County Farm Bureau Official Forced to Retire

Charles Woods, 13-year executive secretary of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, was forced into early retirement Thursday after a closed-door session of the group’s directors.

Charles Badger, board chairman and president of the county Farm Bureau, said that Woods, 61, had “accepted” retirement and would give no explanation of the two-hour executive session on “personnel problems” leading to Woods’ ouster.

Woods, who was not present during the board’s executive session at its offices in Escondido, said that he had been approached by Badger and two other Farm Bureau officials three times. Each time, “they asked me to sign the (early retirement) contract and I refused.”

His normal retirement date would have been July 1, 1991.

Woods’ supporters left the meeting abruptly and had little comment about the reasons for the board action, but several other members said that Woods “just hadn’t been doing all he was supposed to be doing.”

“Ten percent of Charlie Woods is worth 100% of some kid they’ll get in here who doesn’t know the ropes,” a Woods supporter from Valley Center said.

The session started off with a prolonged dispute over which Farm Board members had board voting privileges and would be allowed to remain in the room during the closed-door discussion. Badger finally seated one pro-Woods member and ordered other members out of the board room.

One woman board member said she disagreed the decision to remove Woods from his post, “but the officers in charge are the ones who should decide.”

Woods said that he was unaware of any problems with his performance until last month when he was “ordered to go on vacation” by Badger, president-elect Charles Wolk and past president Ben Hillebrecht.

“I asked for the last week off in February for vacation and I was ordered to start vacation immediately,” Woods said. He said that he has been on “forced vacation” since Feb. 11.

Woods said that he was given no reason why the three officials wanted him out, “although it seems that the ‘tree people’ (growers) are bent on getting me out and the ‘animal people’ are for keeping me in.

“I’ve been here 13 years last Feb. 1 and I am proud of my record,” Woods said. Membership, which had stood at between 1,300 and 2,000 countywide, “is now up to 4,000, and that’s not accidental. I’ve been working hard on it.”

Before coming to his post on the San Diego County Farm Bureau, Woods served on the state Farm Bureau staff and had farmed in Imperial County. He now lives in Julian, where he grows apples.