HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Non-Agenda ItemReceived After Agenda Printed
January 26, 2021
Non -Agenda Item
22 -Jan -2021
Dear Mayor Avery and Newport Beach City Council:
First let me congratulate you on your re-election and selection as the new Mayor, and
congratulation to the others, as well, following the recent election as we look forward
to the coming year. On behalf of our citizen group, Coyote Awareness and
Management Project, I am asking that the problem of coyotes (aka North American
jackals) in our neighborhoods seriously be addressed as an issue for 2021. What is the
City's position on this?
......and Why does this issue always default to the dog-catcher? On December 1,
2020, 1 received a message from the City's Animal Control Officer (ACO) in response to
an email I sent on November 30, 2020, to city officials in BOTH Newport Beach and
Costa Mesa since coyotes don't recognize jurisdictional boundaries. Indiscriminately of
jurisdiction, they threaten the safety of residents and our children, but also maim and
kill a lot of family pets.
With exception of a bite involving a human (for which State protocols already are in
place), their response always is the same - a referral to the City's "Coyote Management
Plan" — over -and -over, time and again!..... with a warning not to panic and maybe the
suggestion for a neighborhood hazing training session. Here's the truth — We're not
panicked. We are exasperated!
• First, I'm sorry to say, making a call back to a resident and then doing nothing
but telling us to protect ourselves and learn to chase them away does not qualify
as being "responsive." A response implies an attempt for a solution. The
coyotes continue to be a problem that is not going away with no solution in
sight, and
• Second, it is dishonest and misleading to refer to the posted document as a
"plan." It is a procedures manual of defensive or responsive measures with
nothing pertaining to the management of coyote populations.
A real remedv reauires better direction with a stronger and clearer Dosition from our
decision -makers, our elected officials, especially with consideration to available data
which now is better since first posting the City's "plan" five years ago.
Page 2
■ SUMMARY —The attached discussion provides an explanation of the issues we are
asking you to consider AND address:
• Urban Coyote Problem — A formal Recognition that Urban Coyotes are a
problem and that they don't belong in the neighborhoods.
• Policy Matter —This problem must be addressed as a Policy Matter, not a service
call.
• A Real Plan - The City's Document is not a real plan.
• Hazing - The cornerstone of the current approach, Hazing, is Ineffective.
• Food Source — Removal of food sources (enough to have an impact) is
Unattainable.
• Multi -Tiered Impacts - This is a problem of: (1) "Public Health & Safety" (a
danger), (2) "Quality of Life and Property" (a nuisance), AND (3)
"Environment/Ecology" (natural imbalance).
• RECOMMENDATIONS
When you have reviewed this discussion, we are ready and available to provide data,
input, and background materials to help formulate a real and effective plan of action to
remedy this escalating menace or, at least, substantially reduce the risk....... because
what's being done now and for the last five years IS NOT WORKING at all. Thank you
for listening.
Sincerely,
Roberta Buchanan
Coyote Awareness and Management Project
THE URBAN COYOTE PROBLEM — Newport Beach
Coyote Management and Awareness Project
January 2021
■ THE PROBLEM - Some of the oldest public health and safety laws on the books require
municipalities to pick up loose dogs or other animals with bite potential to vector deadly
diseases. Coyotes are canines. Urban Coyotes kill a lot of family pets. Data shows that 20% of
the urban coyote diet are cats(') — domesticated animals that usually are someone's family pet.
They also kill dogs. That means a lot of coyotes cause a lot of grief and unnecessary loss in our
community. So, why do so many local Animal Control officials hesitate or refuse to impound and
dispatch them accordingly them when they stray or roam into residential areas where they are a
danger and they don't belong?
Except for the direct threat to a human, the so-called remedies currently are limited to: 1)
Hazing, and 2) Removal of Attractants. Both are based on faulty and outdated assumptions.
Since coyotes are opportunists and don't usually confront humans, the net effect is that we are
on our own to protect our kids and pets that are vulnerable, even when confined in our own
yards. Fewer coyotes mean less risk or likelihood of a loss. However, the current "plan" with the
emphasis on hazing does nothing to reduce their unnatural numbers.
■ THIS ISSUE A POLICY MATTER........ and needs to be addressed as a PUBLIC POLICY issue, not
just continue as case-by-case service calls. It's not just a matter of public health and safety, but
they also impact our quality of life and personal property. In rural areas, it's the protection of
domesticated livestock (Iambs, calves, and poultry). In urban areas, it's the protection of
domesticated family pets against a community -wide danger and a public nuisance.
• Is it really the City's position that our yards, neighborhoods, and parks are appropriate or
acceptable habitat for coyotes? If not, what areas are?
