Alex Dengolf of the county manager’s office introduced a staff update to the Yolo County Animal Services JPA about governance models and a request for information (RFI) intended to identify potential third-party partners or nonprofit operators who could provide animal-services functions.

Dengolf said the RFI was issued Sept. 1 and that staff have received two responses to date. “The RFI closes October 23,” staff told the JPA, and Dengolf said the county would monitor incoming responses and could extend the deadline if more time is needed to solicit additional submittals.

County staff said the RFI is intentionally simple and checkbox-based to encourage smaller or newer organizations that may not have prior government contracting experience to respond. The RFI asks respondents which services they could provide and how quickly they could be ready; staff said the RFI will be attached to the governance analysis and used to test which JPA operational models are feasible for Yolo County.

Staff also summarized outreach to existing JPAs around California, including Sonoma, Contra Costa, the Inland Empire, Stanislaus, and others, to compare staffing, budgets and operational practices. Staff said the original target was to complete a governance analysis by the end of 2025 and present findings early in 2026; they remain on track but noted the analysis depends in part on RFI responses and follow-up contacts with other JPAs.

Public commenters urged clarity on the RFI’s purpose and structure. Lisa Gaines, a local advocate, said she had previously worked with several JPAs and expressed frustration that the RFI appeared to seek local turnkey operators rather than analyze how a newly formed JPA typically hires a CEO and builds an organization. Gaines said, “I also don't understand the way the RFI is constructed… If anyone read the information that I've presented, and I'm happy to share it once again, most JPAs are not put together with existing organizations. They create a board that then goes in and hires a CEO who then goes in and brings on those people that run an organization.”

Eileen Samitz (spoken as Sammis/Sammis in the record), a long-time volunteer, told the board local volunteer groups do not have the funding or staffing to operate a shelter and cautioned against expecting nonprofits to assume full operational control: “They don't have the resources. They don't have the time. They don't have the money to run to help run the shelter.”

Staff described next steps: compile RFI responses, attach them to the governance analysis, continue outreach to potential partners and to other JPAs for comparative data, and present a final governance analysis to the Board of Supervisors and the JPA for feedback. Staff said they would consider extending the RFI deadline if responses remain low.