How Did Richard Gentles End Up at NYC's Animal Care and Control? (And how did he manage to get a raise during budget cuts!)

I came across this recent blog post, authored by fellow animal activist John Sibley.

In it, John mentions (and links to proof) that Richard Gentles was arrested on felony charges while working in the Parks Department, under Commissioner Adrien Benepe. Here is the "money" part of the PR about his arrest -


Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the arrest of the Director of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Enforcement for lying on an affidavit which he stated that "he had no relatives or friends taking an exam for Associate Urban Park Ranger (AUPR)." The defendant's fiancée, who is also a DPR employee, took the exam and received an above-average score.
The defendant, RICHARD GENTLES, 40 of Staten Island, has been charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony which is punishable by up to four years in prison.

I can only guess is that Richard didn't consider his fiancee, with whom he lived with at the time, his friend.

We know that Richard ended up at NYC's Animal Care and Control (The "AC&C"), and has been there ever since. We also know that Adrian Benepe is also a Board member of NYC's Animal Care and Control (though you wouldn't know it by his lack of attendance at the meetings). We also know that Sara Hobel was a friend of Gentles, and was a Director at the NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation. Hmmm...

What we don't know is what happened to those charges? Anyone? 


Actually, according to this lawsuit, which the AC&C lost (for racial discrimination), it appears as though Gentles pled guilty to the charge, which makes his employment at the AC&C even more curious.

Something in the lawsuit even makes his hiring even more bizarre...

Plaintiff also submits evidence that he was substantially more qualified than Gentles for the Director of Operations position. Plaintiff states that Gentles had no experience with animals, and highlights Gentles' admission that his "only experience with veterinary personnel was when he took his pets to the veterinarian."

So, he was just arrested and pled guilty to a felony AND admitted that he had no prior experience with animals an yet, he was hired as Director Of Operations of an animal shelter (of course, not just any animal shelter, but the largest pet organization in the Northeast!)????

And the lawsuit seems pretty sure about how Gentles got his job...

Plaintiff also submits evidence that Gentles had a close relationship with ACC Board Member, Sara Hobel ("Hobel"), and that she recommended Gentles to Boks

What else do we know about Richard?


We know that sometime in their 2009 fiscal year (which ended on 6/30/10), Richard got a RAISE, from $104K in base salary to $116K - This, mind you, was at a time when the AC&C was in dire financial straits, employees were being fired and services were being cut. Ironically, the interim director at the time, Risa Weinstock, was making these budget cuts, under Richard's guidance no less, as she hadn't a clue.

And, oh yeah, in their 2009 fiscal year, Richard also received $13,590 in "other compensation." I don't know what constitutes "other compensation" but I gotta ask my job why I don't qualify for "other compensation."

(BTW - Info from their 2010 fiscal year, which ended 6/30/11, is STILL not online)

By the way, he also gets use of a company car, which makes a lot of sense too. It's not like the city is navigable by public transportation.

He also changed responsibilities during this time period, moving from day to day responsibility for operations of the shelters, into development/fundraising (I'd LOVE to hear how that move warranted a raise, especially considering he also got an assistant out of it, something he has always clamored for, since he arrived at the AC&C. In fact, one volunteer confided that he was upset because had several assistants in his previous job but none in this one.).

Speaking of assistants, all of his assistants have been attractive young women...but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

How do the people under him see him? Well, one volunteer described him as an "entitled, smug jackass" and added "He's exactly what you'd imagine -- a snake, two-faced, a diva."

Why does this person think so little of Richard's work ethic? Here are a few examples -

1 - He promised, and then failed, to thank major food donors on the website.
2 - He promised, and then failed, to create a "feel good" thank you presentation showing staff giving out blankets after an unprecedented flow of donations.
3 -His last couple of hires to add volunteers included one woman who wouldn't train anyone and Elisabeth Manwiller, a former waitress and actress, whose first move was to shut down the volunteer program. During that summer, she was redirected to assist Gentles on offsite events.

Oh, also, he discouraged press, including a reporter from NPR, from covering the compassion program (which deals with volunteers who make animals on the euth list have one last great day on earth), in favor of doing interviews with Julie Bank.

