That isn't the proposal and there will never be one like it in this area. The proposal is that the City give the Zoo away to a new non-profit organization that would run it. Fair enough, except that in this plan, the City would still fund liability insurance ($1 million a year) and provide Police security. (I haven't seen numbers for that cost.)
Maybe this isn't a bad plan. But there are some concerns, the biggest being what happens to the Zoo's 160 City employees. They could be fired, have their salaries reduced, pensions eliminated, lose their union, etc.
Another concern, and no one is talking about this, is what magic wand could the non-profit wave to bring in the $5 million a year that the City would no longer contribute. The State offered $4 million in seed money, but no promises after that. All of a sudden the Zoo would be competing against the DIA, symphony, housing the homeless and cancer research to raise money just to stay open. In a year we could be back to square one, no dedicated funds for the Zoo.
In the end, Counsel will probably enact the plan, if that's the only way to keep the Zoo open. But you can't expect them to do it on a whim, with only 48 hours notice. Everyone is acting like this is a no-brainer, but it isn't. This is a big deal and Counsel deserves the opportunity to discuss the scheme thoroughly.