Lurie and SF Zoo CEO at Odds About Her Resignation

Mayor Daniel Lurie joined the chorus of voices calling for the San Francisco Zoo’s CEO to resign over the weekend, following more than a year of scandal and instability at the beloved Bay Area institution. But Tanya Peterson, the zoo’s embattled leader, has said she’s not going anywhere.

The confusion arose after Lurie said in a statement on Friday that new leadership would be a step in the right direction for the zoo — whose image has suffered following months of strife between Peterson and the zoo’s board of directors and staff, noncompliance with a city audit and a scathing report that found the facility unsafe for employees and animals.

But according to a spokesperson for Peterson, after a phone call with Lurie on Thursday, she had no intention to leave her role.

“[Peterson] has always said that she would do what is in the best interest of the zoo and its visitors. She never was asked to resign, nor did she offer to resign,” public relations consultant Sam Singer told KQED.

Peterson’s position at the zoo has been hard-fought in recent months. In May, the San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit that runs the facility, held a series of closed-door discussions as part of an effort to oust her.

While she ultimately stayed, at least five members of the board of directors have resigned since. Matthew Miller, the former chair of the society’s risk committee, cited the board’s inability to decide on Peterson’s employment as the reason for his departure.

The effort to remove Peterson followed a scathing report from the city’s Animal Control and Welfare Commission that found the zoo’s infrastructure was “extremely outdated,” lacked running water in some areas, flooded in others and was unsafe for animals and visitors last October.

In the months following, the union that represents about 100 zoo workers took an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Peterson and the Board of Supervisors requested a performance audit of the zoo, which is ongoing.

The zoo is now at risk of losing $4 million in annual funding for failing to comply with that audit.

Earlier this month, the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office accused Peterson and zoo management of being uncooperative with its process, failing to turn over dozens of documents requested as far back as January, while making false claims about the status of others and providing contradictory financial statements.

The city’s audit threatens to escalate to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for further action to force compliance. Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who told the San Francisco Chronicle that Lurie told her Peterson was planning to resign, has already asked the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee to hold the zoo’s annual funding in reserve until it complies. The board will vote on that request next month.

Amid disarray at the zoo, Peterson and city leaders, led by former mayor London Breed, have been negotiating a $25 million deal to bring a pair of giant pandas from China to the site next year.

In his statement on Friday, Lurie said the plan, which aims to help the zoo rebound from low visitorship and profits, is among the reasons new leadership is needed.

“I am confident that stable, permanent leadership will strengthen the zoo and our city’s ability to welcome pandas,” he said, adding that the zoo’s board had decided to develop a plan to name a new CEO.