Search Ends as Director for L.A. Zoo Is Chosen : Personnel: The veterinarian headed a similar facility in Boston amid controversy.

Mark Goldstein, former executive director of the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, has been selected to head the troubled city-owned Los Angeles Zoo, City Hall sources said Wednesday.

Goldstein, 38, will be named to head the Griffith Park facility 11 months after former director Warren Thomas announced his resignation amid allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities.

Goldstein, a veterinarian, headed Boston’s troubled zoo for 3 1/2 years before stepping down in July. During his tenure, he was at the center of controversy after he closed one zoo facility because of state budget cuts.

He was among a group of four candidates selected by Los Angeles officials last spring during a nationwide search for a new zoo director.

The position was originally offered to another of the four, Terry Maple, director of the Atlanta Zoo, but he turned it down because of what he considered to be the low salary and high cost of housing in Los Angeles.

Personnel officials renewed their search and urged the Los Angeles City Council to raise the pay limit for the job. On Friday, the council voted to raise the director’s top pay to $116,448 from $93,730.

Before heading the Boston zoo, Goldstein worked as a veterinarian at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston.

Neither Goldstein nor Mayor Tom Bradley, who is expected to formally announce the appointment at a news conference today, was available for comment Wednesday.

A statement issued by the mayor’s office Wednesday said the new director is “widely acclaimed in the zoological arena and is a respected veterinarian.”

City Personnel Director John J. Driscoll would not confirm Goldstein’s selection Wednesday, but said the “competitive market for zoo directors” made the salary increase necessary.

City Council President John Ferraro, who pushed for the pay increase, said it was nearly impossible to lure a director from a top zoo to Los Angeles without raising the pay.

“From what I’ve heard, they’ve selected an outstanding person,” Ferraro said.

“Hopefully, we got a hot shot,” said Greg Nelson, a spokesman for City Councilman Joel Wachs. “The zoo is in desperate need of strong leadership.”

Goldstein will take over an institution that has been leaderless for nearly a year.

In the year before Thomas’ resignation, the zoo was cited repeatedly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for deficiencies including inadequate food storage, sanitation and drainage problems, pest and rodent contamination, run-down animal barns and other alleged violations of federal regulations. On the day Thomas resigned, the city auditor issued a report concluding that Thomas had violated several provisions of the City Charter in his handling of a special zoo fund.

Thomas, who was not disciplined or charged with a crime, admitted no wrongdoing.