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Zoo board acts to regain trust

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 10, 2009

Last year, Lowry Park Zoo board members learned a painful lesson, one that other nonprofit boards should keep in mind: Performance is not always everything.

After all, the zoo enjoyed a reputation as one of the best-managed, customer-friendly attractions in the nation. All its numbers showed it to be a smashing success.

Yet that record did little to minimize the damage that occurred when a series of Tampa Tribune stories detailed how zoo President-CEO Lex Salisbury entangled the zoo in his private affairs, particularly a private, for-profit animal attraction he was developing in Polk County.

Mayor Pam Iorio - the city owns the zoo land and its animals - and other public officials were furious. The public was dismayed. Board members were embarrassed.

The charismatic Salisbury, who had led the transformation of Lowry Park from one of the worst zoos in the nation to one of the best, was forced to resign last December. It was an unfortunate end to an impressive tenure, but it was also clear Salisbury, accustomed to doing things his way, had lost appreciation for the zoo's public status.

If the zoo board appeared to be compliant, if not sleepy, during the messy affair, it has been something of a whirlwind since, overhauling its bylaws and developing a system of oversight and accountability that should safeguard against similar miscues.

The reforms began last year, when the executive committee - which at the time had a few officers and several members selected by the zoo director - was expanded to 12 members, including public officials.

No longer would the zoo director be able to dominate the executive board.

The board also established committees to oversee the zoo's finances, audits, governance, nominations and pay.

The financial committee, for instance, must approve any major nonbudgeted expense. The audit committee is to scrutinize any conflict issues.

The committees will provide greater oversight. And the greater involvement of board members will allow their talents to be put to better use on behalf of the zoo.

At the same time, Tampa attorney Bob Rasmussen, the head of the governance committee, began developing a code of conduct and other policies that provide, Rasmussen says, "a road map the director will know to take should conflict arise."

The new policies, notably, do not necessarily prohibit all conflicts, and that's understandable. Not every "conflict" is nefarious. For instance, a board member may work for a bank that successfully competes for zoo business. But under the new policy, any such conflict - formal or informal - must be thoroughly vetted and approved by the auditing committee.

There should be no surprise headlines about ethics violations.

Such policies probably would have spared the zoo last year's controversies. But that can't be changed. What's important now is that the zoo leadership has taken meaningful steps to guard against similar lapses and to ensure members exercise adequate oversight.

Equally important, the zoo, while undergoing traumatic change, has maintained its commitment to excellence and efficiency under acting CEO Craig Pugh and his team. The zoo recently was ranked the No. 1 zoo for children in the country by Parent's Magazine. Child Magazine also ranked it as the nation's top zoo for its size a few years back. Despite the recession, its numbers remain healthy.

Lowry Park Zoo is a terrific community resource, one that deserves public support. But that support - and funding - will come only if it has the public's trust. It is encouraging to see its board take the firm steps necessary to rebuild that trust.

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