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Measure A-1--Support the Oakland Zoo. It's about maintaining current quality--not expansion.

An attempt to clear up misinformation on Measure A-1. It's not about expanding the zoo.

 

The Oakland Zoo is a small but dazzling jewel –respected throughout the country for cutting-edge animal management, education, and conservation… and it is ours. Sadly, there has been misinformation about Measure A-1.

Be assured that Measure A-1 is not for any kind of expansion. 

Measure A1 reads that by law, the money must be used for animal care, children’s educational programs, and maintaining the Zoo’s affordability. Money can go towards upgrading animal enclosures and repairing animal shelters – but this “construction” has nothing to do with expanding the existing zoo—only for repairing and improving existing ones.

Parcel tax measures, like A-1, are always set up to describe how money will be used, not how it will not be used. However, because of a contingent that confuses Measure A-1 with expanding the Zoo, the Zoo has clarified, on the record, its intent and commitment that no Measure A1 funds will be used for the California Trail expansion construction.

I have volunteered as a docent for the last three years and am constantly blown away by the quality and integrity that I see around me. The zoo is known nationally as tops in animal management, educating Bay Area children, and conservation as well as rescuing animals. All of our tigers and lions are rescues from horrific conditions.

We have a world-class zoo at our doorsteps.  Keeping it that way--maintaining the exhibits, animal care, quality education, and entry costs to the public are crucial, and that's where your help comes in. 

How lucky we are to have a world-class zoo at our doorsteps. Please vote yes on A-1.

