January 7, 2003

Hall Monitor

By Savannah Blackwell

New zoo review: Three years after the release of a comprehensive audit of the institution's finances and practices, officials of the San Francisco Zoo have – finally – agreed to hold a public hearing on the recommendations in the document.

Prepared by the office of Harvey Rose, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' budget analyst, the January 2000 audit found what many critics had long feared: violations of federal regulations governing care of animals had gone unheeded, and morale among zookeepers was fairly low. Among a host of findings, the report recommended the zoo spend much of the money from the sale of $48 million in bonds (approved by voters in 1997 for the facility's reconstruction) on improving the animals' living conditions. Some activists have long felt that the zoo spends far too much on marketing and tourist amenities and far too little on the living quarters and well-being of its animals.

The charge to force the zoo – which is run by a private nonprofit – to comply with the audit has been largely led by one person. Philip Carleton, who volunteers to help care for the zoo's bison herd in Golden Gate Park on weekends, recently enlisted the assistance of Recreation and Park Commissioner Gloria Bonilla and finally convinced zoo officials to deal with the audit in public. At the zoo's Dec. 4 meeting, deputy director John Mann agreed to address the audit's 75 recommendations at a meeting of zoo and Recreation and Park Department officials Mar. 5.

The privatized zoo has never adequately responded to the audit, according to some city officials. City departments, when audited by Rose's office, are expected to respond point by point. But the zoo, which operates at least in name under the city's Recreation and Park department, has never done so. For his part, Carleton is hoping the March meeting leads to a hearing of the report in front of the Board of Supervisors.

"The costs [of the zoo's rebuild] keep going up and up," Carleton said. "And it seems that money that could be used for the animals is still being wasted on things like construction overruns on the new entryway and restaurant. It's high time the supervisors looked at this." (Savannah Blackwell)

One class act: Supporters swarmed City Hall Jan. 3 to rejoice in the inauguration of Jeff Adachi as the city's new public defender. Adachi, the son of a Sacramento auto mechanic who rose through the ranks to become the right arm of former public defender Jeff Brown, managed to do the impossible: he beat Kimiko Burton – daughter of state senate president John Burton – who, through the best of political connections, had slipped into the post without putting in her time.

Sup. Matt Gonzalez, who worked with Adachi in the Public Defender's Office, reminded the crowd of the high odds against Adachi's March 2002 victory.

"Often in politics when a victor is declared, everyone comes together to celebrate as if it were predestined," Gonzalez said. "But that was not the case. This was a very, very difficult challenge."

The city's most prominent grassroots leaders attended the event, and the mood was upbeat. Although the progressives lost some key races in November, they can look back at Adachi's win as a major victory. (Thanks to an oddity in the City Charter, Adachi had to wait almost a year to take over the job.)

For his part, Adachi graciously thanked Mayor Willie Brown for encouraging him to pursue a political career when he graduated from UC Berkeley. And he underscored the importance of the office in a time when the civil liberties of all Americans – especially immigrants and more vulnerable populations – are under attack.

"It will be a difficult time in this era to defend the public," he said. "Our civil rights have taken a tremendous step backward in just the last couple of years."

But at least in San Francisco, as speaker and famed defense attorney Tony Serra put it, justice won one: "Virtue has been rewarded. Virtue has triumphed. San Francisco has elected a true champion of the people," Serra boomed. "Aren't we lucky?" (Blackwell)

Newsom noise: In a Dec. 18 fundraising letter, Sup. Gavin Newsom went after many of his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors: "Right now, San Francisco city government is dominated by a majority of politicians who call themselves 'progressives.' While I share many of the same goals and values as my colleagues, I differ profoundly in my approach and my priorities.... To meet the challenges confronting us, we need leaders who can move beyond progressive rhetoric and help our entire city make real progress."