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Zoo Seeks $200,000 From Salisbury

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By BAIRD HELGESON

bhelgeson@tampatrib.com

Published: March 24, 2009

TAMPA - Lowry Park Zoo's board of directors has hired a lawyer to recoup more than $200,000 in supplies and animals the former president and CEO took from the facility, according to a city audit.
Tampa city officials released a final draft of a monthslong zoo audit Monday that found Lex Salisbury turned the taxpayer-backed zoo into a fiefdom he used to maintain his Dade City ranch and build his for-profit exotic animal park in Polk County, called Safari Wild.

Mayor Pam Iorio, who called for the review after a Tampa Tribune investigation of Salisbury, said the audit should be turned over to law enforcement to decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation.

The final audit affirmed every major finding in the draft released in December, and the zoo management outlined an overhaul of its policies and procedures to ensure better accountability.

"We were pleased to respond to the audit in full," said Rachel Nelson, zoo spokeswoman. "We are eager to move forward."

The zoo has hired W. Reynolds Allen, a Tampa lawyer who specializes in employment law, to recoup the money from Salisbury. Allen could not be reached for comment.

Iorio praised zoo management for thoroughly addressing problems raised by city auditors. "It's going to be a better and a stronger zoo because of this in the long run," she said.

The taxpayer-backed zoo should be reimbursed for $150,000 it spent to build barns at Safari Wild, $5,773 for a safari vehicle Salisbury bought at a bargain price and $1,300 in travel costs for a significant other, auditors found. The zoo also wants nearly $45,000 it spent to import birds for Safari Wild.

In the end, city auditors couldn't determine how much Salisbury owes the facility.

Auditors couldn't calculate the number of hours zoo staffers worked at Salisbury's private ventures and money lost in 180 animal transactions that favored the former zoo chief. Auditors never got answers for a three-day, $3,800 trip Salisbury, collections director Larry Killmar and their significant others took to Paris on the way back from South Africa.

Auditors also found that Salisbury used the zoo's tax-exempt status to buy supplies for Safari Wild.

The zoo board forced Salisbury to resign from his $339,000-a-year job in December after the city released the preliminary audit.

Two months earlier, Fassil Gabremariam, the zoo board chairman who signed off on many of Salisbury's transactions, resigned.

Salisbury's animal dealing cost the zoo its accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. On Friday, the zoo staff will attend the group's meeting in Oklahoma City to try to get the endorsement reinstated.

Salisbury could not be reached for comment.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668.

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