Deputy city manager Doug Gerber told the Topeka City Council this past Tuesday he hoped to “take its temperature” regarding whether it wanted to continue to move toward potentially having the Topeka Zoo be managed by the nonprofit Friends of the Topeka Zoo.
Councilmen Tony Emerson, Neil Dobler, Mike Lesser and Brendan Jensen replied by indicating they were warming up to that concept. The council had just heard support for it voiced by FOTZ President Fred Patton and Topeka Zoo director Brendan Wiley, who would continue to hold his position under the proposed arrangement.
“I don’t know how to run a zoo, but I have the utmost confidence in these two gentlemen, not only in their abilities but also in where their hearts are at,” Lesser said.
(Read more: Local Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)