• What is the City's position when they go into areas that are not appropriate coyote habitat?
........like public parks, private yards, and public or HOA greenbelts and rights of way?
• What is the City's position with property owners or land stewards that incubate or harbor a
danger, or even a nuisance, within yards of homes (aka human habitat) in the City?
■ THE CITY'S DOCUMENT IS NOT A REAL PLAN - It's a manual for "City staff." The opening
line specifically says its intent is to serve as a guide ....... so that staff knows how to respond to
resident complaints and service calls. Our City's "plan" is a near replica of one originally prepared
by another Orange County city (Seal Beach) also still suffering widespread, unexpected, random,
and brutal killings of cherished pets in our own neighborhoods and often in our own yards. Our
plagiarized "plan" was posted on the NBPD website about five years ago in response to an outcry
of anger and frustration from the community due to the lack of the City's attention to addressing
this problem.P) The experiment is not working.
A real plan is a comprehensive document with:
• A stated Understanding of the Problem
• Basic Facts and Assumptions (about the issue) based on current data
• Stated Goals & Objectives
• Measurable Standards, and
• Action Items and Remedies for achieving those goals
The City's document has virtually none of the above and is void of any policy statements. It
never has been adopted by the City Council as a policy document, but serves as a cover and a
perfunctory tool for bureaucrats. Without further and specific direction from the City Council,
they are likely, and understandably, avoiding recommendations on policy and potential
controversy in their role as administrators. So, for the past five years the problem has worsened
with no progress. Consequently, residents like me and others are angry, frustrated, and fatigued
from being stonewalled and hearing the same old story while, every week we hear of more
confrontations with coyotes and often pets killed.
■ HAZING IS INEFFECTIVE — It's not that we're not doing it enough or not doing it right. These
are urbanized and habituated coyotes. Their behavior can't be modified to any significant or
lasting effect that will cause them to stop killing our pets and retreat to the wilderness.
Promoting and perpetuating hazing as solution to deter these animals is MALPRACTICE. While
hazing may remove the immediate danger (which is good), it does almost nothing long-term to re -
instill their fear of humans. Just because a coyote ran away one time, it does not mean it or any
other animal is one step closer to successful "reconditioning." Many of the coyotes seen in our
neighborhoods are being born here just short distances from our homes in the open space areas
abutting and adjacent to our yards.
Before they even see us, they're accustomed to our scent. By the time they emerge from their
dens, their behavior is ingrained. In fact, the "science" right now shows that "hazing" habituated
animals only further reinforces that we are an empty threat.0) It may not be the intent to chase
them off into the next neighborhood, but that in fact is the result whether the City's ACO and
Police Department want to believe it or not. Also, studies are showing when they learn to survive
in the urban environment, they're likely to raise offspring with those skills.0) So, they continue to
concentrate to levels well beyond what was here before development, expanding their territory
into our neighborhoods and killing docile pets for their next meal.
■ REMOVAL OF FOOD SOURCE IS UNATTAINABLE — Coyotes are here in our neighborhoods
for the easy and abundant food source. So, we are instructed to remove from our yards any and
all attractants in the form of available food. While there is truth to that advice, in a dense urban
area it's an impossible feat. Coyotes are predators, but also opportunistic omnivores that will eat
anything within their range — fast food fragments, pet food remnants, picnic leftovers, discarded
fishing bait, fallen fruit, etc. — but their meal of preference is easy live prey. That means ANY PET
ANY TIME outdoors (even within the confines of your yard) is fair game to a coyote, but there is
nothing fair about that at all!
In addition, there always will be well-meaning (but misguided) people who believe if the coyotes
are given food and water, then they are less likely to attack pets. That belief couldn't be further
from the truth. It just reinforces the availability of easy food. All of this means there is ZERO
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probability that, in a densely populated urbanized area such as ours, available food sources can
NEVER be removed or reduced to any significant level that will starve them out or stunt their
reproduction to a point they will wither and die.
■ MULTI -TIERED IMPACTS — Urbanized coyotes are a "new' urban problem in a public policy
void. There are more choices available at the local level to mitigate these impacts than
bureaucrats and special interests may have led you to believe. The current conditions created by
this void are the direct result of failure to manage their location and numbers.
• Public Health and Safety - We've pleaded and explained, over and over, about the risk to
public health and safety. It's inevitable that one day a child will be maimed or even killed in
our city by local coyotes due to the increasing concentrations of animals, the sighting of
"packs," and the progressively bold behavior. However, it's as if our City leaders have tacitly
determined that coyotes hold some special privilege or strange importance or that there's no
need for attention because they're convinced that the risk to humans, only, is too small to do
more about them. In fact, the number of coyotes biting humans is increasing.
