PRESERVE ZOO DOCUMENTS!

Tigergate promises to surpass last winter’s Gleegate as a blemish on San Francisco’s reputation. Once again City Powers is failing us.

Blaming young visitors from San Jose for getting tiger-mauled is similar to blaming visiting choirboys from Yale for getting curb-stomped.

The Tigergate story is easy to follow on SFGate and elsewhere.

Just a couple of comments:

City Attorney Herrera instructed the surviving victims to preserve phone related and other data. No mention of zoo records.

How about a letter and newsconference instructing Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo and all zoo and city personnel to preserve all records especially any documents containing tiger grotto measurements?

It’s my suspicion that Mollinedo’s assertion of 20 foot walls is the continuation of a deception. Mollinedo said he was relying on an office document that gave 20’ as the tiger wall measurement.

If there is such a document he should produce it. And, if there’s one document, I bet there are many others containing the same falsehood. Insurance and accreditation documents containing the 20’ measurement could indicate possible fraud.

These documents could be the most important element of the investigation.

Sam Singer coming in to help Mollinedo with PR makes me ask, Why is Mollinedo getting the big bucks when he needs a babysitter when trouble arises?

Mayor Newsom announces a special Rec&Park Commission meeting for Friday to discuss zoo issues. Whoa! Rec&Park cancelled their regular meeting scheduled for last Thursday. I don’t think this is legally sufficient notice for a public meeting. I checked Rec&Park’s website and saw no agenda posted.

I wonder if it’s going to be another Newsom fake question-time with Gavin doing his Phil Donahue imitation.

An unknown attorney on a cable news panel discussing Tigergate defended the surviving brothers’ decision not to talk to SFPD. The attorney said that such failure to cooperate

“would be suspicious in almost any circumstance, except when dealing with the San Francisco Police Department. Gavin Newsom and Heather Fong run that department like no other in the country,” he said. “These kids were smart not to talk to SFPD.”
[Quoted from memory.]

This seemed pretty harsh for a national news show. But when you consider the treatment the Yale choirboys received from the same cast of characters, you gotta go hmmm!

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