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Toledo Zoo
Scorecard Summary 2015
By Jay Black, President, Toledo African American Chamber of
Commerce
The Truth Contributor
In this week’s article we will give you TAACC’s scorecard
summary for the Toledo Zoo. The information contained in
the summary is based on data supplied to the TAACC by the
Toledo Zoo. They willingly cooperated with supplying the
information we requested within the time frame we requested
and in agreeing to meet with us to discuss our findings.
We are providing you with this information so you can make
an informed decision on whether to vote for the Zoo’s levy
on November 3, 2015 or not. Please note that this levy is a
1 mill, 10 year capital levy, and the Zoo is seeking this
renewal levy one year early (the current levy is set to
expire in 2016).
Since this is a capital levy, it supports the construction
of new exhibits and/or renovation of current exhibits.
Proceeds from this levy represent approximately 23 percent
of the Zoo’s annual revenues.
This means that by voting for this levy (Issue 11) you will
be voting for a 10 year tax. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau’s 2014 estimates, African Americans are approximately
27 percent of the City of Toledo’s population and 19.7
percent of Lucas County’s population.
The TAACC has been consistent in our belief that we should
support only those institutions and individuals who
support our businesses and the African-American community is
general, with their economic and procurement resources to
help our businesses grow and in turn help create jobs in our
community. As a community we can no longer afford to
support anyone who will not help us create jobs.
We offer the Zoo’s results in the following areas:
1.
Capital/Construction Spending.
2.
Non-Construction Spending.
3.
Hiring/Employment Results.
In categories 1 and 2 above we attempt to record how much
the Zoo spent with African American-owned Business compared
to total expenditures in these same categories. Secondly,
we report on the results of the Zoo’s employment of African
Americans in several key categories over the last three
years.
In the category of capital/construction expenditures:
The Zoo spent a total of $45,044,868 from 2010-2014 in this
category. Of this amount $14,071,107 was spent with MBE’s (Minority
Business Enterprises, which includes all minorities not just
African Americans) which equates to 11.30 percent.
This spend includes dollars that went to MBE Subcontractors.
In the area of on non-construction spending:
A total of $22,955,667 was spent during the periods
2010-2014, with $843,566 spent with MBE Vendors which
represents a 3.7 percent inclusion rate.
In the area of hiring/employment:
According to the Zoo’s EEO reports we are able to report the
following:
In 2015 the Zoo has 968 total employees of which 98 are
African American (10.1 percent). In 2014 the Zoo had
907 total employees of which 77 were African American (8.5
percent) and in 2013 African Americans represented 79 of
894 employees (8.8 percent).
It should be noted that the largest concentration of African
Americans employed was in the service worker category
(seasonal employees). Also, there were no African
Americans employed at the executive level in any year. The
percentage of African Americans employed at the
mid-management level was 4.0 percent, 6.2 percent,
and 5.2 percent in 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively.
We met with Jeff Sailer, the executive director and CEO of
the Zoo and Robert Vasquez, community and government
relations, and learned of the progress made in the
categories listed above have been made during Sailer’s three
and a half year tenure with the Zoo.
We requested and were given a copy of the Zoo’s
Purchasing/Cash Disbursement Policy which establishes a
15 percent target for purchases from MBE’s on their
construction projects. They do not have MBE goals for
non-construction spending. We are encouraged to learn that
the Zoo has figured out a way to “penalize” contractors who
do not meet the Zoo’s 15 percent target on their projects.
Perhaps other levy sponsors can adopt a similar posture on
their capital projects.
Sailer says he is committed to improving the Zoo’s results
in hiring, construction and non-construction spending. He
also stated that getting African Americans to apply for the
Zoo’s employment opportunities is a challenge and he would
like our community’s help in this area so they can hire more
people from our community. He also acknowledged that while
they feel they have made significant progress there is room
for improvement and he is confident that under his
leadership we will see better results going forward.
TAACC is refraining from issuing a letter grade on the Zoo’s
results at this time. We have seen progress since Sailer’s
tenure and we are willing to be a resource to the Zoo to
help them do better if they want our assistance.
We have provided you with information that can help you make
a more informed decision. We encourage you to exercise
your right to vote on Election Day and vote for those who
will use their resources to help our businesses grow and to
help create jobs in our community.
In the very near future we will publish a scorecard for the
Toledo Metro-Parks and the Toledo Lucas County Public
Library. We will also publish a letter grade as part of our
scorecard analysis on these organizations.
Go to the TAACC blog at
www.toledoaacc.com to view our full scorecard analysis.
You can also contact us if you have questions about our
analysis.
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