MIDLAND, Texas — Things got pretty heated at Tuesday morning's Midland City Council meeting, once public comments were allowed on an item pertaining to policies at the city's animal services.
Former Animal Services Manager Ty Coleman took to the podium twice to express how he felt.
"I was speaking briefly on the agenda item for animal services policies, and I was questioning what the policy is for animals brought to the shelter, because we did have an animal that died in a city truck," said Coleman. "And so when I found out about that, I was appalled because when I was leadership there, that wasn’t a thing. As soon as an animal was picked up, it was brought to the shelter. We know how the heat is in West Texas, most vehicles don’t have AC."
Even though he was terminated months ago, he spoke on his time in the shelter and the need for policies.
"You know, there’s no policies in place, that’s the sad thing," said Coleman. "When I got to the shelter, it was under staffed, there was not a single policy in place, everybody was doing what they wanted to do. And so, I’m having to make policies on the fly, while working in the kennels with the staff because we’re short staffed."
These are all reasons Coleman would like to see changes made.
"You know, I really hope that city council realizes the need and how important animal services is to the community," said Coleman.
Coleman was met with many responses from councilmembers and city staff during his comments.
"When you address council, we ask that y’all address the agenda items and address us with respect and our staff," said councilman Dan Corrales. "We are here to perform customer service for taxpayers professionally. There are things that were communicated where it was clear he was disgruntled. But how is that going to help us move forward in a positive way? And that’s what I like to communicate with everyone, when you come up and speak to council, do it in a positive way that helps us get to the goal."
Coleman was not the only concerned resident to speak on the matter.
"Well, I just think it’s really important that they change the policy out there, and that things start to happen," said Midland resident Janet Harris. "I mean, they’re real good about putting things off and not addressing things that need to be changed."
"I know that there’s a lot of discovery to be made when it comes to animal services, and my hopes are that they will be able to explore these issues and hopefully have an improvement in our city," said Midland resident Shelley Almuina.