A Response To A Question About What Should Be Done With The Zoo

"Joe...seriously, what would you and Jennifer propose to get this train wreck back on the tracks? I think it's time you guys threw something out there, some type of outline or something on some place to start getting this place back up to speed. I think you guys have some ideas you could offer. The place is an embarrassment and movement of some sort needs to begin sooner rather than later."

First you need a political power change in Salisbury. Upper Management should not have to fear for their jobs solely on their ability to kiss the behind of our beloved Mayor. They should be rewarded for good performance and made held accountable when things take a turn for the worse.

What the Zoo is in desperate need of is some new blood on the Zoo Commission. Ron Alessi has been covering for the problems there long enough. The current crew are as stale as stale gets and so are their ideas and abilities to get things turned around down there. You need some folks with some enthusiasm. You also need to end this, "we have always done things this way and we can't change attitude." Life is about change and compromise not, set in stone policies and closed mind thinking. If the Zoo would be better served financially, as well as safer, by charging an admission fee; do it! Take away the pedophiles easy escape route and make folks comply by the Zoo Rules rather than letting them free flow through two entrances.
And please don't hand me the, "we can't afford a couple of bucks to get in." Take care of that with free days. Every Zoo in the Country that charges has several free days for the folks that can't afford their $10 and up entrance fees.

Most importantly find a Director that has business sense. You don't need a PhD in Zoology to run a great Zoo. As long as you have competent staff and a good veterinary support team, the animal end of the operation should run great. But without a dynamic figure at the helm that can RAISE FUNDS and INTEREST in the Zoo your dead in the water. We've had enough of that in the past, it's time to turn things around.

The City has a new Public Works Director, tell us what made him so qualified to run a Zoo as well? Everything is hushed up and as the taxpayers may not have any say as to who the City hires, in the very least they could tell us more about him and or let us have an open mic evening with him. I doubt anyone would treat him poorly. He seems to be a very nice man but I would like to know a lot more about him.

If we're to consider who just might make a great Zoo Director, find someone locally who has successful experience in raising money. If that can't be accomplished, find someone who has this experience with other Zoo's a pay out a little more to get them. They will pay back the City with the simple funds they raise and take the burden away from the taxpayers fronting every expense there any more. It's a business, treat it like one.

Many don't like the salary Gary Mackes makes with the County but guess what, he's worth his weight in gold in financial returns, like it or not and or agree or not, it's true.

Barrie Tilghman has known first hand just how bad things have been at the Zoo and I can confidently tell you that because I'm the one who personally sat down with her and John Pick and exposed it ALL. Barrie Tilghman covered all the dead animals up at that Zoo and never once admitted there was a problem, even though depositions clearly showed differently as well. This is a woman that cannot be trusted and IMO couldn't care less about the animals there. This was proven by her keeping Rapp, Samis, Alessi and several others on the payroll. They should have been terminated and removed immediately.

Other answers are, IF the entire City, (BY VOTE) chose to keep the Zoo, I'd close the Zoo, wait 2 years and try to regroup. If the interest is still there in two years, find another location and rebuild the Zoo at another location. I don't want to hear, it's always been there crap. It's a horrible location. It wasn't bad for a few animal petting Zoo but we're talking about exotics that are very expensive to purchase and even more expensive to feed, care for and keep healthy.

That Zoo was NOT designed to do what it's currently doing. How many of you agree that the Bison are in a large enough area? I can tell you, (I believe) the law in Maryland is 1 acre per horse if you want to own a few horses. They have had what, 4 Bison in that small area eating sand! There shouldn't be 2 Jags in that exhibit. It's too small for one, yet they kept insisting on having two. The soil at the Zoo is crap! You have had animals pissing and pooping on that soil for more than 50 years now and there's no septic system, respectfully. They complain about chicken farmers, what about the Zoo and the hundreds of pounds of duck chow the Zoo puts out daily attracting the Canada Goose to the river year round. You all know what they leave behind as well.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the soil should have been replaced every year, yet Rapp refused to do so when he got there, even though it had been done yearly in the past. This is why Jennifer and I have been so insistent on Foot Baths. Look, it's so cheap to do so daily and the end result is the control of Avian TB throughout the Zoo. It won't stop what Rapp let get out of control but you can at least control it.

