Giving her a broad agenda to improve a city agency under siege, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed the appointment of Brenda Barnette as the city's sixth Animal Services general manager in 10 years.
Barnette is taking over one of the most troubled departments in the city, one whose past leaders have found their homes picketed and their families harassed by activists who want the city to kill fewer animals.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa selected her after a nationwide search and a wide interview process for a job that pays $192,000 a year to oversee a department with 357 workers and an $18.6 million annual budget.
Barnette said one of the lessons she has learned over the years is to include employees in the operations. "We don't need to agree on everything, but I ask that we agree on this: We need to save more animal lives. I have been meeting with community members and heard a lot about plans that are very exciting," she said. "We need to ask the staff about what we can do, involve the people who will make things work and to develop plans that can work."
