South Walton Mosquito Control

[ShallowsNole]

I may have missed this, but will someone please tell me why these are elected positions? Why don't we just have a county "mosquito department", with a boss and employees?

This may smack a bit of "because that's how we always did it," but that is how it was set up. When the SWMCD was formed, you couldn't get a county department down here for any reason except to grade your/my/our road, and even THAT was often after repeated calls to whoever was our north-of-the=bay commissioner at the time. Remember, we didn't even have a full-time sheriff's substation here until 1982.

What was down here, though, were mosquitos, and swamps, and the residents liked to go outside at times without being eaten alive or contracting malaria and West Nile. And don't forget heartworms for dogs. All dogs got heartworms; it was only a matter of when.

Disbanding our mosquito control would require a referendum, and the thought of it being a county department makes me shudder.

 

[florida girl]

Whether or not the SWMC is needed or not, is considerably after the fact, considering the length of time it's been in existance. I think it's the wrong time to even consider adding more commissioners considering current events. What I'd like to see is the commissioners actually working positively for our community, getting what we've paid for.

 

[Bob Hudson]

Whether or not the SWMC is needed or not, is considerably after the fact, considering the length of time it's been in existance. I think it's the wrong time to even consider adding more commissioners considering current events. What I'd like to see is the commissioners actually working positively for our community, getting what we've paid for.

I would appreciate some specifics concerning your statements that the SWMCD is not working positively for the South Walton community.

As a Commissioner I consider it my responsibility to listen to people and improve the organization where we can.

I will try answers to your specifics concerns, and will then respond with things that I feel have been very positive steps to improve the transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility we are charged with in the past 11 months as I have worked with two other commissioner's.

I await your response.

 

[Matt J]

They seem to be working pretty efficiently.

Their purpose is to kill mosquitoes and being that I was only bit a small number of times during the spring, summer, and fall I'd say they are doing their jobs.

I would like them to find alternatives to spraying. For instance in the video that Mr. Hudson posted there is a bacteria that only affects mosquitoes.

 

[Bob Hudson]

That prodoct is a larvasidethat we use.

 

[Matt J]

That prodoct is a larvasidethat we use.

So it only affects mosquito larvae?

 

[Bob Hudson]

So it only affects mosquito larvae?

Yes - it is gene specific to mosquito's.

 

[Smiling JOe]

...

Disbanding our mosquito control would require a referendum, and the thought of it being a county department makes me shudder.

Would you mind telling us why?

 

[ShallowsNole]

Would you mind telling us why?

Yeah, I would.

But for starters - who would be responsible for it? Doesn't whichever department you choose already have enough on their plate, particularly in South Walton? Particularly since layoffs are continuing?

But, alas, it is going to remain a three-member board. Move on to the next controversial subject.

 

[Kurt]

Residents swarmed the meeting. The district board voted against adding the additional commissioners.

The Florida Dept. of Agriculture had recommended the increase from 3 to 5 commissioners because the budget was over a million dollars. Last month the Walton County Board Of County Commissioners approved the increase but it will not happen now.