Interview 15695 – Caption Index: 418
What was the reaction when you sold the trains?… Read More
What was the reaction when you sold the trains?… Read More
You did have trains. Yeah. Read More
That happened many, many times. We’d have people that we oughta be doing this. We’d ought be doing that but they never thought through it. So, I really haven’t had much patience for that approach probably didn’t serve me well. But I always felt if you’re gonna really come up… Read More
Or why can’t we have this kind of exhibit?” What really used to frustrate me the most was people who would come and have this grandiose idea but hadn’t done their homework. Hadn’t done their homework. They hadn’t thought it out themselves as to what the problems may be. They… Read More
Came back, met with two or three of us, which included a couple of trust members. He wanted to put this train in, (chuckles) take up a large part of our parking lot with train tracks and have this wonderful train that would run from the zoo down near the… Read More
Or why don’t we do this?… Read More
And that was a very frustrating thing, dealing with trying to explain to somebody sitting on a society board or sitting on any other board you might encounter why you had to do something in a certain fashion. You sat there with this knowledge and you sat there with this… Read More
I think every director has someone who says, “Well, why don’t we have this animal?… Read More
You’re responsible to a Park and Recreation Department director who was responsible to a mayor. When the privatization occurred, in other words, the societies or other bodies took over the management of these zoos, not the ownership but took over the governance of them. Then you started dealing with the… Read More
The CEOs of these corporations and such, now this doesn’t apply to every place. Let me say that right off the bat because I would say that it’s some organizations, they probably still have some pretty powerful CEOs on ’em, I know that St Louis does. But what happened was… Read More
So, then who you’re responsible to if you were a director?… Read More
Things pop into your mind when I say that?… Read More
Yeah. I became a critic of governing bodies. And let me explain that. And I think everybody has these problems. Everybody approaches it a little differently. When you look at the fact that at one time, the majority of institutions were managed by municipal governments. Read More
What were your most frustrating times, the most difficult times for you as a director?… Read More
But with the time that I had during the day, I had to take the best advantage of it. And so, I was tend to work more with the managers than going out and seeing much with a lot of the keepers. Oklahoma City Zoo is a big enough place… Read More
Not in the first couple of years but as it evolved. I think my management style, it’s a good question. There’s probably arguments for both sides, whether it’s good or bad. There were obviously opportune times when I had to be fairly autocratic because the responsibility, I had to make… Read More
I certainly didn’t, I just checked and monitored their programs. If we had a sick animal, obviously that was gonna be a PR issue. So, then we had to get other people involved. Again, I would criticize him more for not trying something or for trying something and then if… Read More
If I went to your staff and I asked them to describe your management style, what would they say or what would you say?… Read More
Sometimes we have gotten down into the ditch and argued with them at that level. I don’t believe that wins anything. I don’t think you can solve anything by doing that. I can remember even times when we tried to do some cooperative ventures with them, only to have it… Read More
The public attitude issues have had a big change on zoos. I would say those two things are probably had more of an impact on zoos and aquariums than anything. If I was to go out now, after your first couple years at the zoo, now you’re getting your feet… Read More