Sedgwick County set to vote on new zoo director

The next director of the Sedgwick County Zoo will be announced in the Sedgwick County Commission’s meeting on Wednesday.

Mark Reed, the zoo’s director since 1991, retired in December. He had been with the Sedgwick County Zoo since 1979.

The zoo has had only two directors in its 45-year history: Reed and the original director, R.L. Blakely.

Zoo spokeswoman Melissa Graham said the Zoological Society, the nonprofit zoo board that manages the zoo in a public-private partnership with the county, has already picked who it wants as the next director.

“It’s a discussion and then approving … the executive director,” Graham said of the Wednesday vote.

The zoo director is a Sedgwick County employee. The 2017 county budget sets aside $164,053 for the director’s compensation.

It’s unclear how many candidates were considered for the position. The county sent out four public notices in March when candidates were in Wichita meeting with zoo stakeholders.

Commissioner David Dennis said the county has been involved in every step of the process to find a new director.

“I’m very satisfied with the way the process worked,” Dennis said.

Last month, the county and the Zoological Society agreed to a new five-year funding pact, ending months of negotiations over the zoo’s funding and operating agreements.

“It’s a great partnership that we have between the zoo board and the county,” Dennis said. “I look forward to us continuing the relationship moving forward.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County set to vote on new zoo director."