2 Cities Can’t Get the Hang of Chimp’s Situation

Call it the tale of two cities and one chimp.

In West Covina and Baldwin Park on Thursday, city councils held emergency meetings to decide what to do about Moe, a 36-year-old chimpanzee exiled from one city and apparently headed for the other.

Moe, who was once named an honorary citizen of West Covina, has been living at the Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest since late 1999, when he was removed from his home for biting a woman’s finger and, a year earlier, seriously injuring the hand of a police officer who had chased Moe when he escaped.

Ever since, Moe’s fate has been a contentious issue in West Covina, even propelling Moe’s owner, St. James Davis, into a failed bid for political office.

Davis and his wife, Ladonna, sued the city, and in a settlement finally announced this week, the couple agreed to move Moe to an industrial part of Baldwin Park, across from a county animal shelter. West Covina would buy the site and lease it to them for $1, under the settlement terms.

But there was a hitch: Apparently no one told Baldwin Park officials about the deal.

“We had no warning from our city attorney, and none of our staff knew,” said Baldwin Park City Councilwoman Linda Gair. “We were hit upside the head with it. Needless to say, we are not happy campers.”

Baldwin Park’s attorney is Arnold Glasman. He also is West Covina’s city attorney.

Glasman called a meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council on Thursday night to explain his actions regarding Moe on behalf of West Covina.

Hours earlier, however, the West Covina City Council had met in emergency session and decided to take back its offer to the Davises, with a letter of apology to its neighbor. West Covina’s mayor, city manager and a city council member delivered the letter personally.

The Davises, who relied on Moe’s television and film work as a substantial part of their income, said the city overreacted three years ago when officials removed him from their home the day after he bit a visitor’s finger.

They hired attorney Gloria Allred and collected nearly 60,000 signatures on a petition demanding Moe’s return.

“They took away the breadwinner of my family,” St. James Davis, a former NASCAR driver, said Thursday. “He got taken away for something he didn’t even do. Sure, he bit a police officer a long time ago, but

Under the settlement in the Davises’ 3-year-old civil rights lawsuit, West Covina agreed to pay them $100,000. Davis said that the city also agreed to buy an air-conditioned building, in the 4200 block of North Elton Street, for Moe. That sounded like the perfect solution to Davis. He intended to build a habitat, a place that others could visit and learn about the chimp whom Davis rescued in Tanzania in the late 1960s after Moe’s mother was killed by poachers.

“I wanted to put in a waterfall, a trampoline and a TV,” he said. “He has no TV where he is at, he can’t wear his clothes where he is at, and he can’t make any money where he is at.”

According to Susan Clawson, one of the partners in the property, no one from the city of West Covina has contacted the owners of the building. But, she said, “It would be perfect for Moe.”

The Davises’ attorney, Heber S. Meeks, said he had thought that Baldwin Park officials were aware of the pending settlement, which came two days before a trial was to begin.

“We surprised people here,” he said. “I certainly didn’t intend that.” It appears, he said, “we have to go elsewhere to find a friendlier place.”

West Covina City Manager Andrew Pasmant said the city still intends to live up to the terms of the settlement, with this exception: The Davises must find suitable housing for Moe, and West Covina will pay for it.

Davis, who visits Moe at least once a week at the Wildlife Waystation, said he’s concerned that the chimpanzee he raised, who can write his own name and is potty-trained, is now living in a cage.

“Moe is used to getting hugged and kissed all day ... but now all of his schooling and education has stopped. They only let us stay 10 or 15 minutes at most.”

In the Baldwin Park council meeting Thursday, Davis wore a blue ribbon Moe had received after riding in the 1972 Baldwin Park anniversary parade. Davis had hoped the evening would turn out differently.

“I kind of thought maybe it was a kind of homecoming. He’d be an asset to any community.”