I am deeply disturbed by the Board of Supervisors’ plan to cut
the UCCE 4-H program.
Dear Editor:
I am deeply disturbed by the Board of Supervisors’ plan to cut the UCCE 4-H program. The $70,000 saved by cutting the program represents less than 1.8 percent of the county’s $4 million shortfall, yet costs the county substantially more due to the loss of agricultural research programs, youth leadership programs and farm and livestock research. These programs are invaluable in our county, not just for the farmers and ranchers, but for the kids in our county.
In addition to losing the 4-H program in our county, not funding the UCCE program will cost the county’s 4-H clubs an endowment of over $1.7 million from the Georgia Wapple Fraser Trust. Instead of supporting 4-H programs and providing scholarships for San Benito County youth, these funds would be diverted, along with property and other assets, to the UCCE program and lost! I’m sure that this was not the intent when the endowment was created!
Seventy thousand dollars is a small price to pay for a $1 million plus program that brings so much to the county! This is just another example of the Board of Supervisors’ “Penny wise, pound foolish” planning.
Keep 4-H alive in San Benito County!
Gary Corlet,
submitted by e-mail