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Jen Jelincic November 4, 2012 at 05:25 am
Sidney, this is truly a great article. It's very to the point and does not include an skewed information. Thank you for writing it and sharing what you know about the zoo.
Sidney Simpson November 4, 2012 at 11:00 am
Jen--Your various responses have been fabulous--well thought out and reasoned--not emotional or reactive. Thank you for adding so much detail that people can research themselves if they want.
Leah Hall November 4, 2012 at 12:24 pm
I'm supporting the Oakland Zoo and the needs of our local community by voting 'Yes"
on A-1. If you can vote, Do Vote, November 6th.
Fran November 4, 2012 at 01:36 pm
If only a Zoo could cure our societal woes. In Oakland, no less. The only needs this measure fulfill are those of a few individuals and at the expense of the entire community. Vote NO on A1!
Leah Hall November 4, 2012 at 02:16 pm
I think Fran's rhetoric typifies the negative misinformatinon/confusion coming from the "Save Knowland/Friends of Knowland contingency.
Noteably, the primary place where this murky opposition makes itself evident is in online chat rooms, in some cases by the signers of the measure's oppostion, and its chair, Rose Nolan of 'Friends of Knowland' no less. Apparently, these folks are a relatively small group or most of them are too ashamed to be public in their opposition by doing simple things such as displaying opposition signs on their own property. Get out the vote November 6th!
anthony November 4, 2012 at 02:20 pm
Thank you Sidney. I share your view for the zoo and also found Jen's postings informative and reasoned.
http://livermore.patch.com/blog_posts/yes-on-measure-a1-for-education-animal-care-22b0af02
Fran November 4, 2012 at 04:36 pm
If there’s any rhetoric at all in this debate, it surely isn’t coming from me. I, fundamentally believe that NO private entity should be allowed to levy a tax. Taxes should be reserved to further the common good. In this particular instance, it happens to be a Zoo. No matter how much you may enjoy it, it just doesn’t fit the description of the common good in my eyes. If the zoo needs more money to care for animals than they can increase the prices they charge. Since it’s such an educational, worthy, and pleasurable experience, according to proponents, visitors will be more than happy to open their wallets. Save the taxes for the common good is all I’m saying. If a PRIVATE entity is reliant on its’ ability to levy a tax than change your business model or go out of business. This measure sets a bad precedent.
Leah Hall November 4, 2012 at 05:38 pm
I support measure A1 and the Oakland Zoo and its expansion plans, which have undergone a long public process since 1998. I believe it is unfair for opponents to conflate Measure A1 with this other initiative funded by grants and donations. In politics, passions flare and seemingly every distortion and whopper is permissible, so I urge my fellow citizens to think about this carefully and research balanced sources and the history before coming to a decision.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in the US, most zoos are supported partially or wholly out of public funds by the town, city, or state in which they are located. The National Zoological Park, in Washington DC, was founded by Congress in 1889-90. Its site was purchased by the US government, and running expenses are provided from public funds. The Zoological Park in the Bronx, New York City, and the Philadelphia Zoological Garden are managed by zoological societies. Both are supported partly by the subscriptions of members, partly by entrance fees, and partly by annual civic subsidies. Earlier this year, community family favorites like the Oakland Zoo, Fairyland, Peralta Hacienda, arts programs and Symphony in the Schools all saw their city funding slashed by 40 percent due to the loss of redevelopment funds from Sacramento.
Karen November 5, 2012 at 04:33 am
Saying over and over that Measure A1 funds can't be used for expansion in Knowland Park does not make it true. The full text of A1 explicitly includes expansion and new construction, with no specificity or limitation, and it stipulates that the Expenditure Plan list tacked on at the end are only examples of what might be done with the funds, and without priorities. Only the full text of A1 is legally binding; promises and campaign PR materials are not.
Zoo docents, volunteers and staff are obviously dedicated and do great work, but that doesn't change the fact that the zoo board’s priority is turning what Sidney calls this “small but dazzling jewel” into one of the biggest zoos in California with the expansion onto 54 acres of open space wildlife habitat in Knowland Park. This $72 million project is only about halfway funded, according to the zoo CEO. $36 million is a lot of money still to be raised. It is not coincidental that an irrevocable parcel tax that will provide millions of dollars a year for 25 years is written to include undefined expansion and construction. East Bay newspapers have endorsed No on A1 for sound reasons; see also today’s article in the Oakland Tribune (http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_21915737/tammerlin-drummond-measure-a1-read-fine-print-and). Measure A1 requires blind faith in the zoo board's priorities, when in fact there is no basis for trusting them at all.
Fernando November 5, 2012 at 04:49 am
The reason why the opposition has mostly an online presence and few signs is very simple: MONEY.
The Zoo is on the record as having spent around $1MILLION on its campaign (Zoo director Joel Parrot is recorded on video saying this at a League of Women Voters meeting). One million dollars goes a long way towards buying yard signs, billboards, glossy mailers and more. The opposition has a tiny fraction of that. It's a purely grassroots effort of concerned citizens that want to see a Zoo that cares of animals but also respects the ecosystems that still exist in the Bay Area and that are already ours to enjoy without further taxation or having to pay for access. We do post signs on our property, believe me. But we don't have a Million dollars of campaign funds to blanket the entire county with signs and bus billboards. Now, I do wonder... Why is a zoo that is supposedly in such desperate need of money for the animals, spending a million dollars in marketing and campaign materials? If there was a real grass roots support for the Zoo, it could get this measure passed with 1/100th of that expenditure. But the fact that it's pushing a massively expensive media blitz, when supposedly in dire financial straits, should give anyone who follows money trails grave reason for concern. Especially when it appears those expenditures have been done in violation of election law: http://bitly.com/S6a1rL.
Stefanie Gandofli November 5, 2012 at 05:39 am
Leah, as a founding member of Friends of Knowland Park, I think I can safely say that we all have unabashedly placed opposition signs on our lawns. There is no shame in being one of a small group dedicated to an important cause; change for the good has often started that way. Unlike the zoo, which apparently has hundreds of thousands of dollars at its disposal to promote A1, we can't afford to plaster the county with expensive signs, send out multiple mass mailings, and buy big ads in the paper. Nor do we have paid staff who can devote hours every day to making calls to potential voters throughout the county. Nevertheless, the traditional press, public radio, and the League of Women Voters among other civic organizations, have all taken us seriously enough to interview us, investigate our claims, and invite us to speak. There is no shame in blogging, handing out leaflets at farmers' markets, and writing letters to the editor, to promote a cause. The zoo itself has done all these things.
Carol Castro November 5, 2012 at 04:12 pm
Open space, protection of native flora and fauna in an ever expanding urban landscape is valuable to those who know the long term effects of an unbridled land use policy that permits and, in fact, encourages development to the benefit of a few monied groups and to the detrirment of the humble life forms (human included) that have been there, lived there, survived there for centuries, if not millenium. If you value the intangibles inherent in open space in the East Bay Hills or anywhere in the world, there is no argument about why to vote NO on A1. Your vote NO on A1 preserves something that will be hard, if not impossible, to replace If any (not just Zoo related) developers take control of how it is to be "used". Thinking about the long range view is a better investment.
Leah Hall November 5, 2012 at 04:22 pm
If you can vote, Do Vote tomorrow.
I found this article in support of "Yes" on A-1 insightful, pragmatic, and detailed. http://sanleandro.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-conservation-director-at-the-oakland-zoo-says-yes-on-measure-a-1-7f0a56c2#photo-11845363
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