CAMARILLO : Group Protests Aerial Spraying

The Camarillo City Council walked out Wednesday on a residents’ group speaking out against the aerial spraying of malathion to eradicate the Medfly in eastern Camarillo.

During its 5 p.m. session, the council listened to speakers from the Group Against Spraying People, or GASP.

But midway through the speech of GASP activist Tom Grundeman, who at one point engaged in a brief shouting match with Mayor Michael Morgan, the council abruptly voted 4 to 1 to take its dinner break, and walked out of the council chamber.

“We deserve to be heard on this,” Grundeman said before the council adjourned. “The city can take a stand on this--it’s up to you.”

But Councilman Stan Daily, growing steadily impatient with the group’s demands for more speaking time, motioned for the council to immediately take its break.

“We have heard this, and we have heard this, and we have heard this,” Daily said. “We’re not in the loop. We’re not the decision-makers you should be talking to.”

Morgan cast the only dissenting vote against the recess.

Terri Gaishin, spokeswoman for GASP, had asked the council to vote for a resolution calling for the creation of a task force of county, city officials and residents to study alternatives to the aerial spraying of malathion.

The council refused to consider the resolution.

Morgan, however, who lives in the 16-square-mile spray zone, told members of the group after the council recessed that he would be willing to help them petition state officials for a written verification of the safety of the pesticide. He said he would only support creation of a task force if the idea gained the support of county leaders.

At the council’s 7:30 session, the members of GASP were given an hour to speak. However, at the end of that session, the council members reiterated their view that the city, by itself, could not change policy set by county and state agriculture officials.