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Advisory Board
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Voting on Issue that will Reduce Pesticide Over-Use by County Departments
Issues:
1. Should the County hire a *full-time* IPM Coordinator? The County Administrative Officer (CAO), Supervisors Uilkema & Glover recommend a part-timer. We haven't been told what % time yet. BIRC, PfSE, & PEHAB all recommend FULL-TIME postion to help increase success, considering the messy condition in CC County. See BIRC report.
2. *Where should the IPM Coodinator be placed* in the County structure? The CAO recommends in General Services Dept, sharing the primary position as Grounds Supervisor when Bob Tamori retires, who hasn't sent in his resignation yet. In addition, General Services says this postion is getting demoted and being moved under the supervision of Building Maintenance, currently supervised by Roland Hindsman. General Services Dept, PfSE, BIRC and PEHAB oppose this "burying of the IPM Coordinator." *The Coordinator must report to a Dept* that does not require pest control oversight by the Coordinator and also one of *authority*, *such as in the CAO's office*.
3. *PfSE is asking the Board of Supervisors to adopt a County Ordinance* in order to provide more authority to the Coodinator, and also hold the County Departments accountable and pesticide use transparent. Both San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties' IPM ordinances have helped decrease their use of pesticides by over 70% since the inception of their policies, both over 7 years old and have eliminated all bad actor pesticides in Santa Clara County according to their IPM Manager, and with the exception of occasional, pre-PGA Golf tournaments in San Francisco County. (with exception of rodenticides and mosquito control, we have not assessed these areas).
4. PfSE, BIRC, and PEHAB is asking for the County Departments and Contractor to utilize a computerized tracking system so that we know for one, what the contractors are doing, and that the reports will be more reliable. See PfSE report on inaccurate pesticide use reporting by contractors. BIRC spent much time trying to ascertain the pesticides used by contractors, and the contractors could not provide the data during the months. PfSE experienced the same. Computerized systems used by County of San Francisco and Santa Clara are both available to our county at no cost.
5. PfSE, BIRC, and PEHAB is asking for each County facility to be assigned with an IPM Steward, who would be the point of contact for the IPM Coordinator and who would also maintain records and communication with pest control staff, whether it be county or contractors.
The rest of the recommendations can be viewed in the BIRC report, second link on the list below the meeting announcement. search the document for "recommendations" . Also in their appendix A.

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Issues
Home Background Pesticides Current Projects & Committees Environmental Hazards in Schools Press and News Releases Recipes for Safer Cleaning Recommended Businesses Environmental Topics Related Websites Donations Jobs Available Advisory Board	Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Voting on Issue that will Reduce Pesticide Over-Use by County Departments Issues: 1. Should the County hire a full-time IPM Coordinator? The County Administrative Officer (CAO), Supervisors Uilkema & Glover recommend a part-timer. We haven't been told what % time yet. BIRC, PfSE, & PEHAB all recommend FULL-TIME postion to help increase success, considering the messy condition in CC County. See BIRC report. 2. Where should the IPM Coodinator be placed in the County structure? The CAO recommends in General Services Dept, sharing the primary position as Grounds Supervisor when Bob Tamori retires, who hasn't sent in his resignation yet. In addition, General Services says this postion is getting demoted and being moved under the supervision of Building Maintenance, currently supervised by Roland Hindsman. General Services Dept, PfSE, BIRC and PEHAB oppose this "burying of the IPM Coordinator." The Coordinator must report to a Dept that does not require pest control oversight by the Coordinator and also one of authority, such as in the CAO's office. 3. PfSE is asking the Board of Supervisors to adopt a County Ordinance in order to provide more authority to the Coodinator, and also hold the County Departments accountable and pesticide use transparent. Both San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties' IPM ordinances have helped decrease their use of pesticides by over 70% since the inception of their policies, both over 7 years old and have eliminated all bad actor pesticides in Santa Clara County according to their IPM Manager, and with the exception of occasional, pre-PGA Golf tournaments in San Francisco County. (with exception of rodenticides and mosquito control, we have not assessed these areas). 4. PfSE, BIRC, and PEHAB is asking for the County Departments and Contractor to utilize a computerized tracking system so that we know for one, what the contractors are doing, and that the reports will be more reliable. See PfSE report on inaccurate pesticide use reporting by contractors. BIRC spent much time trying to ascertain the pesticides used by contractors, and the contractors could not provide the data during the months. PfSE experienced the same. Computerized systems used by County of San Francisco and Santa Clara are both available to our county at no cost. 5. PfSE, BIRC, and PEHAB is asking for each County facility to be assigned with an IPM Steward, who would be the point of contact for the IPM Coordinator and who would also maintain records and communication with pest control staff, whether it be county or contractors. The rest of the recommendations can be viewed in the BIRC report, second link on the list below the meeting announcement. search the document for "recommendations" . Also in their appendix A.
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