EMBATTLED AGENCY NOT UNDERSTOOD.

Open letter to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors:

My name is Gayland Hagy, a supervising biologist for the Agriculture Department.

Let me preface this by saying the Agricultural Commissioner's Office is not perfect. What is? There are some needed changes and improvements that are being addressed, as you know.

The Agriculture Department's job is to promote and regulate agriculture. It is also our responsibility to protect the consumer and general public by enforcing federal, state and local laws and ordinances. We are an extremely small department to regulate the 11th-ranking agricultural county in the state.

Agriculture is still this county's No. 1 industry. Loss of agriculture would have a devastating effect on the county's economy. Ventura County has the best soil and weather conditions in the world for agriculture. Three or more crops can be grown on a given piece of land in a year, where in other areas only one crop can be grown per year. We also have the largest variety of crops. Our county ranks 17th in the nation for agriculture.

The department has a multifaceted job. We do many things besides pesticide-use enforcement.

It is our duty to protect the consumer by inspecting fruits, eggs, seeds and vegetables for quality all the way from the field to the store. To keep our unwanted pests, we check incoming agricultural shipments on many fronts, from FedEx to the port. We write phytosanitary certificates and quarantine compliances to assure our county's product meets the requirements of other counties, states and nations. Commerce could not continue without these.

There are hundreds of nurseries we inspect for disease, insects and quality. We monitor the farmers markets. We run trap lines to intercept unwanted pests such as the Medfly, Japanese beetle, Gypsy moth and many other devastating insects. We are on the front line of protection from the Africanized honeybee and the imported fire ant. We even inspect incoming moving van shipments of household goods from many areas of our nation for Gypsy moths, which would ruin forests and shade trees. All suspected pesticide-related illnesses are investigated by our department. We also check structural pest control operators, including those who perform the fumigation of residences.

As you can see, we are very busy.

We supervising biologists are proud of our 13 agricultural biologists, who are very conscientious and take pride in the job they have done. We resent being used as political footballs. Considering the equipment and manpower we are given, we do a good job. We are underpaid, understaffed and underequipped. We are overloaded with paperwork and only have antiquated office equipment.

As you, the board, realize from the parity studies done, we fall incredibly below parity. We cannot entice experienced biologists to come work for this department. The cost of living in this county prohibits them from accepting the inadequate wages they are offered. As a result, we hire trainees who learn from us and then move on to a higher-paying job or county. We urgently need a competitive wage.

These factors do affect the commissioner's ability to perform his duties. In addition, the journeymen biologists are reaching retirement age. If the trend continues, there will be no one to carry on the work, putting the public at risk. However the increase is generated, it is imperative.

How can the Agricultural Commissioner's Office be improved? Let me offer a suggestion. Give the commissioner's office the tools and personnel needed to do its job. It would benefit the industry, the consumer, the economy and each member of the public, all of whom are constituents. We loyal employees of the county put our faith in the board of supervisors to make the correct decisions. Our future depends on you.

- Gayland Hagy

Ventura