Welcome to the Official Website of Summit County Animal Rights Enforcement.  

Also known as:   SCARE

Akron, OH.  Summit County

Voice of the People

Appointment is no laughing matter

Is this a joke? To resolve the abject cruelty that occurs in the taxpayer-provided Summit County animal shelter, the county executive, James McCarthy, hires a 23-year-old with little education and no experience to be its director?

I don't think nepotism is the answer to animal cruelty. I doubt this woman will have any idea how to correct the systemic pathology of this shelter. But the $61,000 annual salary she'll be earning will make sure she keeps her mouth shut about anything and everything she sees.

McCarthy said the biggest problem at the shelter is ``making sure employees do what they're supposed to do, and Chrissy (Congrove) has those skills.'' No, the biggest problem is that they don't have a clue how to properly handle the animals, and they kill most of them within 24 hours after arrival.

My understanding is that two qualified veterinarian technicians applied for the director job but were never granted interviews. McCarthy and Congrove's family -- her father is County Councilman Dan Congrove -- must be the only ones in Summit County satisfied with this appointment.

Susan Fowler

Broadview Heights

Appalling appointment

I am appalled that a county as large as Summit would place Christine Congrove in an upper-management position such as director of animal control.

The controversy certainly is not about gender, age or money. It is strictly a lack of qualifications, experience and education.

Perhaps Summit County Executive James McCarthy is a little too close to the situation hiring ``Chrissy.''

Ken Dixon Jr.

Tallmadge

Posted on Mon, Mar. 20, 2006

Not ready for prime time

As a longtime animal rescuer from the Summit County Animal Shelter, I have to object strongly to the hiring of Christine Congrove as the shelter's new director.

The shelter has been plagued with problems for years and has seen a constant turnover of directors. This fact alone should tell Summit County Executive James McCarthy that it is more important now than ever to bring in a true professional with an animal-related degree and shelter experience.

There are so many capable people in this state who would willingly apply for this position in Summit Count. It is a slap in the face to taxpayers and a real slap in the face to the hardworking animal rescuers who have tried so long to improve conditions at this shelter.

If Congrove were truly interested in an animal shelter career, she already would have logged volunteer hours with a shelter and taken animal-related classes. She had a chance to make a difference several years ago, when she worked at the shelter as a secretary and saw many problems there. With her father's influential position on the County Council, the two of them alone could have made a difference in the conditions there. Instead, she has been on the receiving end of three well-paying county jobs for which she had questionable qualifications, while problems at the shelter have persisted.

Summit County residents need to support the county council's merit-hiring proposal, which would force McCarthy to award jobs to the most qualified people -- not to his political friends and relatives. County employees are paid by tax dollars, and we taxpayers deserve to get the most for our hard-earned money.

The county's pet owners should also be concerned about conditions at the shelter, as their beloved animals could accidentally get loose and end up there.

Linda Gilliland

Akron

Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006

No experience necessary?

I read with interest the news of Christine Congrove's appointment to the position of Summit County's animal control director (``Animal control director named,'' Beacon Journal, March 8). As a 23-year-old, I find it vaguely comforting that I may at any time have a $61,000-a-year job handed to me on a silver platter... unless my education disqualifies me.

I do wonder:

• Why, if this job is so easy, is the county paying this salary? I say ``easy'' because, by all accounts, it doesn't require any education, any previous experience outside of secretarial, and according to both Christine Congrove and her appointer, Summit County Executive James McCarthy, it is a matter of adhering to policies already in place. McCarthy has laid it out as a management position. If this is true, I believe the county is wasting resources.

• What is the county policy for filling vacancies? It's hard to swallow that such a highly paid position, which is nevertheless management and requires no specific skills, was filled by appointment. Why weren't other applicants considered? Congrove, a former county sheriff's deputy, may be able to handle this job with her abilities, but why not at least have allowed competition?

It may be that her lack of experience and so forth is not a problem, but shouldn't she at least have been compared to other candidates who may have been better qualified?

Think about the number of people in our area (many with more education, more work experience, more life experience) who are searching for good jobs. This is a salary higher than most adults in the area ever expect to earn. It's a shame that McCarthy is trying to make this a controversy over age and gender. To me, the issue is that the job was handed away to someone with no special qualifications outside of being able to -- as her father, County Councilman Dan Congrove put it -- tell ``43 men when they could eat, sleep and go to the bathroom.'' For $61,000 a year, I think most of us could learn.

Vera Biller

Credentials irrelevant in the patronage game

How does that old saying go... ``It's not what you know but who you know''? It could not have rung truer than in the March 8 story headlined ``Animal control director named.''

I don't think a bachelor's in animal control laws or an associate degree in administrative assistance could've stood against being Summit County Councilman Dan Congrove's 23-year-old daughter. Her credentials were that she ``attended'' the University of Akron, graduated from police academy and is permitted to carry a gun -- a good thing, since, according to County Executive James McCarthy, who hired ``Chrissy,'' her priorities on her new $61,000-a-year job will be to make sure the staff follows proper procedure and to offer vouchers for spaying and neutering to people who adopt animals from the county facility.

McCarthy also mentioned that the position does not require previous hands-on experience with animals, which was lucky for Chrissy, as she doesn't have any.

Ironically, months before his daughter was hired, Congrove was -- according to the article -- ``the lone vote to support McCarthy's bid to hire a Cleveland law firm for labor negotiations.'' Hmm. I think these animals have a case of ``I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.''

Jennifer Kline

Akron

Shelter should be run by a professional

When will Summit County Executive James McCarthy realize that until he hires a professional to run his animal shelter, his problems will continue? Hiring a county councilman's 23-year-old daughter, who is a former secretary with six months experience as a jailer, is no substitute for advertising this position and hiring a real shelter director. The Summit County Animal Shelter is not a facility to be used to reward friends and associates with well-paying jobs -- funded by tax dollars.

The shelter director job is a very well-paid position, which would attract some highly qualified people in this area. In fact, looking at past application records, it has been revealed that two female veterinarian technicians actually applied for this job but were never granted an interview. When will the taxpayers of this county stand up and demand the best value for their dollars?

Summit County animals have been under the care of cronies and unqualified friends of the county administration for too long. I have very little hope that a 23-year-old former secretary/jailer with no shelter or animal experience will be able to make any difference in how they're treated.

And for Summit County Councilman Dan Congrove, who boasted that his daughter supervised a jail pod with 43 men in it: If she was so successful at it, why did she leave after just six months? There are plenty of strong young men and women in law enforcement at her age doing fine jobs. It doesn't mean they would be able to run a large and troubled animal shelter. We deserve better, and so do the animals.

Anna Romito

Akron

HOME