Then there's a true professional Zookeeping Staff. Should everyone choose to rebuild a new Zoo, they need to hire professionals and not former drinking buddies of Jim Rapp. You have lawsuits in the making by hiring 90 pound Zookeepers lifting50 and 100 pound items all the time. Yeah, they might be nice people but damn it, it's a business, treat it like one. You don't put 90 pound football players on a professional football team. In some business, people are built to handle certain jobs and quite frankly this is one area people can get seriously hurt.

Relocate that Zoo, if the interest is still there. I can assure you, IF they chose to do so and follow these guidelines I'd be one of the first people in line making a donation to do so.

I could go on and on about what should and or shouldn't happen at the Zoo. I truly believe the Zoo should be closed down, wait till after the new elections for Mayor are over and let the new Mayor deal with the Zoo's future. It can be a serious part of how people run here. A Presidential Election is run on how they might handle the War, the Country's financial state, blah, blah, blah. Make the Candidates accountable for how they would resolve the bullshit this Mayor has created.

Then if you like the ways things have been done in the past, vote for Barrie Tilghman. If you want change, (in which this is another reason she doesn't want you all to know and be accountable for) you'll vote instantly for a new Mayor who is also qualified to redesign the City and get things back in order. Think about this as well. Do you truly believe a new Mayor would agree to a $10,000,000.00 Fire Station and or a $36,000,000.00 Master Plan for the current Zoo? I DON'T THINK SO! However, that's how Barrie has been running the City and quite frankly she's screwed it up.

In closing, VOTE! Get off your asses and get to the Polls for once and act responsible! Some look at Debbie Campbell and say, she's always complaining. She's always voting against things. WELL, HELLO! How are things working for you now, IDIOTS? Yes, that means the majority of you. You sit back and expect things to change and get better without YOU putting ANY effort into it.

I want to see the Tilghman name disappear from this community. Same goes with Alessi, Rapp, Comegys and many others. The only way things are going to get better is based on accountability, something Louise Smith completely LIED to all of you about. Track records speak volume. Debbie Campbell is out for the best interest of whom? YOU! Just because a guy like Gary Comegys or Ron Alessi speak nice to you doesn't mean they know what the hell their doing! Their TRACK RECORD can tell you who they are. Choose someone in the future with a track record of knowing how to run a business. It's that simple. Hire a Zoo Director that has a TRACK RECORD of raising money!

Finally, do NOT let Barrie Tilghman all of a sudden come to all of you and say everything is fine or everything will get better at the Zoo. NO IT WON'T! The buildings are falling apart, no one there can deny that. There are too many animals, (even though the inventory is only 1/5 of what it used to be) in that Zoo. Close it down and send those animals off to others Zoo's that can professionally care for them. If the will of the citizens are there to open a new one, so be it, I'll help out. Until then, these animals have suffered enough and it's time to close it down.

Sorry for being so repetitive. I get wrapped up in this subject like there's no tomorrow because we truly care. That Zoo is horrible Folks, it truly is.

IN ADDITION:

I have put more thought into this question and there is yet another answer. One that might be more balanced and fair for all parties concerned. I strongly believe the Salisbury Zoo should become a Regional Zoo. Although this Mayor would rather shut something down before she'll lose complete control over it, I think the Zoo should be funded by other municipalities/counties. By doing so, you not only bring together a very large amount of richness in ideas and decision making, you also bring together communities sharing a special interest in one Zoo, everyone's Zoo.

While I believe the Salisbury Zoo should in fact be relocated, IF it were to happen, more people need to be involved and certainly more responsible for the cost of such. This could get exciting, couldn't it?