Residents urge return of $1 million gift to animal shelter; council members say donated funds remain dedicated

Multiple residents told the Sierra Vista City Council on Feb. 27 that a $1 million donation intended for the city animal shelter had been reallocated and should be returned to the shelter.

Speakers at the council’s public-comment period urged the council to honor the donor’s intent and criticized city management for redirecting funds. Diane Connors, Misty Briceno and Joanna Polley each described the $1 million gift and said the donor, identified in comments as Betty Olsen, should be publicly recognized and that the donation should be used for expanded shelter space and related functions.

"Betty's name should be known and the expand and there should be the extra expansion for what Betty's money should go for," Diane Connors said during public comment, urging recognition and that donor funds be used as intended.

Misty Briceno, a longtime volunteer and board member of Friends of the Sierra Vista Animal Shelter, said the decision to reallocate money was made without transparent consultation with donors and had damaged trust. "If city management can simply redirect a $1,000,000 donation at their discretion, what guarantees do we have that future donations won't be misused in the same way?" she said.

Council members responded during the council reports and at other points to clarify how the funding was handled. Councilman Mark Rodriguez said the $1 million donation was applied to the shelter and that the city restored its originally budgeted shelter funds to the general fund after the private donation arrived. "That donation from Miss Olsen was not moved. That's actually being spent at the shelter," Rodriguez said, adding that the city money previously earmarked had been returned to the fund and not spent elsewhere.

Councilwoman Angelica Landry said she had asked questions of city staff and acknowledged strong public emotion; she criticized what she described as a "witch hunt" atmosphere while saying she agreed the city should be transparent and that the expansion moved forward because the shelter needed capacity.

Speakers said the city previously budgeted $2 million for an expansion; those plans were in progress when the private donation arrived, increasing available shelter funds to $3 million on paper, according to public commenters. Commenters said the city later removed $1 million of its own budgeted funds and used only the private donation for the shelter, leaving the city with an apparent $1 million change in how public funds were allocated. Council members disputed that the donor’s gift was taken for another purpose and said recorded city funds were reallocated back into the budget process but that the private donation remains available for the shelter.

The council did not take a formal vote on any action to return or reassign the donation at the meeting. Several council members encouraged further public discussion and indicated the matter would be addressed in subsequent meetings or work sessions.

What’s next: Council members said they will continue the conversation, and several suggested routes including directing staff to provide a clear accounting of shelter funding and working with the Friends of the Animal Shelter and other nonprofits on donation safeguards.