Other quotes about Gentles from volunteers - "The most maddening thing about Gentles is not his laziness or his stupidity but the fact that he gets raises when key hard working people get laid off" and "He is completely useless" and "We call him Genitals" (!?!)

 On the bright side for Richard, he sits on the BOD of Stop the Silence, certainly a worthy charity, though I have to say, his bio on the website is pretty entertaining....

 Richard Gentles, Special Advisor - New York, NY Richard is a highly qualified Executive who brings proven leadership, operations, administration, fundraising, media relations, financial management, and strategic planning capabilities to Stop the Silence. He is a visionary with strong interpersonal communication and team building skills.  Richard has worked since 2003 in various positions with and current as the Director of Development and Communications for Animal Care & Control of NYC in New York, NY (formerly, he was the Director of Administration and the Director of Operations, and thus also brings expertise in areas of staff supervision, budgeting, etc.). His work includes operations, human resources, development and fundraising, the volunteer program, special events, field operations and facilities management. As the Director of Development and Communications, Richard heads a new Development Department of the Animal Care & Control, which raised over $1.4 million in the first year. He plans and manages several successful fund raising events and four direct mail campaigns per year and brought in 6,000 new donors in less than a year and a significant increase in shelter donations over previous years, as well as secured over $3 million in capital funding, managed several multi-million dollar capital projects working closely with the City, and increased numerous partnerships and initiatives. He played an active role in revamping and expanding the volunteer program to include over 500 volunteers. Richard directs all aspects of media relations for Animal Care & Control and has been enormously successful at creating and implementing proactive communication strategies based on organizational success as well as external factors, including his monthly appearances in The Today Show’s “Bow to Wow” segment. He is responsible for new marketing materials including a logo, website, brochures and flyers, and three monthly newsletters...

So, he is a "visionary with strong interpersonal communication and team building skills"
Huh? I'm guessing that most of the staff at the AC&C would have a good laugh at that one (as the volunteers that I quoted did.)

He also takes credit for over $1.4MM in fundraising! I would LOVE to hear how he came up with that figure, I HOPE he's not including Mayor's Alliance, Maddie's Fund monies, or monies SI Borough President Guy Molinari raised for the Staten Island shelter as he had zero to do with any of it. 

He claims to have played an active role in revamping and expanding the volunteer program to include over 500 volunteers!! When I asked a volunteer if this is true, she laughed (most laugh when I ask about any of Richard's "accomplishments")...She's love to know where he's hiding those 500 cause they sure as heck ain't at the shelters.

I wrote to Richard asking for his comments on the felony arrest as well as his bio claims. As of now, he hasn't gotten back to me, though even if he did, why should we believe him?

Harris Bloom
President/Founder
www.stewietotherescue.org

An Open Letter To Speaker Sheldon Silver

Speaker Silver,

I'm sure that by now you've not only heard from hundreds (thousands?) of people regarding bill No. A05449A, that was sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin.

I'm not going to bother explaining to you why it's a poor bill, especially when there is a much better bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Micah Kellner, that has been circulating for months, because I'm sure that you've already heard the pros and cons of both bills (and by much smarter people than I!)

Actually, I merely have questions - Questions that I have asked the ASPCA but they have not answered. I am hoping that you can get an answer -

1 - Why did the ASPCA decide to suddenly write a bill when there was a bill designed to save more animals, and help make better shelters already written? It's almost like they are begging for us to compare them and I'm sure that you will.

2 - If they didn't like aspects Assemblyman Kellner's bill, why didn't they work with Assemblyman Kellner to re-work his? I don't know Mr. Kellner, but I'm guessing he knows that most (all?) bills are passed after differing sides compromise.

3 - Why did the ASPCA craft its bill (and let's face it, it's THEIR bill) on its own, without discussing its contents with any of the other leading rescue groups. Already, several large groups (including the highly respected national organization Best Friends Animal Society) have come out diametrically opposed to it, while supporting CAARA (Assemblyman Kellner's bill)

4 - The ASPCA has already said they are in the process of changing the wording of their bill, and that they can understand why people are "freaking out" (this is what their representative told me on their Facebook page). The obvious question is why didn't they realize that it was so poorly written before? Why were they in such a rush to get this passed (before Assemblyman Kellner's bill) that not one person who read it in their organization realized what their bill would mean? I mean, why didn't it freak any of them out?