• Quality of Life and Property - If the City's position is to marginalize that probability, then
another approach is to address their negative impacts on our quality of life and
property..............and no, this is not just a matter of feeling "entitled." There is plenty of
precedent for local rules, programs, and ordinances adopted to protect and enhance our
quality of life and the quiet enjoyment of our property. Coyotes are adept at jumping walls
and fences. They are comfortable entering homes or grabbing a small dog off a leash if you
happen to bend down and tie your shoes. All of this can happen in an instant with little time
to react or intercept them before it's too late.
They take what is valuable to us causing unnecessary anxiety, aggravation, loss, and grief.
However, we have no recourse for recovery or opportunities for justice under a penal code as
we would against a human offender. Instead, we are compelled to practice constant
vigilance, spend undue sums of money for security installations (e.g., fence top rollers), and
limit the use of our yards and recreation areas due to the escalating risk of loss or hazard. We
live in the one of the best climates in the world, but are now required to confine our pets
behind secured doors and windows and act as their personal security detail to let them out on
our own property even to relive themselves. A stolen bicycle from our garage or patio is given
more attention by public safety officials than a pet killed by a coyote.
• Environment/Ecology—The overpopulation of this unrestricted predator has environmental
impacts by creating natural or ecological imbalances, especially at concentrations far in
excess of the native coyotes that roamed the coastal scrub pre -development. Burrowing
dens can undermine cliffs and hillsides supporting homes, and they've been known to disrupt
the nests of endangered bird species. Coyotes often are cited as a positive force for rodent
control, but there are other predators of rodents that are just as effective with less risk to
humans or our pets which the coyotes find easier to catch and far more satiating. Based on
their number, location, and behavior in an urban environment are coyotes are a far more
destructive than beneficial factor in the ecosystem.
Page 3
■ RECOMMENDATIONS
1. COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH - Construct a plan that plays both OFFENSE and DEFENSE for
managing dangerous urban wildlife and that takes in ALL affected stakeholders. Hazing and
efforts to remove food sources can be only part of any plan. We need to get out in front of the
problem, and stop just reacting. Proactively and pre-emptively reducing their numbers on a
regular and routine rotation has to be given as much attention as efforts to cut off food and
modifv their behavior.
2. BAD ADVICE - Stop taking bad advice from bureaucrats! These coyotes are not the same as those
in the hinterlands. They even are different than the predators killing livestock in agricultural and
rural areas.....and even those folks are afforded more remedies than urban residents if they have
to take matters into their own hands. Also, stop allowing city staff to use the State Department of
Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) as an excuse. The CDFW promotes hazing and does not advocate for or
against coyotes. Their role is to provide information, formulate regulations, and issue permits for
hunting, fishing, and management of wildlife populations Statewide. Per CDFW, coyotes are a
predator and a nuisance but it is an agency often influenced by the Sacramento sentiments of
prevailing parties. There is more flexibility than you are being led to believe. An effective
solution for us can't be copied from somewhere else. No one size fits all. We need to make
local choices that make sense for our community.
3. PERPETUATED MYTHS - Stop accepting perpetuated myths, leaps in logic, or twisted truths based
on bad or distorted science..... and please don't be bullied or intimidated by fake or wanna-be
"environmentalists." Special interest groups and certain individuals manipulate data and distort
facts to fit the narratives and objectives of their belief systems....... and these falsehoods are being
repeated by legitimate agencies as true. The most popular one is that lethal control creates more
coyotes because they magically will compensate with larger litters. Two years ago the
author/scientist of that study had to clarify that the results were being misused.(') Also,
promoting "coexistence" in urban areas defies logic. We are competitors with coyotes, not
companions. There is no mutual benefit or negotiation with them to not eat our pets. In any
case, how can it be good, virtuous, or even necessary that we must coexist with so many so close
among us? It's not mutually exclusive to care for the environment and care for our pets with
fewer coyotes.
4. BETTER REPORTING - Get a Better Reporting System that feeds into a regional database — one
that is functional for each month of the year or definable seasons. Institute a system of
aggregating and presenting this info to the decision -makers in a useful format with some analysis,
not just raw data. When this suggestion was made to the new City Manager and Police Chief at
our meeting in August 2019, it fell on deaf ears.
5. CITIZEN INPUT - Reconvene the Committee or Appoint a Task Force as was done, and then halted,
in early 2016. In the August 2019 meeting with the new City Manager and Police Chief, we made
that suggestion but that one also was ignored. Even during the brief time of the committee, not
one word has been changed from the original document.
6. MEASURABLE STANDARDS - Establish Specific and Measurable Standards AND USE THEM for
reporting to policy -makers and for assessing risks, goals, and objectives.
