GOP: Blevins' new state director position 'cronyism'

Delaware Republicans are crying foul and political favoritism after the state announced Wednesday that former Senate Pro Tempore Patricia Blevins will lead the Office of Animal Welfare.

Blevins, an Elsmere Democrat who lost her seat in November, will join the Division of Public Health on Jan. 30. She will replace former animal welfare director Hetti Brown, who resigned in December to relocate to the Midwest.

A 26-year Senate veteran, Blevins chaired a task force that was instrumental in creating the office she now leads.

In an interview Wednesday, Blevins, 62, said she plans to focus on evaluating the office's policies and procedures, improve on local partnerships and examine the interactions between animal control officers and the community. She declined to be more specific, explaining that she needs to become more familiar with the organization.

"I think it's important to have everyone's point of view and to have everyone at the table," she said.

Republican John Marino, who is running for the 10th Senate district seat in a special election, was quick to criticize the hiring of Blevins, calling it a "sweetheart deal" that needs to be rescinded.

"Everyday Delawareans can see right through this and know exactly what it is —  political insiders taking care of one of their own again," he said in a statement Wednesday. The Middletown businessman, who has twice run unsuccessfully for a General Assembly seat, is now campaigning to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, who was elected lieutenant governor in November.

Blevins has "no experience running an animal welfare office," echoed Delaware GOP chairman Charlie Copeland. "The reason she lost her election was because of inside cronyism in a one-party state, and the voters rejected that in her district. What does she do immediately later? She gets John Carney and Jack Markell to give her a job."

A former state Senate minority leader, Copeland urged the General Assembly to pass a one-year moratorium that would prevent former state elected officials from jumping to the other side of the state payroll.

Public Health Director Karyl Rattay, who was responsible for hiring Blevins, dismissed accusations of favoritism.

"We wanted the best and most qualified person for this position," she said Wednesday. "No one knows the animal welfare landscape as well as Patti."

Adam Lamb, CEO of the Brandywine Valley SPCA, which handles statewide animal control, similarly praised Blevins as a consummate advocate for human and animal rights.

"Senator Blevins’ extensive management background and passionate advocacy will make her a great fit," he said in an email.

A former Elsmere mayor and councilwoman, Blevins spent nine years as executive director of the state-funded Delaware Helpline and three years managing a branch of Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization that empowers young women to succeed. Blevins headed up the helpline from 2001 to 2010 while also serving as a senator. In 2007, when Blevins was Senate Majority Whip, the state passed legislation to set up a 211 number to connect residents with social services. Delaware Helpline was specifically named in the legislation as an agency to provide the service.

Blevins isn't the only former state Senate leader to hold a position in state government after losing an election. After losing his Democratic primary race to Bryan Townsend in 2012, former State Senate Pro Tempore Anthony DeLuca continued to work at the state Department of Labor.

As a senator, the Varlano Democrat was criticized for his dual roles, including ordering a $46,000 office renovation to limit access and using his executive assistant to help him in both jobs. DeLuca was also investigated for alleged violations of the Hatch Act, which makes it illegal for state lawmakers to oversee federal funds. He was ultimately cleared.

In her new role, Blevins, 62 will earn a salary equivalent to her predecessor's, totaling more than $84,000. That represents a 22 percent increase from her salary as the chamber's highest-ranking member, she said. On top of that, Blevins will receive an annual state pension of roughly $34,000. Unlike most regular state employees, former elected officials who become state employees are entitled under law to pension payments in addition to their regular salaries, according to David Craik, state pension administrator.

State health officials said they conducted a national search to replace Brown, who announced her departure in October. The job posting for the animal welfare director position expired on Oct. 26, while Blevins was still campaigning for her Senate seat. Blevins ended up losing her seat by a razor-thin margin to first-time candidate Anthony Delcollo, a Republican.

Two weeks ago, Rattay said she approached Blevins to gauge her interest in leading the three-year-old animal welfare office. Rattay said she had "made contact" with 70 other candidates and was still actively recruiting for the position prior to her conversation with Blevins.

Blevins, who rescued her poodle mix and was weighing a variety of options at the time, said she accepted the job because it "was where my heart was."

Beginning in 2012, Blevins chaired the state Animal Welfare Task Force, which evaluated the effectiveness of animal control enforcement and investigations throughout the state. The task force recommended consolidating companion-animal programming under a new animal welfare office, which was approved by the General Assembly.

When the office was pitched to the public in 2014, its estimated $3.5 million budget was expected to be fully funded by payments from Delaware's three counties, the city of Wilmington, and revenue from dog licenses and rabies vaccination fees. The budget included no additional funding from the state, state health officials said at the time.

The current budget represents a 23 percent increase to $4.3 million. In an email late Wednesday, state health department spokeswoman Andrea Wojcik said The News Journal had incorrect budget information, which the newspaper has reported in multiple articles over a two-year period. The state has always budgeted more than $900,000 from its general fund to help pay for the office, she said.

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Under Brown's leadership, the state launched a centralized statewide animal control and cruelty enforcement unit, receiving more than 1,000 calls each month; created a statewide lost-and-found pet registry and licensing database; developed a volunteer animal response team dispatched in emergency situations; advocated for new laws protecting animals in inclement weather; and prohibited inhumane euthanasia practices in animal shelters, according to state health officials.

But Brown faced challenges during her tenure from competing animal welfare organizations. Responding to the state's decision to take over animal welfare functions, First State Animal Center and SPCA's board voted to preemptively terminate all government contracts for animal control in September of 2015, three months before the state was scheduled to take over the responsibility. The situation left Delaware's three counties scrambling to hire an animal control provider for the remainder of the year. All eventually did and the state accelerated the hiring and training of staff.

The Office of Animal Welfare also encountered pushback from leaders of the Delaware SPCA after the state awarded a three-year, $6.5 million sheltering contract to an out-of-state provider, the Brandywine Valley SPCA in Chester County, Pennsylvania, over the Delaware SPCA.

At the time, Brown cited the importance of containing costs, explaining that the Brandywine Valley SPCA's bid for the first year came in $800,0000 lower than the Delaware SPCA's proposal.

Contact Margie Fishman at 302-324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.