Monterey, Calif., (November 13, 2017) – In 2016, Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen, together with Juan Uranga of Center of Community Advocacy, launched a Farm Worker Advisory Committee to work on safety issues, particularly around pesticide use.
As its first priority, the Farmworker Advisory Committee focused on establishing a trusting, professional relationship between County regulators and leaders in the farmworker community. Information was exchanged about pesticide use, enforcement, farmworker rights, and improving communication and collaboration. This helped establish strong personal relationships and the free exchange of ideas and concerns.
Each year the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) invites counties to submit nominations for the CSAC Challenge Awards. These unique awards recognize the innovative and creative spirit of California county governments for finding new and effective ways of providing projects, programs, and services to their citizens.
In June of this year, Monterey County submitted an entry to the 2017 CSAC Challenge Award competition titled Monterey County Farmworker Advisory Committee. On September 7, 2017, CSAC notified the County that the Monterey County Farmworker Advisory Committee entry was awarded a Challenge Award, one of 14 awarded from over 250 applications received.
Assistant Ag Commissioner Bob Roach received this award from CSAC during a presentation at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Others who were key in the development of the Farmworker Advisory Committee and were also present for the presentation:
Sabino Lopez, Interim Executive Director, Center for Community Advocacy (CCA)
Joel Hernandez-Laguna, Center for Community Advocacy (CCA)
Juan Uranga, Past Executive Director, Center for Community Advocacy (CCA)
Norm Groot, Executive Director, Monterey County Farm Bureau
Jim Bogart, President, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
Monterey County Farm Bureau congratulates Eric Lauritzen and Bob Roach on this achievement, a first of its kind collaboration in California. We also wish Eric best of luck in his new position at CA Department of Pesticide Regulation where he will work as an executive advisor on programs and issues critical to the DPR. The position will focus on pesticide program effectiveness and needs assessment, working with agricultural commissioner’s offices on the Central Coast.
We thank Eric for his dedicated commitment to Monterey County Agriculture as our Ag Commissioner for the nearly 20 years of his tenure. We will miss Eric but know that he will be working to support local producers and processors in his new position with DPR.
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