Dana Brown, who has worked for the city for more than 30 years, was confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council Friday to be general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services.
“I’m so honored and humbled for this opportunity. It’s really exciting to work for a department like Animal Services because it’s very front-facing, so the satisfaction of the up-close and personal contact with the public — you know, seeing what you’re doing to support them — is really good for my personality, I’m very much a people person and that very much fits me,” Brown said.
Brown said she wants to grow the relationship L.A. Animal Services has with the community and develop Animal Services’ staff through diversity and inclusion programs.
“As you know, people like to copy Los Angeles, and so to the degree that we have robust diversity and inclusion and equity programs, I’m looking forward to doing that and rolling that out amongst the animal welfare community because the industry is struggling in that area,” Brown said.
Brown has been serving as interim general manager of the department since May 10, and on June 24, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he nominated Brown to permanently serve in the position.
Before serving as interim general manager for L.A. Animal Services, Brown was as the chief employee relations officer in the Office of the City Administrative Officer, where she was responsible for helping lead the city’s labor negotiations amid significant operational challenges resulting from the pandemic.
“Dana’s unique among the department’s last couple of decades of general managers in that she brings a long record of experience with several city departments, dealing with budgets and employee relations, law enforcement and animal issues in a variety of contexts,” Councilman Paul Koretz said Friday before the vote to confirm Brown.
Prior to her time with the CAO, Brown was assistant general manager of Animal Services under Brenda Barnette, who retired in May after holding the general manager position for a decade.
“Dana’s breadth of experience, record of leadership and wealth of knowledge will help ensure our city continues to set the highest possible standard for animal welfare,” Garcetti said when he announced that Brown would be interim general manager. “Dana follows in the footsteps of an extraordinary public servant in Brenda Barnette, who helped the department meet and exceed its ambitious goals even as she navigated unprecedented challenges brought on by historic wildfires, a pandemic and an economic downturn.”
The LAAS is one of the largest municipal shelter systems in the country. The department operates six animal shelters, takes in tens of thousands of animals each year, and bears responsibility for keeping shelters in compliance with state and city regulations.