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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - October 5, 1992 Page - 2 - PUBLIC COMMENTS (continued) C. Tony Santos, 14495 Nassau Road, noted Congress had overridden President Bush's veto on re-regulation of Cable TV. Mr. Santos also noted that he has just come back from a month in Germany, and he said he no sooner came back to California than he opened a Munich newspaper and found an article on Mayor Karp and the City of San Leandro, talking about earthquake problems and the City's emergency program. D. Kathleen Jensen, 14525 Flagship Street, said she is with In Defense of Animals. She said the group gave the City a proposal and the City said they would take it into consideration, but within a matter of days the squirrels had been poisoned. She asked why this had been done. Mayor Karp said the proposal had been given to Kathy Ornelas. He suggested that everyone work together in a pro-active and positive way to make sure this type of action does not need to be taken in the future. E. Dr. Elliot Katz, President of In Defense of Animals, said the poisoning was a tragedy. He said hundreds of animals died. He said there was not a crisis situation and the poisoning could have waited. He said he met with Kathy Ornelas, Lt. Bischoff, and others on the Friday prior to the poisoning and was not given a clear answer when he asked what the time line was for the poisoning. He said he was asked if he would still work with the City in the future to prevent this kind of thing from happening. He said he did not feel his proposal was adequately reviewed. He said he had numerous calls from people who are very upset because they felt the City would work with them on this matter and it did not. He said people love animals and the squirrels are the reason many people patronize the Marina area. He said, however, he would work with the City in the hopes that the City will see that they made a mistake and will develop alternative programs so this type of action will not take place in the future. He also said his group was having an attorney prepare a letter for the City's signature, guaranteeing that poisoning of the squirrels would not take place again. Kathy Ornelas, Community Relations Representative, said the City is trying to work on an agreement that would not be so restrictive that flea control could not be performed and said the agreement would be shown to the City Attorney. Council Member Perry said that Dr. Katz' assistance in determining the number of animals the habitat can support would be appreciated. She said there was concern regarding rats and disease control in the area, and there is also concern regarding feral cats. She said she would like to see a positive solution to those issues.