7. SENSIBLE POPULATIONS — Institute a program of coyote abatement to reduce their numbers
more in keeping with proportions seen in wilderness areas. Lower the threshold for defining
Page 4
problem animals .... and exercise coyote population control on a routine and regular basis. Since
they have no predators, humans must take that role. Right now they are beyond sustainable in
the adjacent open spaces. So, they seek out prey in our neighborhoods and mark that territory as
their own. Even National Parks implement measures to mitigate the overpopulation or
imbalances in wildlife population to protect others. Coyotes are not a protected or endangered
species. The CDFW regards them as a nuisance animal that, with the proper permits, can be
hunted year-round with no limit, especially to remove predators and control their population.
They don't become "re-trained." They don't become un -habituated.
There is no legal impediment prohibiting local governments from permanently removing them
from areas where they threaten humans and damage and destroy property we've nurtured.
Any habituated coyote has the potential to become a problem. Right now there is no precedent
for pre-emptive action to mimic, especially in a developed area, but there is no prohibition of it
either. Coyote abatement should be like any other municipal service like periodically cutting
overgrown trees or routinely removing excessive trash from the streets. We have every right to
reduce their numbers and remove problem animals based on behavior when they are a THREAT
to our safety and well-being, and that includes the safety of our cherished property - our pets.
8. MULTI -JURISDICTIONAL COORDINATION — Advocate for county or other regional or special
district agency to coordinate among jurisdictions. Institute protocols for regional coordination,
not gust casual, case-by-case correspondence from one city to another. Work closely with other
land -managing entities responsible for properties within and abutting our City AND adopt
standards (enforceable or policy -wise) for those agencies accountable for harboring, abetting, and
incubating a nearby danger or nuisance on property. Multi -jurisdictional requirements have been
stated many times by our group, but because there is no direction from the elected officials for a
formal structure, our suggestions have largely been ignored or misdirected.
9. COST -BENEFIT - Establish the standard for Cost/Benefit - not random, not arbitrary and
capricious, not based on feelings, but pros and cons, quantitative and qualitative, that also
consider the costs individually and collectively to the City's residents. Under the current public
policy void, the cost is borne by individual residents to coyote -proof our yards or to make the
investment (both in money and emotion) to prevent the loss of our beloved pets. Coyotes are
brutal thieves, and the ones we encounter within the "ecology" of our neighborhoods, on our
streets and in or yards, are far different from the native species that roamed the coastal scrub
pre -development surviving on small mammals, such as ground squirrels and jack rabbits.
Their overpopulation also is environmentally detrimental in a number of ways. The promotion of
coyotes as significant factor for rodent control in a developed area is specious and overrated. In
urbanized areas, cats (not coyotes) are the most effective predator of rodents since the beginning
of civilization. There are plenty of other predators as effective at rodent control in undeveloped
areas — birds of prey, snakes, and other small predators in nearby open space areas - but now the
risk is too high for both cats and dogs becoming prey to a coyote to even leave them unattended
in our own yards. In sensitive habitat areas, coyotes actually are destructive to endangered
species such as some ground nesting birds as we have in the Back Bay. Also, coyote dens have
been known to undermine cliffside stability where development has occurred above. A tipping
point to the side of detrimental cost has been reached.
10. QUALITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY — Take a broader approach to the potential harm of coyotes in
the neighborhoods beyond public health and safety by extending consideration to the quality of
Page 5
our life and protection of property, including the lives of our pets. Many of us already are doing
as much as we can, and there always will be some that do not do their part. However, how
twisted is the notion that just the presence of pets in our yards is considered an attractant? The
risk posed by coyotes has caused us to exercise extraordinary caution, substantially modify our
behavior, and limit the use of our property. In one of the best climates in the world, we are now
required to sequester pets indoors and to keep our doors and windows closed. Coyotes don't
have any "rights," other than to live as nature intended where they're not a danger and nuisance
to humans and our property and to be put down humanely when there is the need to remove
them.
NOTES/SOURCES:
(1) https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/two-year-coyote-scat-protect-ends-with-over-3-000-
specimens
(Z) 2015 Speak -Up Newport Meeting of November 4, 2015.
(3) https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-12-01/urban-coyotes-bites-hazing-animal-rights-
advocates
"Some say 'hazing' stops coyotes from becoming urbanized. Biologists aren't so sure"
(4) 'Hyper urban' coyote genomes are growing apart from their city and rural cousins (massivesci.com)
(5) 2018 https://proeectcoyotelies.com/coyote-myths
Page 6
Mulvey, Jennifer
From: Brown, Leilani
Sent: Friday, January 22, 20213:45 PM
To: Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: FW: Local Problem Coyote
Attachments: CoyoteData-NB_2020_Oct-Nov-Dec_Jan2021_RJB.pdf
Leilani 1.
