3 Supervisors Plan to Extend McPhail’s Pact

Three of the five members of the Board of Supervisors said Friday they plan to extend the contract of embattled Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail another four years when the board meets Tuesday to review his job performance.

The review, which will take place in closed session, will cap six months of uncertainty for McPhail, who after 20 years on the job found his contract extension delayed earlier this year pending an evaluation.

Environmentalists and homeowners called for McPhail’s ouster, saying he was a lax pesticide regulator and unresponsive to public concerns.

McPhail vowed Friday to continue addressing critics’ concerns and said he wants to improve the relationship between the agriculture industry and homeowners.

“A lot of education has to go on to assure them that neither the growers nor us want anything to happen that is going to harm them at all,” he said.

Even with the limitations set by growth-control policies adopted by voters across the county, development isn’t going to stop, McPhail said.

“Agriculture just has to let people know what they’re all about,” he said.

Supervisor John Flynn said he believes McPhail has markedly improved his accessibility and communication skills in recent months. Flynn said McPhail has attended public hearings to address residents’ concerns and is keeping officials abreast of agricultural developments.

Flynn said McPhail has been a scapegoat in a conflict that in recent years became inevitable, as countywide urbanization bumped up against the entrenched agriculture industry.

“It’s unfair to put the burden on one person,” Flynn said.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said he agrees McPhail has shown enough improvement to continue. An aide for Supervisor Judy Mikels said Mikels also planned to support McPhail. Supervisor Kathy Long will not announce her position before Tuesday’s meeting, an aide said. Supervisor Susan Lacey could not be reached for comment.

McPhail drew the ire of residents and environmental health activists in 1996, after east Ventura residents reported they were being sickened by pesticide vapors drifting from a nearby strawberry field.

McPhail said the farmer in question met all state and local regulations. But critics contended McPhail was not taking their concerns seriously.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Pesticide Regulation said McPhail’s office had conducted shoddy investigations and was lax on record-keeping and enforcement of safety violations. Such deficiencies caused the state to withhold several thousand dollars in funding for pesticide programs.

County officials responded this year by increasing funding for McPhail’s office. That funding, which kicks in next month, will pay for the addition of two pesticide inspectors and a deputy commissioner, who has yet to be appointed.