(City Councilwoman) Collins and her colleagues defended their vote against the rescue plan, saying it was given to them Friday at 4:45 p.m. -- too late to properly debate, they said. In a move rare in city history, the council held a special session Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday to debate the proposal before voting 7-2 against it; with Council President Kenneth Cockrel and Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel voting in favor.
The vote was rushed because of a deadline set by state officials that required approval by Sunday in order for the zoo to receive a $4 million state grant.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said the zoo cries out for regional management, and he was highly critical of the council's vote.
"They'd rather close the zoo than share its management with the region," Patterson said. "And shame on them for that point of view."
The zoo is in Royal Oak, in south Oakland County.
The deal would have handed over management and control to the society, though the city would maintain ownership.
"It was a really solid plan that would have allowed the zoo to survive, and it would have relieved the city of the vast majority of its expenses to run it," said zoo Director Ron Kagen.
Collins said the state deadline amounted to unfair pressure by small-town legislators on the city to relinquish control of the zoo. She and other council members were angered by numerous calls and e-mails made to their offices by suburbanites critical of the council's vote. Some of the council members took the e-mails as veiled racism.
"This is not a plantation," Collins said. "We are not owned by everyone else. Black folks are not owned by white folks anymore. I made the point Saturday that the state Legislature was pimping the City of Detroit, and that we should not play the role of prostitute. That upset a lot of people, but I stand by my words. The symbolism is that Detroit is a black city, and we're not able to govern ourselves. It's a racist attitude and I resent it."
Collins said she thought the council would meet with the society and Kilpatrick when the mayor gets back from Africa, where he is on a fact-finding trip with his mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, and other members of Congress. But no set plans for meetings or hearings had been made by Monday evening.
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