See article below. While this is welcome news, it means we have to be even more vigilant now. This could be a move on the part of the SF Zoological Society to let the resigning director take the blame for the Zoo's problems on his own shoulders as he leaves, giving them the chance to fly in under the radar and get approved for a new long term contract with the City; which would be a travesty. We must keep foremost in our mind and work that the SF Zoological Society is the real problem, and we must continue to demand that its management of, and fundraising for, the facility must end as rapidly as possible. peace Eric http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/BACT114U8M.DTL&t... Beleaguered S.F. Zoo director quits Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer <mailto:rgordon@sfchronicle.com> Friday, June 6, 2008 San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo meets with me... <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/BACT114U8M.DTL&o=0&type=printable> Tatiana, a Siberian tiger, escaped from her grotto last C... <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/BACT114U8M.DTL&o=1&type=printable> *(06-06) 17:47 PDT San Francisco -* -- Manuel Mollinedo, the executive director of the San Francisco Zoo, has resigned, officials announced late today. The announcement, issued nearly six months after a zoo tiger escaped on Christmas Day and killed a San Jose teenager, comes amid high zoo employee turnover and what some keepers described as abysmal morale. The San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit that oversees zoo operations, issued a statement at 5:20 p.m. today.Tanya McVeigh Peterson, a lawyer who serves on the zoo society board, has been appointed interim director. In addition, Carl Friedman, head of the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control, will be temporarily assigned to the zoo to help with animal welfare and management issues, sources told The Chronicle. Mollinedo became director of the 100-acre facility in February 2004 after running the Los Angeles Zoo for eight years. The San Francisco Zoological Society provided no details on what led to Mollinedo's departure, other than that he plans to retire in the Bay Area and will stay active in his support of the zoo. "The board greatly appreciates his efforts and wishes him well in his retirement," the statement said. Word of an impending shake-up began to leak Thursday afternoon when the zoo society's board of directors held a closed-door meeting. A staff meeting at the zoo was called for this morning, but was abruptly canceled right before it was to begin, several zoo workers told The Chronicle. Mollinedo and other zoo officials did not return repeated requests for comment throughout the day, and instead opted to issue a news release at the close of the business week, a time often picked by politicians and institutions to bury potentially unfavorable news. Mollinedo was picked to head the San Francisco Zoo after a nearly six-month, nationwide search. He beat out 100 candidates and eight finalists for the position of executive director and president. /E-mail Rachel Gordon at rgordon@sfchronicle.com <mailto:rgordon@sfchronicle.com>./ http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/BACT114U8M.DTL -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara
