Lodi zoo staff cut, more cuts possible
S.J. Supervisors to vote on closing Oak Grove Nature Center
With the Wednesday afternoon sun shining above Micke Grove Zoo, curator Avanti Mallapur watched as full-time animal care specialist Colleen Mullikin fed a yellow-crested curassow bird, two marmosets and a pudú — the world’s smallest deer — all found in Central and South America and all sharing an enclosure.
Although the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on reducing staff at the zoo as well as close the Oak Grove Nature Center in Stockton where guests can view native plant and animal species, Mallapur said four part-time zoo employees were laid off last week.
Former zoo director Kevin Hertell also recently left Micke Grove Zoo after joining in February 2017, Mallapur said, leaving yet another vacant position at the zoo.
Those recent layoffs, plus another staff member on permanent medical leave, mean that the zoo now only has five of their original 10 staff members to carry out duties including feeding and providing medical care to the animals and cleaning enclosures, Mallapur said.
“These duties have to be completed seven days a week, 365 days a year. With five staff members to cover five areas, it’s impossible to do everything every day,” Mallapur said. “Our concern is that staff would be unsafe and animals would be unsafe if we lose 50 percent of our staff.”
With half of the staff laid off, Mallapur said the zoo may soon have to begin finding new homes for its 149 animals, some of which have permanent injuries and cannot live in the wild.
Mallapur said she was under the impression that staff could not be laid off until the county supervisors vote on the proposal June 26, and that union representatives have already gotten involved to try and stop the layoffs.
“If we knew this was going to be temporary, say for two months or so, we could survive. But it looks like this is going to be a permanent decision,” Mallapur said. “I’m trying to share this information with the local community because each of us is paid with tax dollars. We believe they should decide if the zoo should stay open because I believe this is the first step in closing down the zoo.”
San Joaquin County Parks Commissioner Mary Fuhs said that Oak Grove Nature Center staff were recently told to begin preparing to close the nature center, and that although the Woodbridge Wilderness Area will remain open, it will be unstaffed.
“I’m very aware that (the county has) given out notices to part-time staff that their jobs will be ending in two weeks,” Fuhs said.
Fuhs said that the county board of supervisors chose to reduce the parks’ budget by more than $500,000 and eliminate those positions, and believes that the county plans to rent the parks to private entities who might charge admission.
“That concerns me incredibly. We pay taxes so that we can have parks, parks shouldn’t have to pay for themselves,” Fuhs said. “There is value to open spaces. There is value to places where people can meet. There is value to a nature center where children can take nature walks. I think this coming budget is critical to the future of our parks.”
Fuhs said the nearly $300,000 used to pay the salaries of county general services director Marcia Cunningham and her two assistants, a position created only three years ago, should not come from the parks budget and could instead be used to keep all parks fully staffed.
Cunningham could not be reached for comment.
Fuhs encouraged all concerned members of the public to attend a parks commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. June 26 at Micke Grove Park, 11793 Micke Grove Road, Lodi, and to call the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors at 209-4683113 to voice their opinions.