Shannon Sims, the outgoing director of San Antonio’s embattled Animal Care Services department, railed against his critics and claimed he’d been unfairly targeted during his final advisory board meeting on Wednesday evening.
Sims’ acerbic 10-minute address prefaces his retirement, which is scheduled for this summer. He announced his exit plans amid public anger and shock over a string of deadly attacks by loose dogs and revelations that the underfunded department was only responding to a fraction of calls.
“When interviewed by a recruiter for my position, he asked me, ‘What does ACS need in a new director?'” Sims said during his speech. “One of the major things I tried to convey to him was that they needed to have thick skin. Very thick skin.”
Sims’ two-and-a-half-year tenure in the position was marred by a string of dog attacks that sent shockwaves throughout the Alamo City. Among those were the February 2023 mauling death of 81-year-old Air Force Veteran Ramon Najera and last August’s attack on Max De Los Santos, then 76, whose legs were amputated as a result of his injuries.
During Wednesday’s address, Sims didn’t acknowledge those tragedies that occurred on his watch. Instead, he blasted online critics of his department’s performance and touted his success in getting ACS a 33% budget increase — a funding boost largely prompted by City Council’s concern over the dog attacks.
“Everyone on social media has an opinion,” Sims said. “But, I have yet to see any of the most vocal detractors on social media or citizens we’ve heard apply for a position at ACS, because they lack the dedication to put them in a position where they can impact that change.”
Sims also took issue with animal rights advocates and amateur animal rescue groups, who say they’re trying to fill a void left left by ACS’s failures, and those who filed Freedom of Information Act requests to learn more about his department’s inner workings.
“We also have the self-proclaimed social [justice] warriors who put all their time into thousands of open record requests with a goal of scaring the organization and the employees and ultimately wasting vital resources and staff time in hopes of finding something to discredit the team,” Sims proclaimed. “These individuals are no more than social media terrorists stealing thousands of hours that could be used saving animals.” Despite ACS’s larger, $28.5 million budget for the current fiscal year, the department has so far failed to meet its 64% “critical call” response rate goal and its 80% dangerous dog compliance objective, as noted by council members during a Public Safety Committee meeting last month.
In his speech, Sims also warned his successor that they “will be criticized regardless of your actions, just like my predecessors.”
The comments come as ACS is gearing up its hunt for Sims’ replacement.
San Antonio Assistant City Manager David McCary, during a presentation at the advisory board meeting, said that 74 candidates have applied for the position, of which nine are current city employees.
Roughly 20 animal advocates protested outside City Hall last week, demanding that ACS’s next director be from outside the department. During the rally, Lea Laport, founder of the group NOKILLSA, said she and her colleagues would have trouble trusting another internal hire after Sims’ lackluster performance.
“Everyone at ACS has been there too long, are too desensitized, have given up on innovative ideas and refuse to look outside the box,” Laport said.
In-person interviews for the ACS director position are still being finalized, and the city is still working out the details of when a new hire may be announced, McCary said.
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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.
