[ OUR OPINION ]
Society is not yet
ready to run zooMOST of America's city-owned zoos are operated by nonprofit organizations, many of them at little or no cost to taxpayers. Mayor Harris has proposed that Honolulu Zoo be privately run, but he has been slow to provide a specific plan to the City Council. Numerous city zoos have been turned over to private operators in recent years, and the city administration should have no problem finding a model for making the transition.
THE ISSUE The City Council is considering a proposal by Mayor Harris to privatize the operation of the Honolulu Zoo.
Privately operated zoos invariably are operated by local zoo societies. The Honolulu Zoo Society is the logical organization to run this city's zoo, but it must undergo substantial changes to be up to the task.
Privately run city zoos are not a recent phenomenon encouraged by the trend of privatization of government services. The country's oldest zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, has been privately operated since 1859. None of the Philadelphia Zoo's operating budget of $16 million comes from taxpayers. In contrast, Honolulu taxpayers subsidize this city's zoo by as much as $6 million a year.
Honolulu zookeepers are opposed to the Honolulu Zoo Society being put in charge. "We believe that the Zoo Society lacks the ability to properly manage the facility," zookeeper Linda Vannatta said in presenting a petition bearing the names of 35 of the 42 zookeepers. The society's finances also have come under scrutiny, including the inclusion of volunteer services as revenues to show a balanced budget.
The Zoo Society now concentrates its efforts on fund-raising, education and volunteer programs, spending only 9 percent of its budget on the zoo's operation. Under its current makeup, the society is in no position to assume control of the zoo's operation. Barbara Thacker, its executive director, seems to realize extensive changes need to be made before the society is up for the challenge.
"We envision it to be a nonprofit," Thacker says. "It would certainly not be the organization that is the Zoo Society today. It would be presumably made up of a board of directors that would have representation from the city, representation from the volunteers as well as others."
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Looks don’t count
in identifying enemyNORTH Carolina Republican Howard Coble is the most recent member of Congress to backpedal verbally after his offensive statement that Japanese Americans were correctly interned during World War II. Coble's assessment that these citizens "were intent on doing harm" and were removed because they "were an endangered species" could be attributed to ignorance. However, this must be weighed against his other statements and actions as well as consideration of the congressman's position as chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees homeland security legislation.
THE ISSUE A North Carolina congressman draws heat for defending the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Coble's remarks last week were made as Republicans were trying to repair the party's image, damaged when Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott suggested racial segregation would have been better for the country. As a result, Lott was forced to relinquish his Senate presidency. Now Asian-American organizations and some members of Congress want Coble removed from his leadership post.
Although Coble's assertion about Japanese Americans, made during a radio call-in program in Greensboro, hits closer to home for Hawaii residents, his observations about Arab Americans go directly to his suitability for leadership. While Arab Americans should not be sent to internment camps, Coble said, "these Arab Americans are probably intent on doing harm today."
"The kind of comments he's making does not give you the confidence that he can provide the political leadership," California Rep. Mike Honda said of Coble's role in establishing legislation to deal with terrorism and homeland security.
As expected, Coble issued an apology: "I regret that many Japanese and Arab Americans found my choice of words offensive." However, the offense goes beyond word choice to the convictions the words seem to represent. Indeed, Coble voted against passage of the 1988 act that provided reparations and apologies to Japanese Americans for their internment and also urged his colleagues to reject it.
Although Hawaii congressmen Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case have not sought Coble's resignation, they said his remarks reflect "a profound misunderstanding" about internment of Japanese Americans whose "only offense was their resemblance to the enemy."
As Congress moves to shape laws for homeland security, Coble should recognize the parallels here -- that Arab Americans also resemble the enemy, but are due the full rights of their citizenship.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
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