The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 115

11' IP Complata high school football schedules See beck pago an Irantioro tixaminr Wednesday, August 29, 1984 zF1 11 Supes vote to restore district boundaries Hello, Dr. Parrott, Knowland Park? Is that zoo? Oakland Zoo's new assistant drums up support, ushers changes after criticism Examiner East Hay Bureau 'OAKLAND Some prominent Democrats tried but failed yesterday to persuade Alameda County supervisors 'to delay restoring election distric 1. i boundaries that were changed last year to benefit Supervisor Fred is an emotional, political problem (that) should be resolved jo a special election in John Purchio, a former Superior Court He was joined by Mary Warren, a Democrat Tarty activist, and several yoters who complained they were be-ing denied a chance to decide the I Ui sensitive issue. On a 4-1 vote, with Cooper dissent- tag, supervisors instead adopted as law a grass-roots initiative that was circulated to return election districts i 0 to their 1983 boundaries. 1 If supervisors approve the action a second time Sept.

11, the districts will be realigned right after the Nov. 6 i election. But the controversy is far from over. Supervisor Joseph Bort said he wants to form a committee to study and draft several redisricting plans, all of which could be placed on the ballot in a special election next year. At issue is a change of boundaries put through by the supervisors last October, and which critics said was gerrymandering to give Cooper a safe scat" i The change took largely black East Oakland neighborhoods from Coo- i 'j per's Third District, and put in largely I whitc neighborhoods in San Leandro and Castro Valley.

1 1 Sandre Swanson, a top aide to Rep. Ronald Dellums who also tried to Cooper last year, said the new districts disenfranchised blacks by making it harder for a black to win in 4he Third District. Swanson and other critics about 55,000 signatures on an 1J initiative to restore the old bound-tiferllries. -The initiative gave supervisors the Choice of restoring the old boundaries by county ordinance, or putting the issue on the ballot. 1 opted for the ordi- I nance two weeks ago, but had to rein Six previous plans for rejuvenating the 100-acre facility have fallen through, and ownership of the zoo has been bounced about like a ping-jong ball.

Since its founding, responsibility for the zoo has gone from the city, which tried unsuccessfully to unload it in 1932, to the state, the local Zoological Society, and back to the city. The latest exchange came in August 1982, when the zoo came under management of the East Bay Zoological Society. The zoo also has a history of poor management and outmoded animal cages. In 1937, zoo superintendent Lee Kerfoot said, "We make no claim ours is a modern zoo." Three years earlier, big-game hunter and zoo donor Sidney Snow charged that zoo keepers' negligence had resulted in the deaths of wo of his animals a polar bear and an African lion. The lion died of pneumonia and the polar bear broke his neck when he dived into a pool without water, Snow said.

But Parrott is optimistic about the zoo's future. "It's just a matter of good planning and executing it," he says as he bends over to pick up some garbage left on the grounds. "When I started 1 had nothing. Now we're about to complete a full-blown hospital. I'm going to see it through." To Parrott, a native of upstate New York, animals have always been a high priority.

A graduate of Colorado State University, he worked on his own rehabilitating golden eagles. "The eagles tend to linger by the highways and pick on injured animals," he says. "They have a tendency to get hit by cars too." A former board member of the Audubon his first job was with the Denver Zoo. After moving to the Bay Area in 1980, he set up his private practice in Castro Valley working mainly with dogs, cats and exotics and worked as a consultant for the Oakland Zoo. One of 50 applicants for the position, Parrott has found his niche among the cages.

"What I love so much is the diversity," he says. "To be looking at a respiratory problem in a turtle and then turn around and have to address the management of the birds." His favorite animal? AW the parrot. "Bengal tigers, without a doubt," he says, "by the sheer magnificence of them. When you go up close you can feel their presence." As he sits on the concrete post, one of the tigers slinks over to the fence and looks up at his face almost longingly. It seems they feel his presence.

Dr. Joel Parrott with young ocelot friend at the Oakland Zoo fn Knowland Park Prisoner work: 'Gulag camps'? By Sheilah Downey Examiner staff writer OAKLAND A red stuffed parrot hangs by the door of the Oakland zoo's main office, a silent tribute to a man who has found out what's in a name. "It could have been worse," says Dr. Joel Parrott. "I'm just lucky it wasn't something like Dr.

Duck or Dr. Elephant." Parrott, 32, gave up his private practice in Castro Valley in May to become the Oakland Zoo's first assistant general manager and animal doctor. He was hired to revamp the 49-year-old zoo in Knowland Park after it received what Parrott called a "bad rap" from the National Humane Society last year. The society listed the zoo as one of the nation's 10 worst and said the elephants' cages were so bad that the animals would be better off serving "five to 10 years in Leavenworth." Bristling at the negative notoriety, zoo general manager William Penn Mott Jr. set out to change things.