City ClerkBrown, MMC
} b City of Newport Beach
100 Civic Center Drive I Newport Beach I CA 192660
cgL/ppptN�P T 949-644-30051 Ibrown (c,)newportbeachca.gov
Serving the Public with Integrity and Professionalism
Regular Business Hours, Excluding Holidays:
Monday to Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Please note that email correspondence with the City of Newport Beach, along with attachments, may be subject to the
California Public Records Act, and therefore may be subject to disclosure unless otherwise exempt.
From: Roberta Buchanan <rbuc53@hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 22, 20213:38 PM
To: Schomburg, Valerie <VSchomburg@nbpd.org>
Cc: Avery, Brad <bavery@newportbeachca.gov>; Muldoon, Kevin <kmuldoon@newportbeachca.gov>; O'Neill, William
<woneill@newportbeachca.gov>; Brenner, Joy <JBrenner@newportbeachca.gov>; Dixon, Diane
<ddixon@newportbeachca.gov>; Duffield, Duffy <dduffield@newportbeachca.gov>; Blom, Noah
<NBlom@newportbeachca.gov>; Leung, Grace <gleung@newportbeachca.gov>; Lewis, Jon <JLewis@nbpd.org>; Psaros,
Damon <DPsaros@nbpd.org>; Brown, Leilani <LBrown@newportbeachca.gov>
Subject: Re: Local Problem Coyote
[EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Thank you for reply ...... but truthfully I didn't expect much more than you offered. That doesn't mean I won't
keep trying! I'm glad, too, that people are chasing them away. I think that is the instinctual response we
humans do when we see danger, not necessarily because of something learned in a hazing training session or
in the City's "how-to" procedures manual that is not really a "plan." The point is that we shouldn't be having
to chase away dangerous predators from our yards, neighborhoods, and parks in the first place .... and we
shouldn't be seeing so many so often.
RECENT NEARBY ENCOUNTERS - Per your request, I've attached a list of recent incidents/encounters that I
know about (Oct -2020 to date) ..... and with a couple exceptions, these are IN ADDITION to the those on the list
I sent to the Costa Mesa City Council on December 17, 2020. There are a lot of incidents that need looking in
to. As I've said, I don't have access to the warnings originating east of Jamboree Road for the most part or
even in places like west Newport, unless I've been specifically told about them. That means I don't see what
happens in a LARGE part of the City. So, I'm even more reliant on the monthly maps that are NOT being
posted because the City hasn't been keeping up.
HAZING DOESN'T WORK—The initial purpose of my emails sent on November 30, December 2, December 17,
and December 30 is to remind everyone that BOTH cities need to work together to REMOVE problem animals
that are crossing back and forth across the boundary of the two cities ..... and there still are PROBLEM ANIMALS
in specific neighborhoods even as we speak .... and a problem animal is not just one that threatens
humans. Any large wild predator in the neighborhood, or even at its fringe, is a potential problem animal. I'm
sorry to have to tell you that hazing does NOT recondition them to fear us. These are habituated animals, and
hazing is an empty threat. It actually just chases them off to the next neighborhood ..... whether you believe it
or not....... regardless of which city it is in ....... until these same coyotes, their offspring, or new ones
return ..... and they will. It's not that we're not doing it enough or not doing it right. It's based on faulty and
outdated assumptions for dealing with an overpopulation of habituated animals that are born within yards of
our homes. They have no concept of a predator, hence no fear.
DOCUMENTING AN ENCOUNTER - Like I said before, just because an incident isn't reported to the City or
Coyote Cacher doesn't mean it didn't happen. Not everyone formally reports their encounter for various
reason. Some because they don't know where to report. Some because of weariness, fatigue, or even
cynicism. The fact is that there more unreported encounters (reported on social media) than there are fake
reports to the City or Coyote Cacher....... and while I agree with "safety first" when hazing a coyote, I never
discourage anyone from also snapping a photo to dispel the disparaging remarks from the skeptics. You know
who they are.
LOTS OF ANIMALS in LOTS OF AREAS - Also, it shouldn't matter whether or not these accounts are "from my
area" because neither city's "plan" differentiates an "assessment" or "appropriate response" by neighborhood
area or zip code. The plans are applicable city-wide to each respective city, but distinguish encounters only by
type. However, continuing to call it a "plan" creates a false hope that positive steps are being taken to address
the problems. I'm sorry to say, making a call back and then doing nothing but telling people not to panic,
protect yourself, and learn to chase them away does not qualify as being "responsive." Only a perceivable
reduction in sightings equates to an acceptable response because each sighting is a potential attack on a
person or, more likely, an ambush on a helpless family pet.
