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.
"The proposal is that the City give the Zoo away to a **new** non-profit organization that would run it."
False.
The Detroit Zoological Society.....history:
http://detroit1701.org/Detroit%20Zoo%20Marker.html
Here's just one paragraph that belies the claim of it being a "new" non-profit!
"By 1911, Detroit was a mature and prospering manufacturing center on the cusp of tremendous growth due to the vehicle industry. A leading city needs a fittingly impressive zoo so a group of prominent citizens formed the Detroit Zoological Society to accomplish that aim. The next year, the group hired Richard Follett as a full time administrator and, in 1914; they bought 216 acres for a zoo near the River Rouge in Dearborn. That land was sold at a profit to the Ford Motor Company the next year. The money from sale of the first land purchased 150 acres near the Detroit Golf Club close to Palmer Park in Detroit. That land was also sold for a profit one year later and the Society used proceeds to acquire 100 acres near the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward in suburban Royal Oak. The Society had funds to begin landscaping the property but they could not build and support a zoo through contributions alone so they tried to donate the property to the city of Detroit with the proviso that tax revenues would support a zoo."
"But there are some concerns, the biggest being what happens to the Zoo's 160 City employees"
What killed DARTA? hint, City Employees.