Animal Services Commish Marie Atake Resigns

Department of Animal Services Commissioner and Forte Animal Rescue founder Marie Atake has resigned her post, MayorSam has learned late Friday.

Her resignation letter to Mayor Antonio was blunt, rough, and sharply worded, and she fingers both Ed Boks and Antonio's Deputy Chief of Staff, Jimmy Blackman, for enabling Boks at his personal, Department-oriented website to attack what she calls "a reputable animal-welfare organization" without specifying which. She also claims Boks misled City Council on August 3 on an Item marked Special. She lists "Boks' crises" as "the veterinarian shortage; unopened spay-neuter clinics; zero foreign language outreach; shelter overcrowding; delayed shelter openings; end-runds on key stakeholders; and a tidal wave of public relations disasters."

She says that she is resigning because she can "no longer, in good conscience, be a part of such demoralization."