Costa Mesa’s bid for animal services provider skirts citizen oversight, raises questions

Most of the hurdles that kept previous provider Priceless Pet Rescue from complying with the agreement have been removed, replaced with language nearly identical to a proposal submitted by the nonprofit’s temporary successor, Westminster Adoption Group and Services (WAGS).

Issued on Sept. 1, a request for proposals was released without any review from a citizens Animal Services Committee formed in 2017 to evaluate such matters, leaving some to wonder at the city’s contracting process.

Council members voted Tuesday to terminate a five-year, $480,000-per-annum contract with the Chino Hill-based rescue group, over its inability to build a full-service shelter inside city limits.

Officials in June announced that Priceless Pets would no longer be the city’s animal services provider, citing the organization’s inability to timely fulfill the terms of a five-year, $480,000 annual contract signed in April 2024.

The decision followed a March 19 notice of violation from Costa Mesa Police Chief Joyce Lapointe describing Priceless Pets’ non-compliance — as it housed and cared for animals in a temporary facility while building out a permanent structure — and failure to provide 24/7 staffing for after-hours dropoffs, among other issues.

LaPointe gave the group 60 days to remedy the situation. After that deadline passed, the city inked a temporary arrangement with WAGS. That agreement — which pencils out to $576,000 per year — expires Dec. 31.

Now, the city is taking another bite at the apple, seeking a permanent provider to take in strays, treat the sick and wounded and work with the police department’s animal control officers, for a period of three to five years, starting Jan. 1.

The bidding window closed Wednesday. While the document is not publicly posted, a copy obtained by The Pilot reveals many of the mandates Priceless Pets had been expected to comply with are absent.

Gone is the requirement to operate a shelter inside city limits and to have an on-site caretaker present at the Costa Mesa facility on a 24/7 basis. Also gone is a mandate to provide in-house veterinary services, another key component of the previous deal.

The new arrangement will allow for the continuation of animal adoptions, sheltering and pet reclaims while the city prepares a request for proposals to seek a permanent provider.

Instead, the bid invitation states respondents need only have office facilities that support daily operations within 15 miles of the city. Veterinary services may be provided through a separate arrangement with a provider located within 5 miles of that office.

Compared to Price’s order to remain open in some capacity all the time, the new document calls for operations six days weekly, for at least 24 hours per week.

Reached by phone Thursday, Price said she reviewed the document and was disappointed.

“It does seem they changed a lot of the requirements they needed me to have, which I wasn’t able to have in a timely fashion,” she said. “I’m saddened by their new request, just based on what I feel the city needs and deserves — a shelter inside their city limits. Fifteen miles is really far outside the city.”

The RFP’s language appears to largely reiterate a May 27 proposal from WAGS to be Costa Mesa’s temporary service provider, including a 22-point bulleted list under “general scope of services,” with all references of “WAGS” changed to “provider.”

WAGS chief executive Michelle Russillo declined to comment Thursday, referring requests to the city. A city spokesperson was not able to answer questions by deadline.

Costa Mesa Animal Services Committee Chair Cara Stewart confirmed that while the bid invitation was discussed by members, it was never brought up for review by the group, which held no meetings in August.

“There were some public comments at our meeting in July, as well as some comments from committee members suggesting we could collaborate with the city,” Stewart said Friday. “By the time we got back into a meeting in September, city staff had already issued that RFP. Nothing wrong was done, but we want to be more part of the process.”

Stewart said while the committee is largely advisory, its members are generally enthusiastic about getting involved in programming and policy. But even if the temporary contract with WAGS is working out, she said she’d still like to consider a closer option than Westminster.

This summer, Stewart launched an online petition suggesting the city study the feasibility of creating a permanent, locally controlled animal shelter. As of Friday, the petition had garnered 272 signatures.

Resident Becca Walls, who served on the committee from 2018 to 2025, said part of the group’s primary role was to provide citizen oversight of animal services, including city agreements.

“I have a great respect for WAGS, and there may be other rescue groups as well that are also fantastic, and it could all be OK,” she said. “But not including the Animal Services Committee in the RFP development process, to me, is problematic.”

Price, who still operates an adoption center on Costa Mesa’s Newport Boulevard, said her team is resilient and will continue its work, whatever may happen with the city’s animal services.

“Good luck to them,” she added. “I hope they are able to find somebody who better suits their needs.”

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Sara Cardine covers the city of Costa Mesa for the Daily Pilot. She came from the La Cañada Valley Sun, where she spent six years as the news reporter covering La Cañada Flintridge and received a first-place Public Service Journalism award from the California News Publishers Assn. She’s also worked at the Pasadena Weekly, Stockton Record and Lodi-News Sentinel, which instilled in her a love for community news. (714) 966-4627