Furthermore, they have not said that they are changing the wording of the part of their bill that gives shelters the right to not work with certain rescue groups. They claim it is due to hoarding concerns but in reality, here in NYC, that would result in the already notoriously difficult-to-work-with regime more difficult to work with as they (Julie Bank, the executive director, specifically) have already threatened the access of rescue groups, solely for speaking out about conditions that they've witnessed within the shelters.

Are they going to amend that part too?

5 - And finally, why are the vast majority of the animal rescue community/advocates for CAARA and against the ASPCA bill, while the only groups that I hear supporting the ASPCA bill are shelters that have high kill rates?

I think you for taking the time to read this, and hope that with your position that you can get the answers that I couldn't.

Respectfully Yours,

Harris Bloom

Upper East Side Working Mom Lets The AC&C Board Have It!

I wasn't the only one giving it to the NYC Animal Care and Control Board at their meeting last week -

Here's self-described Upper East Side Working Mom Felicia Greenfield giving it to 'em...

Great job Felicia!!!

Rock On,

Harris Bloom
President/Founder
www.stewietotherescue.org

How Being Involved In Animal Rescue Affects Reading To My Baby

My wife and I have a one year old thirteen month old daughter named Zadie at home and we've started to read to her. Gotta tell you, it's tough not to get into "Animal Rescue Mode" with some of these books....

"'Who's behind the comfy blankets?!?' (Turns page) 'Playful Puppies!! Woof woof!!' I assume these pups aren't at a puppy mill in Lancaster or there's no way the business owners would allow them out of their feces strewn cages! In fact, they'd be bred until no longer serviceable at which point they would be killed!"

"'A baby horse is called a foal!' I'm not sure where this takes place but I hope this foal doesn't end up as a carriage horse in NYC, where she will be expected to work for long hours in extreme temperatures and then have to make it back to the stable on Manhattan's West Side, navigating past rush hour traffic to do so!"

"'The cow goes 'Moooooo!' But not for long as there's a good chance it will end up on a dinner plate! Do you know what you aren't seeing in this picture? Animals killed for food are neglected, kept in filthy conditions, and often slaughtered in painful ways, such as having their throats cut while fully conscious."

 What? You want mommy to read from now on?

Harris Bloom

Oooops, I Did It Again!

Here's the vid of me at the latest NYC Animal Care and Control Board of Directors meeting (They may not let me in anymore, between this and the last time)...

My Review of the NYC Animal Care and (Mostly) Control Board Meeting - January 31, 2012

Yesterday, I attended my second NYC Animal Care and Mostly Control (AC&C) BOD meeting. I made a bit of a splash at the last one, making over 700 new Facebook friends (97% women...my wife loves it!).

How did this one go? Read on...

First of all, the Powers That Be at the AC&C gave us about a week's notice. Of course they knew when they were to meet before that, but they wanted to ensure as weak a turnout as possible. And even then, it was posted in a section of their website that a forensic scientist couldn't find. Well played AC&C!

I got there at 8:30 AM for the 10:00 AM meeting for two reasons -

1. The last meeting was a bit of a clusterfcuk as many who did not get there early were unable to get in. Now, while I knew this meeting was in a larger room, I was still worried that the animal rescue community would should up in droves in spite of the AC&C's best efforts, and

2. Since they were allowing public comments on a first come-first served basis, and the amount of time allocated to public comments was shorter than usual, I wanted to make sure that I had my say...

To my shock, I was the first person there. Friend and Shelter Reform Action Committee Executive Esther Koslow soon joined me. It soon became obvious to me that for whatever reason, turnout amongst the animal rescue community would be down from the previous year. Some blamed the time, but as I recall, last years' was also in the middle of a workday, no?

The unfortunate thing is that some people on Facebook spend a lot of time wondering how to create a buzz about our mission, and here we were, with media in the room (I saw someone from The Daily News), a perfect opportunity to be heard, and few showed up. Then again, I can't blame people who need to work to survive (I took a half of a vacation day from my job - some vacation day!)

