No Peace for Me - New Chronicle Article Just Dropped

So yea, just finished my last post and saw this.  I literally said outloud, "These F'ers Just Won't Let Me Have Any Peace"!

I ain't going to do a separate reaction post, I'm just going to insert my comments into this, because I don't expect there to be that much new to add.

Here is the full text.  You can view the article online here: 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/panda-san-francisco-zoo-19524414.php

Bringing giant pandas to the San Francisco Zoo from China could cost as much as $70 million over 10 years, according to Jeff Pace, the zoo’s chief financial officer, who spoke at a zoo advisory board meeting on Thursday. 

This spring, Mayor London Breed secured an agreement to receive a pair of pandas from China. They could arrive next year. Breed and zoo officials tout them as an economic rainmaker for San Francisco, but a ballpark estimate of the total cost to keep and care for the pandas – which Breed said will be at least partly covered by private donations – has not been revealed until now.  

😮 "At least partly?"

Pace addressed the cost of hosting pandas during a meeting of the Joint Zoo Committee, composed of zoo representatives and members of the Recreation and Park Commission, the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare, and the San Francisco Zoological Society board, which runs the zoo. 

At the meeting, members of the animal rights nonprofit In Defense of Animals voiced opposition to the city’s plans to bring a pair of pandas from China to the zoo next year, citing concerns about lapses in worker safety and animal welfare cited by 20 current and former zoo employees in a recent Chronicle report. 

Fleur Dawes, director of communications with the group, said that $70 million was a “low estimate” for keeping the pandas over a decade, the typical time that pandas are loaned from China.

In response, Pace said, “$70 million is in the range of what it would cost to house pandas for ten years, but I think it's high.”

By comparison, the zoo’s total expenses were $24.7 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2023, according to its most recently available tax documents.

Just housing the bears could cost $25 million, the zoo estimates. But there is also food – thousands of pounds of bamboo per month – and veterinary care for the animals, in addition to the cost to rent the pandas from China, which is traditionally $1 million per year.

Vitus Leung, the zoo’s deputy director, said it’s premature to provide a definitive total cost estimate for the pandas. 

“While our CFO, Jeff Pace, agreed with the speaker about the ranges proposed by other zoos, it also is worth noting that the San Diego Zoo and Smithsonian National Zoo (in Washington, D.C.) sought the return of pandas after hosting them for many years, providing strong evidence that these zoos have financially benefited from having pandas,” he wrote in an email. “We remain confident that the arrival of the pandas at the S.F. Zoo and Gardens will have significant positive impact on attendance, enthusiasm and cultural significance.”

"Blah, blah, on significant impact.  They need to take on my suggestion that the Zoo only commit to hosting two years (temporarily).  Evaluating how significant the impact and additional revenue continue before hosting permanently, and building that pricey enclosure."

The mayor’s office also said it was too soon to comment on the total cost of pandas. 

“We're just not there yet, but throughout this process the city will continue to be transparent about this budget, financial details and plans as they are finalized,” said Parisa Safarzadeh, Breed’s press secretary.

The zoo and the city intend to fundraise for the pandas.

"What?!  Now the Zoo is going to fundraise for Pandas?  That was not part of the Mayor's original Plan.  All costs were on the City.  If the Zoo can raise money for Pandas, it can and needs to raise money for Orangutans.  If this is accurate, this is bullshit!!"

This month, the Board of Supervisors passed legislation from Breed that will allow certain city officials to solicit private donations for the pandas as well as other capital improvements at the zoo. Among those that officials plan to ask for donations are a host of major corporations such as United Airlines, Doordash and Salesforce. Some of those potential donors have contracts with the city.

The legislation initially would have only allowed officials to ask for donations to fund the panda program, but was expanded to benefit the zoo’s other projects after supervisors raised concerns about the conditions at the zoo outlined by the Chronicle.

"If the Zoo is now involved with fundraising for Pandas, the information here is confusing and conflicting.  Additionally, after the Board of Supervisors voted to allow the Mayor to move forward, I sent a list of detailed questions regarding the amount and use of the funds to both the Mayor and Supervisor Preston.  I have received no response."

Breed has frequently cited potentials for increased business and tourism as benefits of bringing in pandas. At other zoos with panda programs, attendance typically increases initially and then drops off, according to Nissei Asia and other news outlets. 

"Again, temporary hosting initially. Price tag reduced.  Funds raised fix the Zoo."

Larry Mazzola, the Joint Zoo Committee chair who is a member of the Recreation and Park Commission, said Thursday that he had invited zoo executive director and CEO Tanya Peterson to the meeting to discuss challenges at the zoo raised by the Chronicle. However, he said, an attorney advised Peterson not to attend because of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the zoo’s board after publication of the Chronicle’s report and after 97% of the zoo’s union members cast a vote of no-confidence in Peterson in April. 

“These accusations (contained in the Chronicle report) bother me, as a labor rep,” said Mazzola, who is also a business manager with United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 38. “I care deeply about how the workers are being treated, (at) what level they are being heard. And if they're not being heard that's a major problem. I intend to follow up on this.”

"Again, blah, blah, been two months.  What's the follow-up?  How long is the investigation going to take?  There is clear evidence of mismanagement by Director Peterson, neglect of management oversight by the Zoological Society, and frankly by the Rec and Park Commission.  This is an easy fix.  Replace Peterson, and get the Board and Park Commissioners to do their jobs as outlined in the Lease agreement."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Blogger's Statement

"Personal Opinions and Facts presented publicly are Not against the law or any rules. ... Censorship and Retaliation Actions in an attempt at Suppression are frowned upon by Healthy Societies."

For Full Statement see this post:

https://iamnotananteater.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-zoo-status.html

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*