If he does anything during his term as Clallam County Humane Society board president, John Miles hopes to reunite the society with about 500 animal welfare advocates across the county.
Such a move, as he sees it, will help animals by generating additional funding to keep the cash-hungry society’s animal shelter open on U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles.
“In my view, that’s our only hope,” Miles says.
The group — with Miles in the lead — is negotiating with county leaders for $20,000 additional to the shelter.
Without it, there’s no chance the shelter can last beyond the year, he says.
Miles originally played hardball with the county commissioners, requesting $40,000 additional this year.
The commissioners have reportedly offered half that amount, and he believes the compromise will step up private fund-raising for the good of the shelter.
And the good of the shelter is what most concerns Miles.
Already, the 73-year-old retired physician who lives on Freshwater Bay has voted with four others on the society board to rewrite the group’s bylaws, giving members a vote again on matters before the board.
“It’s power to the people,” Miles says with a friendly chuckle.
“Which is the way it ought to be,” he adds with a more sober look on his face.
Groups like Peninsula Friends of Animals and Welfare for Animals Guild formed shortly after the former Humane Society board three years ago took away the voting power of members by writing them out of the society’s bylaws.
