoods via the flood control channels that are tunneled under the Brookhurst and Euclid Street arterials. Hundreds recently attended a town meeting on the problem in Seal Beach. Coyotes are frequently seen in the Edison powerline corridors in Huntington Beach. Neither the Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach City Councils have taken action to protect their residents’ property.
We’ve looked into it, and found that the 35-member OC Vector Control Board has no interest in dealing with the problem (as OCVC handles other four-legged pests like racoons, rats and possums) — this Board has paid more attention to $1 million museum exhibits, and chasing the West Nile Virus. Members are paid a $100/meeting stipend — this means it costs taxpayers $3,500 plus OCVC staff time for a board meeting to be held. OCVC’s 2014-15 budget is project at $11,147,220. The agency “employs 55 regular full-time employees and approximately 55 seasonal and 10 extra-help staff annually.”
If asked, we suspect the OCVC Board would respond that, of course, the money isn’t there and they don’t have the staff or expertise to deal with coyotes — in fact, Vector Control recently a posted this notice on their website that their regular work in dealing specifically with rats would be put on hold until mid-November while their resources were reassigned to fighting mosquitoes:
Please note that as of September 3, 2014, all service requests for rat control have been suspended until November 17, 2014.
Orange County has experienced a dramatic increase of West Nile virus infections in humans, birds, and mosquitoes. The situation is serious. As of September 3, 2014, there have been 76 reports of human infections and 3 human deaths in Orange County, all attributed to West Nile virus. West Nile virus is transferred (vectored) from animal-to-animal by infected mosquitoes. Click here for a graphic that explains how it is vectored.
To help combat West Nile virus, most of our field staff have been temporarily reassigned to expand our mosquito control, source identification, neighborhood education, and surveillance activities. As a result, no rat service requests can be taken. At present, rat service is tentatively scheduled to resume on November 17, 2014. Please contact us on or after that date for rat service. Meanwhile, you may wish to purchase and set snap traps in your yard. For assistance, consult our video, A Homeowner’s Guide to Rat Control, and our brochure How to Use Rodent Traps.
Mansoor’s Press Release for his Town Hall is here. He has invited State Fish and Game, and OC Animal Control to attend. We believe he’ll find that neither of these agencies have ANY intention of dealing with coyotes, and will only offer their juvenile, worn-out warnings to not feed them and maintain control of household pets. This was the case when a Fish and Game dweeb spoke to the issue in FV two years ago.
It’s clear that three different, overlapping government agencies (plus the OC Board of Supervisors) won’t deal with an issue that’s as personal to OC residents as a dead, eviscerated family cat. This is a simple and obvious failure of our electeds to deal with a well-publicized problem that’s festered here for years. Allan Mansoor is doing the right thing, but until someone at the top of the food chain takes some accountability for dealing with this issue, there will continue to be no results. That won’t prevent us, however, to continue paying for these government “services.”
Art, you should ask the Steel campaign if they would be interested in having a debate between them and Allan Mansoor. Doubt it would happen since Steel and company are opportunistic cowards seeking higher office at the expense of county residents, but it would be nice for OC voters to know both candidates’ goals for the county.
Great idea but Steel won’t do it.
One can dream:-)
It is a great idea. The debate sponsored by the 405/605 Tea Party unit in 2012 between Travis Allen and Troy Edgar was a great event with some fireworks. It was moderated by Deb Pauley who did a credible job.
John, you should ask team Steel to debate Mansoor too:-)
This is so absurd to think that it is okay to eradicate wild animals that share our living space. What kind of world would we have if we did not have nature that is as it is wild and free. All animals should be protected and we should learn to live with them by making sure we don’t leave garbage accessible and our pets without a safe place to be.
^^ Well said… All animals should be protected and we should learn to live with them !
Animals have a right to live too, we can’t just kill every animal that get in the humans way when we take over their habitat, it would be more human to trap and relocate then to just kill them. If we keep that mindset their will be no more animals on the planet.
John, I am not sure where you get that Vector Control handles raccoons and other “four-legged pests” They are responsible for “Vectors”, the definition is pretty specific at their website. There are four identified at the link you posted. A Coyote is not a vector,nor is a raccoon or possum.
Here’s the definition from their website: “Vectors, as defined by the California Department of Public Health, are “any insect or other arthropod, rodent or other animal of public health significance capable of harboring or transmitting the causative agents of human disease, or capable of causing human discomfort and injury.” Under this definition of a vector, the Orange County Vector Control District (District) provides surveillance and control measures for rats, mosquitoes, flies, and Red Imported Fire Ants.” We see no reason why OCVC could not take on coyotes as they’d be considered an “other animal of public health significance”, especially since they can be rabid. It’s up to their Board which hasn’t got the backbone to deal with them.
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