It appears San Benito 4-H and the University of California
Cooperative Extension are safe
– for now.
It appears San Benito 4-H and the University of California Cooperative Extension are safe – for now.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors looked at the coming year’s proposed budget Tuesday, and it includes funding for UCCE programs, such as 4-H – although less than in years past.
It’s good to see the county followed through on it’s promise to keep 4-H alive. The program has been providing kids in this county with hands-on training and a wholesome activity for decades. It would have been a terrible loss to the community if it had to go – not that residents were inclined to let that happen.
County officials stirred up a hornet’s nest earlier this year by talking about cutting some of the county’s discretionary programs, including the UCCE.
Cutting county funding from UCCE would have jeopardized all the extension office’s programs. A 100 percent cut would have shuttered its windows, cut 22 agricultural research programs and ended 4-H for the 256 kids involved in the program.
For a county with such a strong agricultural base – one that produced $239 million in profits in 2003 – losing those services would be a serious blow to farmers and kids. And they let the county know it. Kids and parents lined up in the streets to protest, sent a flood of letters to the editor and gave local politicians an earful.
The county felt it was necessary to calm everyone down by issuing a statement to the press promising to keep 4-H. And now, there’s money in the budget.
The proposed budget includes $53,000 for UCCE, which administrates 4-H. That’s $10,000 less than it received last year, and county officials say 4-H will have to make up the rest through donations. That seems to be a good compromise to keep the cherished program going while the county works to solve its $4 million budget deficit.
While fighting for the program’s survival, UCCE officials said they could handle some cuts. Now it’s time for UCCE to keep its word. County officials do, after all, have to balance their budget.
Raising $10,000 to help kids should not present too much of a roadblock in this county. Residents recently raced to the rescue of Hollister Little League after thieves stole hundreds of dollars worth of baseball equipment. More than $2,000 in donations flooded in in less than a week
So San Benito County, let’s raise 10 grand, and show some of the same community spirit that convinced the supervisors to keep funding for the program in the first place.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail to [email protected]
