Mayor says he will not intervene in dispute

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Deep schisms between the Toronto Zoo's politically-led management board and its volunteer-run fundraising foundations are emerging this week, over a board decision last week to send the zoo's Chief Executive Officer to possibly terminate the zoo's relationship with its foundation.

The board voted last Thursday to send its CEO, Calvin White, to talk with the foundation and either satisfy himself that the group is up to the job of raising a quarter billion dollars in a new fundraising campaign, or shut the relationship down.

The board voted overwhelmingly to support the CEO - only Ward 37 (Scarborough Centre) Councillor Michael Thompson and David Strickland, who also chairs the foundation voted against.

Thompson, is calling the board "an old boy's network,"

Thompson said that Raymond Cho and the board of management aren't following proper procedure during meetings, and more importantly squandering a relationship with community leaders who would in the long run be more effective than an alternate plan in which the management board itself would take carriage of the fundraising drive.

Thompson is openly calling for management board chair Cho to be removed when Toronto Council considers committee and board appointments in the fall and he said that Mayor David Miller ought to intervene in the matter earlier than that.

"I think first and foremost the mayor has to make sure the governing principles are in place in terms of the board's governance and structure," said Thompson. "The mayor also has to ensure that his office is involved in terms of ensuring the meetings are being conducted properly."

But Miller said he won't step in.

"It's the zoo board's decision," he said yesterday.

"From the perspective of the chair and the board, they've got a very serious fundraising campaign that's about to be undertaken. They were concerned about whether the foundation was capable of undertaking that campaign. That's the board's decision and those concerns are valid."

Miller's decision leaves the matter in the hands of the board.

Miller pointed out that the foundation, whose purpose it is to raise funds, has been relatively unsuccessful in the past in terms of raising large sums of money.

And a report by DVA Navion, a fundraising consultant, concluded that the foundation's board does not at present have the "influence and affluence" to successfully complete the $250 million campaign, which will enable the zoo to participate in worldwide species conservation efforts.

Strickland, however, pointed out that the foundation has had its difficulties - but part of that was during a time when White was also the staff-member in charge of the foundation, and the foundation focussed its fundraising efforts on a zoo-led marketing of season passes.

In 2006, White stepped away from the foundation - and so too did a number of prominent members of its board. Strickland acknowledged that the foundation as it's currently constituted is in a reconstruction mode.

"At the end of the day it is true the foundation needs to rebuild its capacity and we've been trying," said Strickland. "It is true that the memberships - the way they were marketed - did not generate donations much above and beyond a season's pass. No one argues that point�. (but) We're trying to have our voice heard at the board of management, and it doesn't seem like that voice is being heard."

At the board of management, however, members were tired with the slow pace of fundraising, according to Ward 38 (Scarborough Centre) Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker. He moved the amendment that gave White authority to deal with the foundation as he chooses.

"I love the foundation - they're great people, but the failure of the foundation has been in its inability to raise money and that's the reason it exists," he said.

"It doesn't run the zoo or the snack bar - its sole purpose is to raise money for the zoo. Last year it raised a gross revenue of $4 million , but $3 million was through zoo memberships at the gate. Now we want to raise $20 million a year. We have a quarter-billion-dollar fundraising campaign and the model we have now will not achieve that quarter billion dollar goal. I want to raise a quarter billion dollars to save polar bears and different fish species. I want a model that will work and I don't think the existing model will work."

De Baeremaeker defended Cho against Thompson's criticism.

"He has a heart of gold - he works hard, he knows his file," said De Baeremaeker. "What I find on a personal level is that English is not Mr. Cho's first language and I can't help but think that if the same Mr. Cho had a perfect English accent maybe we would not be hearing some of these complaints."

Cho, meanwhile, said he was "very disappointed" that the exercise had turned into one of finger-pointing.

"It's not a very mature way to express the concern," said Cho. "I'm really disappointed if one councillor blames another councillor for leadership problems. People who have problems themselves always blame others."