DETRIMENTAL TO OUR QUALITY OF LIFE - The risk or threat of losing a pet to a predator on our own property
means an extraordinary burden in terms of time, money, and emotional investment much more than it ever
was due to the continuing and increasing coyote menace. I know you are quite competent with running our
shelter and dealing with lost, abandoned, or homeless pets........ and there are a number of factors for
encouraging and convincing people to take on the responsibility for fostering or adopting shelter
animals. Think about this......... Have you not had concerns expressed to you about the added burden of
dealing with coyotes when people consider new or additional pets? ... and hasn't this concern been growing?
have had that worry expressed to me many times! I have plenty of anecdotal proof that the threat of coyotes
in the neighborhoods is a negative factor in the consideration or decision of people to take on the
responsibility of adopting new pets or another pet after the death of their own.
If the City continues to refuse to look at the coyote problem as one of public health and safety because of the
current rarity of attacks on humans and because the problem relates more to our pets, then the City must
assess these conditions as a nuisance or a negative impact on the quality of life and property. If you/we want
ra
more pets adopted from our shelters, our local decision -makers need to support and implement programs
that reduce the number of coyotes and therefore reduce our risk and the unnecessary need for
extraordinary defensive measure and vigilance.
RECOMMENDATIONS - I hope you put this information to good use to make several recommendations to the
City Council:
1) Remove these problem animals post haste before the next generation of coyotes is born in a few months.
2) Formally establish and/or advocate for a formal multi -jurisdictional structure with neighboring cities for
coordinating the removal of coyote population adjacent to human habitat.
3) Institute some type of procedure or recommend to our City Council a policy for dealing with autonomous
or superior land holders or conservators within or adjacent to our city and inform them we do not support a
"nature free-for-all" within their boundaries. If they allow wildlife, then they have to manage it responsibly
and that includes controlling the overpopulation of dangerous wild predators having a likelihood to then
disperse into the adjacent, densely -developed residential neighborhoods.
As an Animal Control Officer, that's something you definitely should be recommending.
From: Schomburg, Valerie <VSchomburg@nbpd.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 11:26 AM
To: GLASS, BRYAN <BGLASS@costa mesa ca.gov>; Lewis, Jon <JLewis@nbpd.org>; Roberta Buchanan
<rbuc53@hotmail.com>; W Schallmo <billmyrealtor@yahoo.com>
Cc: BAKKILA, VICTOR <VBAKKILA@costa mesaca.gov>; woneill@newportbeachca.gov <woneill@newportbeachca.gov>;
FOLEY, KATRINA<KATRINA.FOLEY@costa mesaca.gov>; Leung, Grace <gleung@newportbeachca.gov>;
loriann.farrellharrison@costamesaca.gov <loriann.farrellharrison@costamesaca.gov>; Psaros, Damon
<DPsaros@nbpd.org>
Subject: Re: Local Problem Coyote
Hi William & Roberta,
Thank you for your email and for passing along the coyote sightings. I'm glad to hear that Ms. Farrell hazed
the coyote, just as we'd ask anyone to do. The idea isn't to move them to other neighborhoods; the idea is to
reinforce their fear of people, so that an incident like what occurred in Mission Viejo doesn't occur here. The
technological issue with the coyote sighting system is being worked on by our IT staff and we hope to have a
new system in place very soon.
In Roberta's email, there is a reference to attacks on pets in both cities. If any of these attacks have occurred
in Newport Beach relatively recently, can you please encourage the pet owners to contact us? We have had
no recent reports of pets being attacked in your area. We'd like to look into these incidents so they can be
assessed under our Coyote Management Plan, so we can respond appropriately.
ACO Valerle Schomburg, Supervisor
Newport Beach Police Department
870 Santa Barbara Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949-644-3717
vschomburAffnbpd.org
On Monday, November 30, 2020, 2:45:03 PM PST, Roberta Buchanan <rbuc53(cDhotmail.com> wrote:
It appears there is one or more local coyotes hanging around the city boundaries TODAY (Nov 30) in broad
daylight and not far from my neighborhood. Could "Animal Control" from one or both of our cities give some
attention and remedy to this problem?
The reports of coyote sightings and attacks on pets in both cities continue to provide proof of their presence
as a danger in our neighborhoods ... and with the reporting system/sighting map in Newport Beach non-
functional since last January 2020, our reliance on social media sources is even more critical.
For the past five years, you've heard our requests for better coyote management and population control
beyond chasing them off into the next neighborhood while they become more numerous and
emboldened ....... and it continues to looks like we will not be getting a reprieve any time soon. These two
reports are just too close to home for me to wait any longer to say something ...... again. So, I'm advising you of
these accounts without further ado in the hopes of a proactive response.
