Update on Pesticide Use in the City of Davis

Following is a copy of a letter sent by Alan Pryor, a Natural Resources Commission member, concerning pesticide use in Davis and the qualifications required for consideration for the IPM Specialist position for which the City is now seeking a replacement. The letter was sent to Stan Gryzco (Public Works Assistant Director), Richard Tsai (Environmental Resources Manager), and John McNearny (Wildlife Resource Specialist) as the top 3 City officials overseeing the as-yet-to-be-replaced Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Specialist.

Readers may recall that the previous beloved IPM Specialist, Martin Guerena left the position under unusual circumstances and was subsequently awarded the City's Environmental Recognition Award last year in the Individual Category for his decade of service to the City.

Subject: IPM Annual Report & Pesticide Usage / IPM Specialist Job Application Minimum Requirement Deficiencies

Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2019 09:47:30 -0700

From: Alan Pryor (Natural Resources Commission member)

To: Stan Gryczko (Public Works Assistant Director), Richard Tsai (Environmental Resources Manager), John McNearny (Wildlife Resource Specialist)

CC: Will Arnold (Davis City Council Liaison to the Natural Resources Commission, Kerry Danne Loux (City Staff Liaison to the Natural Resources Commission), Dale Sumersille (Director of Parks and Community Services), Martin Jones (Parks Superintendent), John Johnston (Chair of the Natural Resources Commission), Courtney Hall (Natural Resources Commission member), Roberta Millstein (Open Space and Habitat Commission member)

Gentlemen –

Re Annual IPM Report & Pesticide Usage at Parks – At the most recent NRC meeting we received the long delayed IPM Report from Martin Jones of the Parks Dept. Although quite brief compared to previous reports, we noted a continued reduction in glyphosate usage with the exception of Open Space. We were very pleased to see this trend continue.

In fact, I noted that the Parks Dept has just completed one full 12-month period without any pesticide usage in City parks whatsoever. This is a remarkable and laudable achievement and Dale Somersille and Martin Jones should be highly commended.  I believe this sets is the new standard of service for Parks management in Davis

I was also pleased to see the progress made using steam application for future weed control. The technology looks to be ready for broad adoption by the City and I would expect to see a future budget request by Parks to accommodate this need.

I did have a few questions re the IPM Progam Labor and Costs for 2018 summary (attached) that was presented to the NRC that night, as follows:

1. How do the reported program costs compare to previous years when much more extensive spraying was done including previous costs for public noticing (sign posting and removal), equipment preparation and cleaning, chemical procurement and disposal costs, etc.?
2. Martin Jones mentioned they had received only 12 comments on Parks appearances or quality of surface during 2018 (which I also believe is a laudable achievement by our Parks Dept). How does this compare to the number of comments or complaints received by the Parks Dept in previous years? I believe that there were at least that many complaints surrounding pesticide usage alone in 2017.

Re: IPM Specialist Job Application Minimum Requirement Deficiencies

I have attached an excerpt from the recent job announcement for the proposed new IPM Specialist position at Davis and note that there are no specific requirements for "organic agriculture" or "organic parks or grounds" experience. This is somewhat disconcerting in as much as the NRC's previous Hazardous Materials subcommittee on two different occasions requested that this specific experience be included in the job description or minimum requirements for the IPM Specialist. In our opinion, we stated that it would be a giant step backwards and somewhat of a waste of money and betrayal of public confidence if an IPM Specialist would be employed by the City without that requisite experience.

Indeed, given the progress made by the City in eliminating the use of pesticides (especially herbicides) without an IPM specialist over the past year, I would question whether it would even be worth the money to hire someone without such a background in organic pest management as it could prove to even be counter-productive to the clearly expressed needs of the community. In all honesty, the last thing we need after just going through a protected round of "pesticide wars" in Davis would be to hire a person with only a hard chemical background and have such limited experience be reflected in their recommendations for solving pest problems in Davis. Please use your utmost discretion to only hire a person for the IPM Specialist position with quantifiable, practical experience in organic pest control

Respectfully submitted,

Alan Pryor

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Attachments:

Download City of Davis IPM Progam Labor and Costs for 2018

Download IPM Specialist Job Application