Members of the Partners for Animal Welfare Society say they were ready to pay for building a chain-link fence to be used as an exercise area for dogs held at the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter,

Then, they suddenly got the word to stop.

PAWS President Misti Stewart said that PAWS had worked with Pittsburg County Animal Shelter Director Tracy Berg-Dalmont on plans to build the exercise yard.

Stewart said the money had been raised and the project was ready to go until she got the word that Pittsburg County District 2 Commissioner Kevin Smith said to stop it.

“We got the money and were ready to do it,” Stewart said. She said PAWS had already accepted bids on the project.

“We were ready to write the check,” Stewart said.

“As soon as a I e-mailed Tracy to get the final approval I was told Kevin said “no.”

Meanwhile, county payroll records obtained by the News-Capital show that Smith’s wife, Pam Smith, is paid $1,275 twice a month as an employee of the animal shelter.

The News-Capital contacted the animal shelter on Friday and asked to talk to the director. Shelter employee Lauretta Fontaine said the director had reported being ill and was not at work.

Asked to contact Berg-Dalmont at home to see if she felt well enough to talk to the News-Capital, Fontaine said she would.

The News-Capital then got a phone call a short time later, but it was not from the animal shelter director — it was from Kevin Smith.

Smith said he had heard the News-Capital wanted to talk to the shelter director; he knew she was ill, so he phoned to see if he could help.

Asked if he had stopped PAWS’ plans to build an exercise yard at the county animal shelter, Smith said he had.

“Basically, we found out they were going to do it on county property. The commissioners didn’t know anything about it,” Smith said.

He noted that there is already a fenced area adjacent to the shelter.

“It didn’t make any sense to us,” Smith said of plans to fence another area.

Asked how he learned about PAWS’ hopes to build the fence in the first place, Smith said “I heard it through the grapevine.”

“I said ‘Wait a minute.’ I told the director they needed to come and talk to us.”

Smith also confirmed that his wife works at the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter.

“She does whatever needs to be done,” Smith said, relating how his wife handles a variety of tasks at the county facility.

The three Pittsburg County commissioners — Smith, District One Commissioner Gene Rogers and District 3 Commissioner Donald Mathis — also serve as the three voting members of the Pittsburg County Economic Development Authority, which oversees the distribution of money collected from the portion of the county sales tax, which funds the animal shelter.

The three commissioners are in effect the supervisors of the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter director, since they have the final say on hiring or firing her. An animal shelter board is also in place.

Does Smith see a possible conflict of interest, with him being a county commissioner and his wife working for the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter?

“I don’t see a thing in the world wrong with it,” he said. “She did some volunteer work and she put in her resume.”

Smith said that District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller had issued an opinion for Berg-Dalmont, which said that Smith’s wife could work at the facility, since Smith does not directly supervise her.

“Basically, nepotism doesn’t fall in as long she isn’t management, as long as she’s under Tracy’s supervision,” Smith said.

Does Smith see any problem since he has directly supervised his wife’s supervisor?

“No, she doesn’t have anything to do with any decisions. She had no decision-making over there,” Smith said.

Smith said that actually, the animal shelter director is supervised by the board, not individual county commissioners.

Asked later if he had brought the decision to stop PAWS’ planned fence project before the board, Smith said he had not.

Also asked if he knew of the matter being brought before the board by anyone, Smith said not to his knowledge.

A phone call to District Attorney Miller to ask about the legal opinion regarding the employment of Smith’s wife apparently was not returned as this article was being prepared for publication.

So how did Smith come to call the News-Capital when a message had been left at the animal shelter for the shelter director?

Smith said an animal shelter employee called him. Since he had the director’s number, he tried to contact her, he said. When he couldn’t reach her, he called to see if he could be of help.

Smith said the employee who called him wasn’t his wife.

Meanwhile, another apparent source of contention is newspaper ads offering animals for adoption, either at the Pittsburg County Animal or through PAWS. Animals with both entities are often featured in the same ad.

Smith said he feels a lot of people get the two confused.

PAWS is a private non-profit organization dedicated to helping animals. Its members have done everything from help find adoptive homes for hundreds of animals to support a push for the state to regulate so-called puppy mills.

PAWS also supports the spaying and neutering of animals, both educationally and financially and, when possible, finds foster homes for pets to stay in until they can be adopted.

Members of PAWS were instrumental in helping convince voters in Pittsburg County to pass the portion of the county sales tax used to build and fund the new Pittsburg County Animal Shelter.

The shelter, of course, is the building paid for through a portion of the sales tax. Animal shelter employees are, in essence, county employees and paid with money collected through a portion of the county sales tax.

The two entities have a history of working together.

Asked about the ad contention, Smith said he would like for the two entities to have separate newspaper ads.

The county commissioner said that as a governmental entity, the county has to follow different regulations than PAWS does. Many times, someone will call wanting do adopt a dog or cat that the animal shelter has up for adoption, under the mistaken impression that it’s an animal offered through PAWS, he said.

Smith indicated the county is prepared to pay for its own adds for the animal shelter.

Others contend that would be an unnecessary expenditure of county funds, since the animal shelter currently does not have to pay for the animals featured in the ads along with the ones offered through PAWS.

By the way, Smith was asked, does he sell puppies?

“A few,” Smith said. “Most of them go to a broker.”

As for the fence issue, Smith said “Honestly, I don’t know what they’re putting it up for,” Smith said. “I don’t know enough about it.”

“Anybody can’t come along and start building stuff,” Smith said, saying the county faces liability and insurance concerns.

Stewart, the PAWS president, said PAWS would have gladly gone before the commissioners if the members had been aware they needed to do so.

She said she had started talking with Berg-Dalmont, the animal shelter director, because “the idea was to first follow the chain of command.”

“All he had to do was tell us we need to come and present our ideas to the commissioners,” Stewart said.

Both Smith and Stewart are aware that volunteers or animal shelter employees take dogs at the shelter out for exercise when they can, often on a leash.

Stewart said dogs do much better if they are allowed some time to run and play — which is why PAWS wanted to build the new fence in the first place.

She feels the other fenced area is too close to the crematorium, for one thing.

Stewart feels the dogs at the animal shelter are the real losers in the dispute.

“The dogs are still in their cages unnecessarily,” Stewart said. “They could be out getting exercise and fresh air.”

“It helps with their emotional well-being rather than being cooped up in a cage 24 hours a day.”