“I’m troubled by both the allegations and the lack of transparency here, and this office will get to the bottom of it,” Yost said in a statement Thursday.
The people of central Ohio deserve to know the details. They have supported the zoo financially and otherwise since its beginning 95 years ago.
Columbus City Council adopted a resolution in November 1926 requesting that the state develop a 21-acre game refuge on lands east of the Scioto River in southern Delaware County. The first animals – reindeer donated by The Dispatch – went on display on Oct. 4, 1927.
The zoo,, a nonprofit organization, received $19 million of its $92 million budget from Franklin County taxpayers, thanks to a levy. It might not be required legally to turn over documents, but for the sake of transparency and public trust, it should release details of its investigation into the personal use of zoo resources by Stalf and Bell.