HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-21• MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON
PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH
May 21, 2012
CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting convened at 3:45 p.m. in the City Hall, Room 831, 20 Civic Center
Plaza, Santa Ana, California.
ATTENDANCE
Council members Present Michele Martinez (Chair);
Sal Tinajero
Vincent Sarmiento
Staff Present: Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director; Joe Straka, Assistant
City Attorney; Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager;
Kent Yamaguchi, Zoo Manager, Robert Carroll, Sr.
• Management Analyst, Ethan Fisher, Santa Ana Zoo Animal
Registrar
Public Present Rick Biddle, Schultz & Williams
Joe Adams, Discovery Science Center
Sean Fitzgerald, Discovery Science Center
Steve McGuigan, Friends of Santa Ana Zoo
Mark Harrison, Friends of Santa Ana Zoo
Joaquin Avalos, SEIU
Don Cribb, Santa Ana SA Council of the Arts & Culture
Michelle Callgilen, Heritage Museum of Orange County
Escarlet Mar, Santa Ana Public Library
• APPROVAL OF MINUTES
o Minutes of April 2, 2011 accepted as presented.
• PUBLIC COMMENTS:
o Escarlet Mar distributed a flyer on the SA Library's Santa Ana Summer Youth
Volunteer Festival that will be held on Saturday May 26th; 12pm to 5pm at the
• Main Library. Event will include volunteer opportunities, local band
performance, fashion show, food trucks and dunk tank.
PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 1 May 21, 2012
• o Don Cribb spoke to the committee on the SA Council of the Arts & Culture
and the privatizing of the Zoo.
• SANTA ANA ZOO MANAGEMENT & ASSESSMENT STUDY
o Staff introduced Rick Biddle of Schultz and Williams and provided background
on the hiring of the firm on October 2011 to prepare a SA Zoo Management
and Assessment Study.
o Mr. Biddle (Schultz and Williams) indicated they met with staff, analyzed the
zoo operations and are prepared to present management options.
¦ Mr. Biddle indicated 238 zoos are accredited by AZA and 76%
are managed through private/public partnership.
¦ Other zoos are going through the same issues as Santa Ana
and his firm is currently doing 4 other zoo studies.
¦ Mr. Biddle indicated he found residents and staff were excited
about the zoo. The marketing theme of 50 monkeys, the 20 acre
zoo size, visitor experience, 230,000 to 250,000 visitations is
only limited by available parking.
o Mr. Biddle explained three options the city could consider:
¦ Option 1: Close the zoo (not recommended as an option)
¦ Option 2: Maintain status quo (short term option)
¦ Option 3: Private/Public Partnership
? Partnership with FOSAZ
? Management concept with the Discovery Science Center
• ¦ There may be an opportunity to leverage two options.
¦ Whatever the City decides, AZA wants to see Santa Ana's Plan.
¦ Overall, the city needs leadership for long term success.
o Councilmember Sarmiento asked "What's the difference between LA and
Dallas Zoo operation?"
¦ Mr. Biddle responded LA is still a City managed Zoo and the
Dallas Zoo is privately run with an annual subsidy adjustment.
o Don Cribb indicated the public has not been included in any conversation
related to the zoo operation analysis.
o Councilmember Sarmiento indicated:
¦ The future of the Zoo needs to be determined at some point.
¦ FOSAZ has done a great job, but we need to excel from where
we are?
¦ There is interest by others (Discovery Science Center) to help
market the zoo, but they may not be the only ones.
¦ FOSAZ will be consulted in the decision making process.
¦ Need to look at this very seriously; SEIU is here to help provide
information on the decision process.
¦ Need to revitalize the entire 1 st Street corridor and SA Zoo is an
anchor in this corridor.
o Councilmember Tinajero indicated zoo attendance has been level for several
years and went down when the economy changed. Recently we have seen a
• slight growth in attendance.
PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 2 May 21, 2012
• o Mr. Biddle indicated:
¦ Attendance has been stable and recently went up due to the
construction of the two new zoo exhibits.
¦ This zoo is an important anchor along 1St Street.
¦ Zoo's that went from public operation to private operations has
not reverted back to public operation.
¦ The current admission price is not an issue.
o Councilmember Martinez asked if the City owns the zoo assets and we
privatize what would be the cost and city liability.
o Mr. Biddle indicated:
¦ The City needs to invest in the zoo to be successful.
¦ The City should also address deferred maintenance cost in the
overall maintenance and management of the zoo.
¦ The liability issue is normally handled by the private/non-profit
entity.
o Councilmember Martinez indicated we need to put staff at ease on whichever
option is selected.
o Mr. Biddle indicated typically 80% to 90% of the time zoo employees are
transferred over to the new management group.
o Gerardo Mouet indicated if the City elected to go in the direction of private
operation a Request for Proposal (RFP) needs to be prepared and released
to all parties interested. Most of the questions will be addressed in the RFP.
o Councilmember Sarmiento made the following statements:
• ¦ Where do we go from this point?
¦ FOSAZ has supported the success of the zoo.
¦ We need to move on to discuss the RFP.
¦ A successful zoo will encourage successful development
around the zoo and along 1St Street.
o RECOMMENDATION:
¦ 'Continue the item for 2 weeks (June 4, 2012).
• STAFF COMMENTS
o None
• COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
o Items for next agenda (June 4, 2012):
¦ Santa Ana Zoo Management Options (Next Step)
¦ Update of Five on Five Rule in Parks
¦ Update on Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Resolution
ADJOURNED: 4:31 p.m.
a_
Gerardo Mouet
• Executive Director, PR SA
PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 3 May 21, 2012