Zoo privatization A City Council meeting on Mayor Jeremy Harris' proposal to privatize the Honolulu Zoo turned into a sometimes emotional gripe session about the operation of the zoo.
plan criticized
A council committee defers
taking action on the resolutionBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"There are serious problems at the Honolulu Zoo," said animal rights activist Cathy Goeggel, who noted low employee morale and concerns about the treatment of animals.
Two groups of Honolulu Zoo employees spoke against a resolution that urged a public-private partnership with the nonprofit Honolulu Zoo Society taking over management.
Zookeeper Linda Vannatta became emotional at first, starting to cry as she began to read her testimony representing the 35 zookeepers who signed the petition saying: "We believe that the zoo society lacks the ability to properly manage the facility."
The City Council's Parks and Economic Development Committee yesterday deferred taking action on the resolution, mainly because the Harris administration still has not come up with a plan.
"Administration made a statement to privatize, but you're not giving us any details on how you're going to do it," Councilman Romy Cachola said.
Barry Fukunaga, director of the Enterprise Services Department, which oversees the zoo, said the process to come up with a final proposal will be a long one.
"I think there's room for assessment and determination ... That's what we'd like to do and I think that's what people are asking before we embark on a significant change: what is it we're proposing, why and how."
Fukunaga said the city subsidizes the zoo operations by $5 million to $6 million a year.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association, which represents about 20 percent of zoo employees, said, "Privatization is ... merely a way to delay the resolution of long-standing problems or to distract the public's attention from the deficiencies of present management or resources."
The Council members are expected to ask more questions today when the Budget Committee is scheduled to hear from zoo officials on the status of delayed zoo construction projects.
But most of the criticism centered on the ability of the Zoo Society's ability to take over management of the zoo.
"We do not see the zoo as a business proposition. We do not see the zoo as a revenue-producing organization," said Mary Harbold, a zoo education specialist who represented a group of senior staffers opposed to the resolution.
She said privatization would be "a fundamental shift in the philosophy of animals as ambassadors for their species to animals as commodities that could be used to raise money."
Zoo employees also criticized the Zoo Society's finances. They said the Attorney General's Office is investigating the society's inclusion of contributed volunteer services as revenues on their nonprofit tax reports.
Society officials defended their work of educating the public.
"I think I alluded to some of the problems and that is a misunderstanding by zoo staff, whether it's due to confusion or willful misunderstanding, it's sometimes hard to tell," the society's Mark Bogart said. "There are also fundamental philosophical differences. For instance, should you or should you not pay for education programs?"
Goeggel pointed to what she described as the "smarmy" annual Zoorotica Valentine's Day event that includes a nighttime tour and education about the sex lives of animals.
But Bogart said the event is straightforward biology on animal reproduction.
"As you can tell by the previous testimony, there's a lot of emotion that rides on the zoo. It has for years and we think that it's time for all interested parties to come together and make improvements," the society's Peter Rob said.
Honolulu Zoo