From Sandpapers Fall 2007

“Jim Rapp has been named Executive Director of Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences (DLITE). DLITE is an alliance of local, state, and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, local tourism providers and natural resources managers that encourages nature based tourism on Delmarva and fosters a sense of wonder and value of the natural world. Director of the Salisbury Zoo for the past 14 years, the affable naturalist is well positioned to move Nature Tourism forward on the Shore”.

http://visitworcester.org/printables/SandPapers_Fall07.pdf

This news is a little disconcerting. Apparently, Mr. Rapp has quite a colorful past, as admitted in his own testimony in Wicomico County Civil Court Documents received by the Tattler . These records are from Mr. Rapp’s testimony in a case from three years ago involving a suite filed by a Salisbury Zoo employee against Mr. Rapp and the City of Salisbury.

The controversial local blogger Joe Albero of sbynews.com

Has been targeting Mr Rapp for some time over his ability (or inability) to run the Salisbury Zoo, being responsible for polluting the Wicomico river dumping tons of animal waste from the zoo animals, killing or euthanizing animals to save money on vet bills and now there are court depositions about drunken antics of the man exposing himself to female subordinate employee’s by urinating on their car windshield while in a drunken state.

The testimony is interesting where Mr Rapp found a ‘dildo’ at the zoo and kept it in his desk pulling it out to ‘amuse’ himself and intimidate employees.

Read for yourself:

11. Q. Okay, now you admitted in your Answers to

12. Interrogatories, that you had mooned your, I guess

13. Co-workers and others at a party?

14. A. Correct.

15. Q. And I know you stated you thought it was a

16. good idea at the time?

17. A. No.

18. Q. No?

19. A. No. I think–

20. MR. KARP: Excuse me. What did you say? I

21. didn’t hear your comment.

22. MR. TRACY: I said he stated he thought it

1. was a good idea at the time, he said no.

2. A. No, I don’t believe I ever stated that.

3. Q. All right. Why was it that you mooned

4. people? Just for the fun of it?

5. A. At the time I was fairly intoxicated, and

6. myself and two other people leaving the party chose to

7. moon the people at the party as a joke, thinking it

8. would be funny.

9. Q. Do you recall mooning Carrie Sammis and

10. Racheal Tittermary outside the Taco Bell?

11. A. I don’t remember doing that. Somebody else I

12. was with may have.

13. Q. Do you recall, I guess, urinating on a

14. friends windshield after a social gathering with

15. co-workers?

16. A. Yes

17. Q. That was to defrost a windshield?

18. A. Yes.

19. Q. Is that for the same reason, because it

20. seemed like a fun thing to do at the time?

21. A. No. Let me say it again Mr. Tracey

22. I didn’t..

1. Q. You tell me.

2. A. I’m going to tell you. I never said the

3. mooning was a good idea at the time. I did state in

4. my interrogatory that that urinating on the

5. windshield, seemed like a good idea at

6. the time.

7. Q. You don’t think it’s a good idea now?

8. A. Probably not.

9. Q. Is that just because you were intoxicated?

10. A. I’m sure that had something to do with it.

11. Q. You said that was your friends car?

12. A. Yes

13. Q. Was it him that was driving you home?

14. A. Honestly, I don’t remember.

15. Q. You know what a dildo is, right?

16. A. Yes

17. Q. Do you recall that one was found in the

18. river of a creek at the zoo?

19. A. There was one found during a cleanup of

20. the property bordering the river near the zoo during a

21. coastal cleanup we have every year.

22. Q. Right. And that was thrown in the dump

1. truck, to go to the dump, right?

2. A.No.

3. Q. It wasn’t?

4. A. Humh-nah

5. Q. But you took that dildo?

6. A. I kept it for a period of time.

7. Q. Okay, where did you get it?

8. A. It was found during the cleanup

9. Q. Understood. And you took it out of the dump

10. truck, correct?

11. A. I think when I found it I kept it in a

12. separate bag and kept it with me.

13. Q. Where did you find it?

14. A. It was under a bush near the river.

15. Q. So you were the one who found it during the

16. cleanup?

17. A. No. I believe, actually, it was some of our

18. volunteers, one of which may have been Jennifer

19. Albero’s son.

20. Q. And it was thrown in the dump truck correct?

21. A. I don’t remember throwing it on any dump

22. truck.

1. Q. No, I didn’t say you threw it on a dump

2. truck. That it had been thrown on a dump truck to go

3. to the dump, isn’t that correct?

4. A. I don’t believe that’s true. When we do

5. coastal cleanup, we don’t have a dump truck present.

6. We use plastic garbage bags.

7. Q. Okay, you said that somebody else found it

8. under a bush and you got it somehow. Where did you

9. get it from?

10. A. I was there when it was found and if my

11. memory serves me, I put in a plastic bag and kept it

12. separate from the other bags of trash.

13. Q. In fact you kept it in your office for a

14. significant period of time, didn’t you?

15. A. Maybe a day or two.

16. Q. Just a day or two?

17. A. I don’t remember.

18. Q. And you showed all the staff what you had

19. found, right?

20. A. I believe I did show the staff what we had

21. found.

22. Q. In fact after you took it from your office

1. you carried it around in your car with you, didn’t

2. you?

3. A. I did show it to some other people.

4. Q. Including the police officer that pulled you

5. over?

6. A. They found it in the car.

7. Q. They found it?

8. A. The police did.

9. Q. And they left it there?

10. A. When they searched my vehicle.

11. Q. Do you still have it?

12. A. No.

13. Q. What happened to it?

14. A. I disposed of it, threw it away.

15. Q. After you were pulled over?

16. A. Yes.

17. Q. Were you arrested that night?

18. A. Yes.

19. Q. For DUI?

20. A. Yes.

21. Q. Were you convicted?

22. A. I was given probation before judgment.

1. Q. And your still within the probation

2. period?

3. A. It ends this month.

4. Q. Okay, I assume you haven’t violated

5. probation in any manner?

6. A. No.

7. Q. Mr. Rapp after the city’s investigation of

8. Jennifer’s grievance, you were directed by Mr. Jacobs

9. to prepare a policy relating to sexually hostile work

10. environments, is that correct?

11. A. No.

12. Q. It’s not correct?

13. A. No.

14. Q. But you were given a written reprimand of

15. some form?

16. A. Yes.

17. Q. Okay, in your recollection, that did not involve

18. creating this policy?

19. A. No, my memory is upholding the existing

20. city policy.

21. Q. All right. Were you demanded to create some

22. kind of plan of action to correct the environment

1. that existed at the zoo?

2. A. Without looking at the document my memory

3. is that I was to basically put a stop to the joking of

4. a sexual nature within the zoo environment and I

5. was to report on that.

6. Q. You don’t recall being asked to create a

7. plan, though?

8. A. I don’t remember be asked to prepare a

9. plan. But I remember having to make a report based on

10. advisement I had received from Mr. Jacobs, a part

11. of which was attending, and this was for the entire

12. city, a course on valuing diversity that was

13. conducted at Wor-Wic Community College.

14. Q. Did you prepare this report for Mr. Jacobs?

15. A. I did prepare a report for him , yes.

16. Q. That was written document?

17. A. Yes, I believe so.

So this is our New Eco Tourism Director. This is too funny!

It’s Pocomoke…

posted on: Friday, September 14th, 2007 @ 3:13 pm

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