The BOD agreed to amend it's by-laws, as required by new law, to admit two new Board members. They didn't announce who these people will be but I'm sure these two two members will be completely independent animal lovers and vote according to their heart. Ahem...

Then we were treated to Julie Bank telling us about the state of the shelter. One fascinating aspect was how she explained that intakes were dramatically down over the past year or two, and euthanasia was down (btw - her speech will be on YouTube soon). She neglected to mention that in the middle of 2010, the AC&C stopped rescuing cats and cut its field operations in general. I'm no genius, but I'm guessing this would result in fewer intakes, and therefore, fewer animals to be euthanized. I wouldn't expect her to mention that, nor would I expect the Board to question her about. I wasn't disappointed.

Then again, the BOD had zero questions for ANYONE who spoke, including Julie, their internal accountant and external auditor. I'd like to think it's because they are always questioning Julie and her cohorts, but I know better.

One bright spot of the poor community support was the amount of respect given to the various speakers. Last time, there were a lot of interruptions, and quite frankly, even though I understand our frustrations, it was a little embarrassing and unproductive.

Another bright spot was the quality of speakers when we reached the public comment part. My speech (rant?) will be on YouTube shortly, but there were several extremely eloquent and heartfelt speakers, including a woman from (I think) Second Chance Rescue (who brought the ashes of a dog she rescued from the AC&C that was healthy when going in, but had parvo upon exiting), a mom and dog owner from the Upper East Side (that's how she described herself), and someone who simply wanted to adopt a dog from the AC&C, and got such a runaround, you'd think the staff there gets paid according to how many people they can anger.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that although the BOD sat in stone-faced silence the entire meeting, no matter who was speaking, that Patrick Nolan and Bruce Doniger came into the audience after the meeting was over, and actually seemed to listen to people who wanted a minute of their time. It's kind of bizarre that I would feel the need to mention that (It's kinda like when we're shocked when a professional athlete or famous actor does something "nice"), but I guess it's something.

Rock On,

Harris Bloom
President/Founder
www.stewietotherescue.org

A Plea To New York's Animal Rescue Community

As we all know (or should by now), this upcoming Tuesday is the Board meeting of the New York City Animal Care And Control's Board of Directors.

Yes, they waited until the last second to post this.
Yes, they have cut down the amount of time allocated for speakers.
Yes, they have cut the time for each individual speaker.

My response?


There is nothing we can do about it so I am not going to get up into a lather over it.

I will say this - Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. I don't think we did ourselves any favors by talking over the speakers, or heckling them. If you don't want to listen to me, fine, I'm no one.

But, I know a lot of you follow Nathan Winograd and his (I think it's his) "No Kill Equation." I'd like to point out Step Three (page 8). What's the first item listed under "Fight Smart?"

Be Professional.

"One of the most important aspects of No Kill advocacy is to be professional at all times, including in your appearance, preparation, presentations, and communications."

Think about it. What good do you hope to accomplish by shouting down Farley or Bank? Any press that is there will refer to us unruly fringe-type activists, cause that's what's going to sell newspapers. Not only that, but it will give Farley ammunition to further limit our rights at these meetings.

You wanna scream about Bank claiming euthanasia is down, do it on Facebook. You wanna heckle Farley when he commends Bank on a job well done, write down your frustration, write an op-ed about it, and send it to a newspaper. You wanna laugh when Bank talks about how great their tea is selling, well, okay, laugh, cause that would be pretty funny.

I know it's hard, but for the animals sake, try to be respectful...even if you don't think they deserve it.

See you there...

Harris Bloom
President/Founder/Wet Blanket
www.stewietotherescue.org

The ASPCA Does It Again...

There is a current uproar about a cat named Gloria. If your not familiar with the story, advocate John Sibley wrote about the situation here and updated it here.

Thanks to the power of the Internet, everyone has become aware of it. Who knows what kinda crap they pulled before there was a Facebook? I will say that everyone I have ever spoken to who has worked there,  has told me that while they obviously do some good, they do a lot of bad, and overall, their experience was disillusioning. This is besides how they cherry pick the animals that they choose to take from the AC&C.