Hiring Parrott was his first step. Though he realizes the zoo needs major work including an overhaul of the main exhibits that will take about eight years to complete Parrott says the society's charges were overblown. "I don't think it was as bad as everyone feared. It was based on that one report. It was subjective.

Some of the cages are too small; we know it. But now the zoo is on the rebound and it has to do with getting community support." In his first three months, Parrott has already drummed up enough support to open the zoo's first fully equipped animal hospital. The hospital will open Sept. 14, having been helped by grants totaling $12,000 from veterinarians' associations in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and donations of medical equipment from private veterinarians. Parrott said the first problem he encountered when he took the job was "a need to take care of all the animals on the grounds.

I went to my colleagues to ask for help. I said, 'Your zoo needs your They've contributed equipment on their own. This is no small stuff." Among the donations were X-ray machines, scales, surgery tables, lamps, an EKG machine and supplies for a full pharmacy. Parrott's plans for improving the zoo don't stop there, He plans changes in most of the animal settings larger cages for the monkeys, better settings for the lions and wood fences instead of steel wiring. His most ambitious project is the East African savannah being designed by San Diego Zoo architects Jones and Jones.

The exhibit will house the zoo's elephants whose current compound was blasted by the National Humane Society as a "concrete oasis" as well as zebras, giraffes, lions and other animals. Parrott has other dreams for the Knowland Park zoo. But in the dreams have often faded away. -1- I I I troduce the law yesterday due to a technicality, The suggestion of calling a special 1 election led to and ions of political maneuvering. Super-ft visors could have put the initiative on 1 1 1 the regular November ballot, when far more voters come to the polls, had ac1ed b' Outside the boardroom, Swanson questioned the motives of anyone insisting on a special election.

A one-issue ballot "would be tailored specifically to protect Cooper, it would be costly and politically I don't think it Nvoul'd fly," he said. Cooper said he opposed restoring bkl districts because they were not evenly populated. One district had 27,000 more people than another, he "noted. He said that's unconstitutional fi because it violates the idea of equal By Jon Bashor Examiner staff writer MARTINEZ Concentration camps in Contra Costa? Soviet-style slavery supervised by the sheriff? These are among the allegations made by the head of the county employees' union after maintenance workers complained about inmates painting buildings at the Clayton Rehabilitation Center. "That assignment is part of a regular two-year cycle of maintenance work," said Henry Clarke, general manager of Public Employees Union Local 1.

"Their work is being done by inmates." So Clarke fired off an angry letter to Board of Supervisors Chairman Tom Torlakson accusing Sheriff Richard K. Rainey of exploiting inmate labor at the expense of county employees. In his letter, Clarke called Rainey "an arrogant, power-hungry sheriff who uses prisoners like they were in a Nazi German camp." "This certainly reminds one of the 'Gulag' camps in Russia and the way they use and abuse prisoners in that country," Clarke continued. Rainey called it "strange" that anyone would compare an honor farm here with the notorious prison camps Batchelor said the budget had grown in the last several months and a review of expenditures would be made in six months to keep spending in line with the adopted budget. Last year, after predict of $1 million surplus, the Healtn Services Department plunged into deficit that eventually reached $14 million and required hundreds of layoffs.

After months of wrangling with cuts and refinancing county buildings, the supervisors erased the deficit only to find themselves tackling similar problems for the coming fiscal year. representation. Contra Costa adopts budget after delay ''sir" 1- Mike Russell in Germany and the Soviet Union. Clarke said he used the strong terms to "get Rainey's attention." It worked. "It's absolutely ludicrous," Rainey said after a spirited exchange before the Board of Supervisors yesterday.

"We do use inmates," Rainey said, "but they do work that would otherwise not be done." As Rainey sees it, the program has three benefits: needed work for which there is no money gets done; taxpayers save money, and the inmates have something to do. "An idle mind is a dangerous thing in the case of inmates," Rainey said. "We keep them busy, they get tired and sleep better." Clarke suggested that if Rainey wanted to save money, he should hire correctional officers to replace the deputy sheriffs in the jails. Such a move would save up to $650,000 a year. But Rainey said having deputies in the jails allow's greater flexibility if sworn officers are needed in emergencies.

