Zoo Power Struggle Will Go Before Council

The Los Angeles City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to intervene in a bitter dispute between the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. and the city’s parks commission, which voted Monday to give itself greater control over the nonprofit organization and its funds.

GLAZA and the city have jointly operated the Griffith Park facility for decades, but parks officials argued that authority should be consolidated under one director. GLAZA officials have called the city’s action a “power grab” that will greatly diminish the group’s fund-raising ability.

The vote next Tuesday was requested by Councilman Joel Wachs. Under the terms of a Charter amendment approved in June, the City Council, with a two-thirds vote, can take jurisdiction over any matter decided by a city commission.