It's pretty routine for speakers during the Metro Council's public comment session to talk about the Columbia River Crossing, land use planning and the urban growth boundary.
But a group of animal welfare advocates changed the tone from regional planning to Packy the elephant on Thursday, urging the Metro Council to hurry and find a pasture for Packy to play.
Packy, the Oregon Zoo's senior elephant, turned 49 last month. That makes it vital to find an elephant reserve somewhere in the region, and to find one soon, the speakers said.
"I realize that this kind of project takes time," said Courtney Scott, one of the activists to testify at Thursday's hearing. "But Packy doesn't have a lot of time."
In 2008, nearly 60 percent of Metro region voters approved a $125 million bond to expand the elephant habitat at the zoo to six acres. It also called for a study of a possible elephant sanctuary, off-site and even larger.
Three years later, Metro has been talking to property owners near Sandy about a potential site for an elephant reserve, with no timeline set for moving elephants to the site.
"I want some kind of timeline when Packy will be free," said Bethany O'Driscoll. "I want to make sure Packy is one of the first to go."
Oregon Zoo Director Kim Smith said moving Packy, one of the oldest elephants in North America, might cause undue stress or harm after decades in the West Hills.
"He's a comfortable gentleman and happy where he is," she said. "He knows the sights, sounds and feels of the Oregon Zoo. We don't want to take any chances with Packy."
She also challenged the assumption that Packy's life at the zoo is at all unpleasant.
"He's healthy. He's beautiful. He's got a great life here," Smith said, citing daily exercise routines and interactions with zoo staff. "We cherish that elephant like everyone. Packy's going to get to walk over and see his brand new 6-acre habitat we're building. He's going to have a terrific life."
The speakers at Thursday's council meeting, though, were dubious. In an interview outside the meeting, Ananda Animal Rescue's Bethany O'Driscoll questioned Packy's mental health.
"Packy is obviously insane," she said. "Packy has obviously lost his mind from captivity."
Not so, Smith said. "We assess these animals every day, and keepers work with them every day," the director said. "I can guarantee you, having worked in zoos for 26 years and from working with elephants myself, when you see Packy working and playing in the yard, that he's not insane, he has got terrific mental stability, and he is a happy animal with lots of things to do.
"We can guarantee his mental health," she said.
While the zoo is working on getting Packy and the zoo's seven other elephants out of their 1.5-acre exhibit to the larger preserve, such a move is years away. A master plan for spending the bulk of the bond money is expected to be completed this year, which will be followed by development, next summer, of an implementation plan.
While the elephants will ultimately end up at the former Elk Meadows site, other zoo infrastructure has to be moved before the expansion can take place.
That's unlikely to be acceptable to Scott, one of the speakers Thursday.
"I urge you, as the governing body of the zoo, to release him as soon as possible so he can enjoy his last few years in a place we voted for," Scott said at the council meeting. "A place where he can enjoy the freedom he has earned for his 49 years of service to Oregon."