Thank you.
Roberta Buchanan
COYOTE ENCOUNTERS
Newport Beach
1/22/2021
1
13 -Jan -2021
8:00 AM
NB
Vista Entrada
sighting on street
Gen Lahey
turned left onto the
greenbelt
NextDoor
2
13 -Jan -2021
8:00 AM
NB
2129 Vista Entrada
coyote passed patio
Nancy Cardin
coyote kept going
NextDoor
3
11 -Jan -2021
5 -Jan -2021
unreported
6:50 PM
NB
NB
23rd Street & La Linda Court
Signal & Cliff Dr
sighting on street
sighting on street
John Dixon
coyote heading east on
23rd Street
NextDoor
4
Deborah Calvert
coming from Back Bay
NextDoor
5
4 -Jan -2021
5:20 AM
NB
Kings Road
2 coyotes in back yard
Neighborhood friend
[none reported]
neighbor email
6
3 -Jan -2021
mid-day
NB
Bayshores
sighting on street
Lori Diaz
[none reported]
NextDoor
7
3 -Jan -2021
7:30 PM(?)
NB
Dover Drive
sighting on street
Sydney Jensen
[none reported]
NextDoor
8
December
unreported
NB
Tustin Ave & Santiago
4 feral cats killed
Tustin Ave neighbor
[none reported]
■ photo [none reported]
NextDoor
9
29 -Dec -2020 3:00 PM NB Pescador coyote sunning itself in
backyard
Kathleen Love
NextDoor
10
December
unreported
NB
Oxford & Highland
2nd sighting on street
Jim Dougal
owner chased it away
NextDoor
11
December
unreported
NB
Oxford & Highland
1st sighting on street
Jim Dougal
owner chased it away
NextDoor
12
28 -Dec -2020
unreported
NB
St James Road
sighting of a huge one in
front yard
Valerie Miller
[none reported]
NextDoor
13
26 -Dec -2020
unreported
NB
Anita Lane
huge coyote in front of
house
Arin Brown
owner's large dogs chased
it away
NextDoor
14
19 -Dec -2020
9:00 PM
NB
Westcliff
2 coyotes while walking dogs
Denise Vivian
owner chased it away
NextDoor
15
19 -Dec -2020
12:30 PM
NB
Santiago & Galaxy
sighting on street
Liz Hunt
[none reported]
NextDoor
16
19 -Dec -2020
9:OOAM
NB
path btwn Dover & Westclliff
sighting on path
Kenneth Harris
[none reported]
NextDoor
17
19 -Dec -2020
17 -Dec -2020
8:10 AM
4:30 PM
NB
NB
behind NHHS
Castaways gated community
coyote sighting
sighting on street
Stephanie King
[none reported]
■ photo [none reported]
NextDoor
18
Sue Willet
NextDoor
19
17 -Dec -2020
unreported
NB
Castaways pathway along
bay
sighting on pathway
Leslie Watkins
■ photo [none reported]
NextDoor
20
16 -Dec -2020
8:00 PM
NB
ENC/NHHS
coyotes howling
Melanie Houk
[none reported]
NextDoor
21
16 -Dec -2020
8:00 PM
NB
Kings Road
2 coyotes in backyard
NH neighbor
[none reported]
neighbor email
22
16 -Dec -2020
12:30 PM
NB
Bayshores
sighting on Street
Allison Wood
■ photo [none reported]
neighbor email
23
16 -Dec -2020
15 -Dec -2020
8:05 AM
5:00 PM
NB
NB
btwn Vista Suerte & Vista
Trucha near Vista Umbrosa
23rd & Tustin
sighting in greenbelt
face off w/dog in sideyard -
iron fence
Judith Foster
■ photo[none reported]
NextDoor
24
Barry McPhee owner scared it off twds
Tustin Av
NextDoor
1/22/2021
COYOTE ENCOUNTERS
Newport Beach
25
15 -Dec -2020
AM hours NB Dover Shores coyote appproached Jill Landy
German Shepherd
[none reported]
NextDoor
26
week of
December 14
6:30 AM NB Santiago & Westcliff passed thru owner's yard
Gwen Feiner
[none reported]
NextDoor
27
12 -Dec -2020 or
13 -Dec -2020
unreported NB Castaways Park sighitng while dog -walking
7:30 AM NB Vista Roma & Vista del Oro coyote tried to grab dog
from leash
5:45 PM NB Tustin & Emerson sighting on street
Brooke Griffin
[none reported]
reported to NBPD
NextDoor
28
10 -Dec -2020
Nicole Volpe
NextDoor
29
9 -Dec -2020
Aimee Johnson
kept going twds 21st St
NextDoor
