More Staff Sought to Inspect Plants

County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail is hoping to hire seven additional insect detection specialists to ease the workload on overburdened inspectors screening for the disease-carrying glass-winged sharpshooter.

McPhail will ask county supervisors today for permission to make the hires, said David Buettner, chief deputy agricultural commissioner.

Buettner said his office has become overwhelmed trying to meet the requirements of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, which since August has demanded a 100% inspection of all nursery stock destined for uninfested counties.

“That’s extremely time-consuming,” Buettner said. “The staff has been working overtime and it’s taken away from other duties.”

Buettner said the hirings will not cost the county any additional money. The cash was set aside with the intention of hiring four biologists who would monitor nursery shipments.

Hiring, however, has been hampered because the county’s salaries for biologists are considered low, making recruitment difficult, Buettner said. In Ventura County, agriculture biologists make about $52,888, compared with more than $64,000 in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, Buettner said.

The agricultural commissioner’s office has decided to downgrade the positions and hire seven inspectors--positions that pay less because they do not require a college degree.

The inspectors will search for evidence of the glass-winged sharpshooter, which carries Pierce’s disease--a bacteria that cuts off water to wine grapes, causing them to wither on the vine.