None of this should be a shocker to me, not after I found out the reason why they left the NYC shelter system in shambles was due to public relations.

Read this article from the NY Times in 1993.

It seems to me that they did exactly the opposite of what you'd expect (hope?) that they'd do - There was a situation in crisis, and rather than help, they choose to leave.

Seriously, think about what they did for a second... (I'll wait)...

Rather than work to create a better shelter system, they told NYC to drop dead, much as they have recently. Why? It was costing them donations.

Take a gander at this quote from them the ASPCA's then President -

"Philosophically, it's a nightmare to kill 30,000 to 40,000 animals a year," Mr. Caras said. "That's not our mission."


Exactly whose mission is it to kill 30,000 to 40,000 animals a year (besides McDonald's)? They ran the shelter (and others) since 1894 and in all those years, they couldn't come up with ANY workable ideas?!? They kept the status quo and once they saw how much it was hurting their coffers, they left. And then, right after is this lovely quote...


In addition, he said, being perceived as an animal killer has crippled the society's fund-raising... 

My guess is that the "in addition" is the EXACT reason why they cut bait and ran.

With all of this history, how can anyone take these clowns seriously? Why would anyone want to donate money to an animal rights organization that won't fight for the animals when the going gets tough? How long will it take for the public to see through their commercials?

Harris Bloom
President/Founder
www.stewietotherescue.org

You Have 60 Seconds...Go!

I was taking a look at the No-Kill guide to reforming shelters on your area  and I saw something that interested me..

"Focus your message so succinctly that you could tell a complete stranger everything they need to know in 60 seconds."

I agree, as I have at times come across people interested in whats going on with our shelter thanks to my Facebook/You Tube posts, but can't tell the story without, well, telling a story.

How would YOU tell a stranger our problem with the NYC AC&C in 60 seconds?

Go!

Harris Bloom
Founder/President/Bon Vivant
www.stewietotherescue.org

You Are Julie Bank! (A New Series!)

Okay, so Julie Bank's contract is up in a couple of months and there's a good chance she's gonna get a new one. That would mean another two years of Julie.

What does that mean for us? 

Well, my guess is two more years of adversarial relationships between Animal Care and Control (AC&C) management and the rescue community (if you're new here, just read some older blogs with "Julie Bank" tags). Actually, that's a pretty educated guess.

We know nothing's going to change in a big way until NYC divests itself of the ACC (can anyone tell me why they are so headstrong on keeping it?), but let's put that aside for now. I think that will happen but not in the foreseeable future (meaning two years). So, we're stuck with the DOH and Julie. With that in mind, let's look at the here and now, as animals are needlessly dying due to actions that the AC&C has taken (or not taken) that just seem like no-brainers (pun intended). 

This series of blogs is intended to come up with solutions to some of the issues that we have with the AC&C in a way that would help the animals and also help Julie save face (and like I said in my previous blog, I really don't care if she takes credit for implementing others' ideas - All I care about is the animals).

So, let's start....

As I mentioned on Facebook recently, I have no idea why, not only doesn't the AC&C market its animals on Facebook, but actually impedes Urgent Part 2, who does! (By the way, my monthly animal rescue fundraiser will be mostly to assist Urgent on February 15th at Gotham Comedy Club). I think it's pretty indisputable that the social networks have played a major part in animal rescue and there's no reason why the AC&C shouldn't be on there.

Well, there is one reason.

Having a FB page that allowed people to comment (and they would have to allow people to comment on the various animals' posts) would open the floodgates to hundreds (thousands?) of nasty posts a day by people not willing to give the AC&C the benefit of the doubt.

The solution?

How about if, instead of fighting Urgent, they actually helped them by feeding them info willingly? News of that change would certainly get out, and while it wouldn't change most peoples' opinions about Julie or the AC&C, it would be an olive branch that some may accept as good faith for the sake of the animals. Best of all as far as the DOH is concerned, it wouldnt cost a cent!

What do you think?

Harris Bloom

Grand Poobah

www.stewietotherescue.org