30
30 -Nov -2020
7:00 AM NB
Redlands & Cherry Tree
sighting on street
Vicki Farrell
chased off by resident
NextDoor
31
26 -Nov -2020
1:00 PM NB
Santiago btwn Galaxy &
Dover
Holiday Road
sighting in greenbelt
Lisa Daly
Janet Schneider
■ photo [none reported]
barking dog and owner
chased it back over the
fence
NextDoor
32
23 -Nov -2020
11:30 AM NB
coyote in backyard
NextDoor
33
21 -Nov -2020
NB
7:10 AM
Kings Road/Kings Road Park
4 coyotes
Peggy Palmer
reported to NBPD
NextDoor
34
17 -Nov -2020
8:00 PM NB
unreported NB
St James Place
Santiago
coyote in yard
coyotes howling
Valerie Miller
[none reported]
[none reported]
NextDoor
35
week of Nov 15,
2020
Vickie Yasko
NextDoor
36
12 -Nov -2020
8-9:30 PM NB
btwn St James & the ENC
coyotes howling
Valerie Miller
[none reported]
NextDoor
37
12 -Nov -2020
10:00 PM NB
St James
coyotes howling
Lindsey Fox
[none reported]
NextDoor
38
12 -Nov -2020
7:45 AM NB
btwn St James & 15th St
sounds of kill
Lindsey Fox
[none reported]
NextDoor
39
12 -Nov -2020
daylight hours NB Villa Balboa
coyote within complex
10:00 PM CM Ogle St near Pinkley Park to chased owner and dog in
Tustin & 16th PI owner's arms
6:30 PM CM 20th St btwn Tustin & Irvine sighted on sidewalk
Todd Newkirk
■ video [none reported] NextDoor
owner threw rocks. NextDoor
Coyote retreated at Tustin
& 16th Place
40
18 -Nov -2020
Mike Mc Connell
41
15 -Nov -2020
Kate Czechowicz
[none reported]
NextDoor
42
12 -Nov -2020
8-9:30 PM NB
btwn St James & the ENC
coyotes howling
Valerie Miller
[none reported]
NextDoor
43
12 -Nov -2020
10:00 PM NB
St James
coyotes howling
Lindsey Fox
[none reported]
NextDoor
44
12 -Nov -2020 7:45 AM NB btwn St James & 15th St sighting on Street
7 -Nov -2020 daylight hours NB Vista Baya ■cat remains found
Lindsey Fox
■ photo [none reported]
NextDoor
45
James Osnott
■owner posted cat
missing/pet cat killed
NextDoor
1/22/2021
COYOTE ENCOUNTERS
Newport Beach
46
7 -Nov -2020 twilight hours NB Dover Shores big coyote sigthed on street Louis Goodmon ■ photo reported to
NBPD
NextDoor
47
6 -Nov -2020
1:45 PM NB Pescador coyote in backyard
Kathleen Love
[none reported]
NextDoor
48
3 -Nov -2020
unreported NB Mariners big coyote sigthed on street
7:30 AM NB Bonita Canyon coyote grabbed dog from
front yard
9:00 PM NB Redlands & Cherry Tree sighting on street
6:00 AM NB The Bluffs Stalked dog -walker
7:30 PM NB Vista del Oro across from sighting across from
Vista Roma near Vista Suerte greenbelt
6:30 PM NB Vista Grande sighting on street
Louis Goodmon
David C. Grant
John Ferraro
reported to NBPD
NextDoor
49
27 -Oct -2020
Owner kicked coyote, and
neighbor chased it into
the 73 fwy r/w
StuNews
50
22 -Oct -2020
honked horn/coyote ran
NextDoor
51
13 -Oct -2020
Elizabeth Yost
owner yelled at it. It
wasn't afraid.
[none reported]
NextDoor
52
12 -Oct -2020
Corrie Ferrentino
NextDoor
53
12 -Oct -2020
Mark McConnell
■ photo
NextDoor
54
10 -Oct -2020
9:30 AM NB
Cambridge near Dover
sighting on street
Lesli Hering -Hunt
[none reported]
NextDoor
55
9 -Oct -2020
7:30 PM NB
Dover near Nottingham
sighting on street
Sydney Jensen
heading towards Back Bay
NextDoor
56
NextDoor
57
4 -Oct -2020
PM hours NB
Dover
crossing the street
Hilary Niblo
NextDoor
58 2 -Oct -2020 11:15 PM NB Vista Flora pack of six coyotes stalking
dog walker
* All sources - NextDoor, Ring Neighborhood, and some first hand conversaton
Shelly Pisors
coyotes ran off, reported
to NBPD
NextDoor
1/22/2021