Yes to mosquito control
When things are under control, it’s easy to forget what it’s
like when they are not. That’s what it’s like with mosquitoes. We
forget about the bugs until the long, hot dusky days of summer when
sitting outdoors in the evenings we feel a little prick followed by
the insatiable itching.
Yes to mosquito control
When things are under control, it’s easy to forget what it’s like when they are not. That’s what it’s like with mosquitoes. We forget about the bugs until the long, hot dusky days of summer when sitting outdoors in the evenings we feel a little prick followed by the insatiable itching.
We don’t think of them when they leave us alone, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a threat. Though West Nile virus has been the impetus to create more control over the tiny flying disease vectors locally, mosquitoes have long held danger worldwide. And the continual spread of West Nile Virus across the United States and throughout California shows that new diseases can show up with just a few years to travel around the world.
A trip to the tropics or Africa reveals the threat of dengue and yellow fever is high there. Americans can prevent often deadly illnesses, such as malaria, by treating themselves with very expensive pills in the weeks before and during travel to areas where the illness is common. It is a reminder of how dangerous the bugs can be when left to their own devices. Without prevention programs, education and medicine, mosquito-borne diseases can kill millions.
In most California counties a mosquito abatement program helps keep the annoying bugs under control – and not just to prevent the itchy bites they leave behind, but to keep the deadly diseases they can carry from infecting humans. San Benito has never had a mosquito abatement program and has for the last two years relied on special grants from the state. The grant money is gone – and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has mandated that every county must have some sort of program.
The only choice left to the county is how to fund it. We can draw from the already thin-stretched general fund – much of which goes to support law enforcement and fire protection – or we can say the health of our families is worth less than $10 a year per household and approve the special assessment districts.
By now, voters should have ballots throughout the district – which includes most of the area north of Paicines.
The way the Board of Supervisors structured the measure concerns us on several fronts. First, only one ballot goes to each household. The county appears to have abandoned its commitment to one voter, one vote.
Even more egregious, the measure does not cover the entire county. We cannot guess the thinking that went into making the district effective only in the northernmost area of the county, but it may be the state law that would require a two-thirds majority should a countywide measure be placed on the ballot.
The arbitrary line drawn near Paicines is ludicrous. While most of the benefit will be accrued where most residents live, much of the problem is likely to be generated in South County. Lakes, cattle tanks and watering troughs all are likely breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Ag Commissioner Paul Matulich said his staff finds mosquito larvae breeding in rain-soaked footprints of cattle.
But the overarching public health issue is inescapable. We should all step up. Setting aside the notion that the ballot measure is deeply flawed, we all need to recognize the public health benefit in a special tax district.
Further, we must acknowledge that as one of the least taxed California counties, unfunded state mandates like this one place a disproportionate burden on us all.
When the time comes to talk about new parks or expanded fire protection, the county will probably return to voters, hat in hand, for more special tax districts.
That’s not a bad thing per se. We’ve all enjoyed property tax rates that do not begin to meet our needs since the passage of the Proposition 13 tax initiative in 1978.
It’s time to ante up. We encourage property owners to vote yes and get those return envelopes in the mail.
