Paul Heroux: Capron Park Zoo should not be treated like a failing business

Budgets reflect priorities. This is a truism in politics.

As the former mayor of Attleboro, I would be negligent not to comment on Capron Park Zoo.

In my opinion, this issue is being framed all wrong. The framing tries to make it easier to justify closing the zoo. The following three claims come from a position of valuing one city department over another. This is a bad way to govern.

The claims: 1) “The zoo isn’t covering its own expenses,” 2) “the zoo is losing money,” and 3) “The zoo is taking money away from other city departments.”

Consider this important fact…by this perspective and definition of ‘losing’ money, every city department loses money! Think about it.

No city department brings in enough money to cover its own expenses.

This is about priorities.

A city zoo is not a business. It is not set up to be one. It should not be thought of as a business. I think because the city zoo sells tickets and goods, some people are under the impression that the zoo should cover its own expenses. That is the wrong frame of mind for any city service. City departments should not be thought of as losing money (unless they are operating wastefully or inefficiently, which is not the argument here). City departments use money to provide diverse services.

Also consider this – The MBTA does not pay for itself with ticket sales and neither does our local bus service GATRA, or any local public bus service. They are not losing money because ticket sales don’t cover 100% of operating expenses. They both are part of the state’s budget because they provide an important service to everyone – the people who use the service AND the people who don’t by relieving congestion on other public ways.

A municipal zoo is not supposed to pay for itself. If it does pay for itself, great! Do more of that. But if it does not, it is no different than any other city department.

In fact, as a percentage of each individual city department budget, the zoo pays for a bigger share of its budget than the others. If my memory serves me right, I think zoo revenues pay for around 1/3 of its budget by raising revenues from visitors, and 1/3 is more than any other city department. (My numbers may be off, but my point is valid.)

The zoo is an important source of recreational activity for the residents of our city. Attleboro is a “Gateway City,” which means our median household income is lower than the state median; the zoo is especially important for families who cannot afford to bring their kids to Southwick’s Zoo or Roger Williams Park Zoo, or other distant recreational activities. The zoo is important source of learning about animals. When I was mayor, I remember thinking that our zoo was among the happiest places to work in the city. The people who work there love and care for the animals.

But perhaps most importantly, Capron Park Zoo is part of our identity as a city.

Sure, you may not visit the zoo, but it is there for you, just like you may not need the Fire Department, but they are there for you. Just like you may not need the Council on Aging, but it is or will be there for you. You may not vote, but the Elections Department is there for you. You may never have a conversation with the City Auditor’s office, but they are there doing work for you. All city departments provide services to residents.

If we rank city departments on a hierarchy – as is being done – and the zoo is eliminated, which city department is next? When we are in tough budget times, will we sell some Recreation fields to private developers to get some one-time money? Will we sell the library? Once we eliminate something, it is cost prohibitive to restart and it is gone forever. This is why section 7-2 of the City Charter is so important.

Also, what does it say to employees at city departments when they hear their department is ‘less important’ or ‘taking money away from’ other city departments? What does that do to the morale of the employees? What does low morale do to their productivity? What does it do to recruitment even if the department isn’t on the chopping block? What does it say to the people who use that service? Are your needs or interests more important than mine? These are rhetorical questions with obvious answers.

No one city department should ever be prioritized above another. It is bad government administration and sends the wrong message to the users of that service and the providers of that service.

A mayor and city council need to balance all city departments as equal even if some departments are essential and some are recreational. Both are important.

Clearly, Water and Wastewater and Police and Fire keep people safe and alive. DPW allows everyone to move safely. They are essential. I don’t need to review every city department. But the recreational city departments are no less important than the others. Why? Because if we only provide ‘essential’ city services, we would be a boring place to live. I would even argue an awful place to live. Furthermore, there are the secondary economic benefits the recreational departments bring to our city.

Dare I say this…when I was mayor in 2020 during Covid, with zero ticket sales I kept Capron Park Zoo open and we had no layoffs (yes, I didn’t hire seasonal employees in summer 2020, but they were not employed and therefore they were not laid off).

Any and every mayor and city council have a difficult job to do. The degree to which the job is difficult depends not on what challenges they face, but how willing and able they are to balance competing needs. Balanced budgets reflect balanced priorities.

I could say so much more about this, challenge a lot about what some city officials are saying, offer recommendations on a path forward…but I will conclude with what I started with – budgets reflect priorities.

There is always an exception. The Building Inspector department covers its own expenses with the fees it charges for its services. Water and Wastewater departments are “enterprise systems,” and are not part of the city’s operating budget, are not funded the same way as other city departments and are not legally allowed to be part of the city budget. Otherwise, what I said is true, every (other) city department uses money to operate, and none operate in the black.