And he accused Clarke of furthering his own cause, as correctional officers would add 200 members to the public employees' union. County Supervisor Tom Powers said most residents would probably agree prisoners should work in jail, but should not displace regular employees. The county administrator was directed to study the situation. a more reliable date because that's when Queen Anne houses of that style were popular. Though the building lias its troubles, Rodriguez said it also has an "especially well cut fish-scale shingling" outside, and could be "just the right challenge for the right people." He would like a young couple capa-' ble of restoring the building themselves to buy it, but says the high costs scares away callers.

Schweyer said the National Association of Home Builders has expressed interest in restoring the house to tram unemployed people in the trade, but only if the group can find a $90,000 grant to pay for training expenses. The city would pay for building materials, then sell the completed home for about $125,000. Otherwise, it appears the Hoover house will sit on its lot, sagging and aged, for a few years longer. The city doesn't want to demolish it because of its historical significance. "Eventually, someone's got to take a liking to it," said Rodriguez.

i Examiner East Bay Bureau MARTINEZ Contra Costa Coun-J ty suiervisors, after delaying several 1 weeks, unanimously adopted a $348.7 million budget yesterday for fiscal yearl9845. "The supervisors had put off final approval of the budget, hoping more "money would be available from Sacra-1 I Another $2.2 million could be 1 freed soon by a bill pending in Sacra- i inento, so the supervisors went ahead t9n(' approved the budget. 1 Although the budget is 3Vz percent I'. -higher than last year's, up to 50 county More East Bay news inside Bulletin board, page 2 Report from the cities, page 3 Vital statistics, page 3 he dilapidated house that Hoover slept in 1 1 I "If1- employees could lose their jobs, County Administrator Philip Batchelor said. Most of the cuts will fall in the Social Services Department, and the Probation Office may also lose several positions.

If the money from Sacramento is forthcoming, it would go toward libraries and extra sheriff patrols, allowing money now earmarked for those areas to restore some of the threatened jobs. One of the areas hardest hit and most lamented by county officials is the Children's Protective Services. city's redevelopment agency has either sold or financed for renovation since the early 1970s. The entire project would be complete if only someone wanted to sleep in the same rooms that sheltered this country's 31st president, a Republican ho presided over the Great Depression. Oakland, incidentally, is predominantly Democrat.

The truth is, Hoover lived in the house just six months in 1896. He was four years out of Stanford University with an engineering degree, sitting through the sour economy left by the 1893 depression, said Chris Buckley, a city planner who doubles as unofficial historian. Like some college grads of today, he couldn't find a job. And like so many little brothers, he moved in with big brother Theodore, a Linotype operator with the Oakland Evening Tribune, until he could land a mining job. "He was, in effect, doubling up with his brother because he had trouble finding work," Buckley said of Hoover's humble stay here.

By Jayne Garrison Examiner staff writer OAKLAND This is the house Herbert Hoover slept, ate and generally slouched around in more han 80 years ago when lie was an unemployed college graduate. This is also the house that the city of Oakland can't sell for the paltry price of $4,500, even though it's a federally registered historical landmark. The house at 1079-12th St. is part of. the Oak Center Redevelopment Proj- Theodore and Herbert registered to vote at that house on Aug.

10, 1896, thereby ensuring that generations hence would know that "Herbert Hoover slept here." A while later they moved to Berke-. ley. Herbert landed a job with Bewick, Moreing Co. of London going to work as a mining engineer in Asia, Europe and Africa, to name a few continents. Theodore went on to Stanford himself, and eventually became dean of the university's School of Engineering.

The brothers' old neighborhood in Oakland became rundown and shunned by the middle-class in the 1950s and '60s. The house has sat empty for 10 years. Today it is "a shell of a building that's very deteriorated," said Ramon Rodriguez, supervisor of the city's housing rehabilitation. It needs a new foundation, a new roof, plumbing and electrical wiring, finished flooring, a kitchen, bathrooms the list goes on. An early government resolution about the house says it was built hi 1883, but Buckley figures circa 1(590 is HIIU v-b utiiv i.v 't bargain price for a decade.

But, as -jwiih all great deals, there's a catch. It will cost between $00,000 and $75,000 in materials alone to restore this dilap- idated 13-room Queen Anne to its for- mer beauty. I "Just about everything needs to be done," said Roy Schweyer, assistant housing manager of Oakland's Office of Community Development. "It all adds up to making a huge invest-: ment." So far, no takers. The house is the last of 440 in the old Oak Center neigh-: borhood in West Oakland that the Mike Russell CITY OF OAKLAND CAN'T SELL RUN-DOWN HOUSE FOR $4,500 Herbert Hoover lived here as an unemployed college grad Jfc efe.

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