Tuesday evening’s Lubbock City Council meeting featured debate on several hotly contested issues ranging from public health policy to animal services.
Top among those items was a discussion about the future of Lubbock Public Health and its guiding plan, which yielded numerous citizens comments in Tuesday’s meeting after several council members expressed reservations last month.
Another hotly debated item was concerns over proposed changes at the Lubbock Animal Shelter that would limit the number of pets citizens could own and divert funds from a grant to fund an animal control officer position.
Here is what you need to know from this week’s city council meeting.
City approves federal lobbying on behalf of Lubbock airport
Councilmember David Glasheen requested that an item be moved from the agenda’s consent for further discussion.
The item pertained to the city contracting a federal lobbying agency on behalf of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport in lieu of the incoming Trump Presidential administration and potential changes in funding priorities.
Glasheen said he had some heartburn paying $99,000 a year to a lobbying firm, arguing “taxpayer-funded lobbying is not a very transparent process” with a potential for mismanagement.
Councilmember Christy Martinez-Garcia said she had done lobbying work before and that it is needed since navigating Washington, D.C. is not the easiest thing and that the firm has “people that are there that know the system, know how things work.”
The agenda item passed 6-1.
City council, community clashes over public health department, plans
One of the items that drew significant public comment was a discussion about Lubbock Public Health’s proposed Community Health Needs Assessment.
For context, the CHIP plan would help guide Lubbock Public Health — formerly the Lubbock Health Department — in addressing key issues the assessment identified.
Previous Reporting: Lubbock City Council poised to clash on health department’s future plans
Glasheen said he opposed the CHIP plan because it builds on the redundancy of health programs and aid done by other agencies he thinks are more than capable of supporting Lubbock’s needs.
However, Councilmembers Martinez-Garcia and Tim Collins led arguments in support of the plan, which ultimately passed 6-1.
Council at odds over appropriating funds for the Lubbock Animal Shelter
Glasheen presented a proposal he said would divert funds from a fence material purchase grant program to fund a field officer position at Lubbock Animal Services. The amendment showed about $71,000 would be allocated to fund a new field officer position along with supplies and other costs.
The councilman argued the fence grant is a version of socialism — with the grant providing community members with the materials needed to build fences for their pets.
Again, Councilmember Martinez-Garcia raised objections, calling upon the LAS director to answer a few questions:
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How many animal control officer potions are open? Two, three if the item passed.
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Does the grant program help officers currently out in the community? Yes.
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What position would help LAS become more efficient? An intake officer.
After a heated discussion, the item failed 2-5.
Another item pertaining to animals in Lubbock presented by Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Wilson originally amended Article 4.01.006 of the city ordinances to require breeding permits and the amount of liability insurance required to keep a dangerous dog and limit the number of pets citizens can have.
However, after extensive discussion about the fear of further burdening law-abiding citizens, the item was amended to only the breeding permit change and the livability insurance required and passed 4-3.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock City Council considers animal services, public health items