PERSPECTIVE ON CITY MANAGEMENT : Let a Nonprofit Run the L.A. Zoo : Animals, visitors and staff would be much better off free of the bureaucracy that created the facility’s problems.

The controversy that swirls around the Los Angeles Zoo has created a smoke screen obscuring the real issue. If we want a world-class zoo, we must fix the broken system that runs our zoo. Three highly respected outside zoo directors, called in for advice by the city, declared the current governance of the zoo unworkable and recommended management by a private nonprofit organization.

Backward-looking forces in the city are conducting a rear-guard action in the mistaken belief that the city bureaucracy can manage both halves of today’s public/private partnership at the zoo. Yet that very bureaucracy has created the problems that afflict the zoo.

A succession of qualified zoo directors have been denied the authority and resources to improve the zoo. Administrative efforts have been undercut while maintenance and improvement funds have been scrimped, to the detriment of the animals and the public who come to enjoy the zoo. Private fund-raising efforts have been severely undercut by the city’s ineptitude and the accompanying controversy.

Despite the dedicated efforts of many good people--zoo employees and private supporters--our zoo has been undermined by a system subject to the dictates and whims of the city bureaucracy.

Amid the chaos and deterioration, our zoo risks losing its accreditation in the review scheduled this month. Such a sorry outcome would broadcast to the world what the national zoo community already knows: Los Angeles has botched the operation of its zoo. The city is scrambling to perform long-neglected maintenance, hoping to avoid a loss of accreditation. But that’s a fig leaf over the deeper problem.

Will Los Angeles follow the path to successful zoo operation taken by many of the country’s major zoos, or will it cede control to the very bureaucracy that created the current mess?

In recent years, major zoos in enlightened communities as diverse as Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Cincinnati and New Orleans have changed from city or mixed governance to management by a nonprofit organization with continued city support. Of course, the world-famous San Diego Zoo has been under private nonprofit management for decades. The benefits are obvious in these communities. Animals are better cared for. Private giving and membership are dramatically higher. Administration and personnel pull together in developing a better zoo. Employees have greater job satisfaction.

City management of zoos worked in a bygone era when the city budget could provide nearly all the funds needed. Today, all major zoos depend on extensive private support.

Putting all aspects of Los Angeles’ zoo under a private nonprofit, with continued city support, would allow all parties to pull together as a team. Integrated activities would be less costly, more effective. Management would not be hampered by outmoded regulations and constant backbiting. Harmonious operations would greatly facilitate private fund-raising and attract more supporters. The jobs, pay and benefits of zoo employees could be preserved.

Los Angeles deserves a world-class zoo, one that leads in animal care and attracts citizens and tourists. We can have it if we choose to go forward to private nonprofit management, not backward to city control.