Factions debate counties' authority to dismiss official

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- The firing of a local agriculture official here and a resulting lawsuit have drawn the attention of a state agency and a statewide organization.

Sonoma County supervisors dismissed Agriculture Commissioner Cathy Neville in March, sparking concerns that California's unique system of county ag commissioners could see its independence eroded.

In her lawsuit, Neville maintains that only the state can remove an ag commissioner once he or she has been appointed by supervisors.

While she steps clear of the particulars of Neville's firing, Mary Pfeiffer believes her argument about who can remove her is correct.

Pfeiffer, president of the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, said the commissioners are licensed by the state and a specific process exists to remove an official's license.

"You really can't remove a commissioner unless they meet a certain level of incompetence, and you have to meet a pretty high criteria," said Pfeiffer, who is Shasta County's ag commissioner. "You can be removed, but it's not that easy."

Ag commissioners, who are appointed to four-year terms, can be removed early if the county requested the state hold a hearing to revoke the official's license, Pfeiffer said.

"Sonoma County, as I understand it, chose to terminate the commissioner," she said. "There's a great deal of concern that the appropriate process had not been followed."

The county argues it has supervising authority over the officials it appoints, and nothing in legislation says the state has the exclusive power to oust a commissioner, said Greg Dion, chief deputy county counsel.

On May 17, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Patrick Broderick ruled the county did have the power to fire Neville. Neville's attorney said they would appeal.

The matter is also being reviewed by lawyers from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which is not a party in the lawsuit, spokesman Steve Lyle said.

The heart of the issue revolves around both the independence and accountability of the agriculture commissioner, who handles regulatory programs and other duties in each county.

Created under an 1881 law aimed at controlling the spread of pests, the agriculture commissioners regulate pesticides, enforce produce and egg quality, inspect nurseries and certify exports. They are also sealers of weights and measures, which means they test scales and other marketplace equipment for accuracy.

To qualify, commissioners and their deputies must pass a series of technical exams and receive a state-issued license, Pfieffer said. The system came about in a time when powerful farmers sat on boards of supervisors, and ag commissioners were put in a position of having to deny them a permit or take other actions against them, she said.

"Some counties have serious pest issues ... and there may be constituent groups that don't want something done," she said. "This provides that ability to get the job done without that political pushing and pulling."

In the Sonoma case, the county hired an outside investigator and concluded that Neville had "engaged in gross misconduct and incompetence," supervisors' Chairman Efren Carrillo told Neville in an 11-page termination letter March 1.

For instance, the county found Neville had behaved inappropriately toward employees in public and failed to take a leadership role in an ordinance to regulate agricultural frost operations to protect endangered fish in the Russian River, according to the letter.

"I think it's clear that there was cause" to dismiss Neville, Dion said.

Neville believes she was fired for her "unpopular decision" to terminate Amy Cooper, the county's animal control officer, said Stephen Murphy, Neville's San Francisco-based attorney. Cooper has since been rehired, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.

"It's against the law," Murphy said of Neville's firing. "This is a very unusual statute and a very unusual situation where the Legislature gave authority to hire a commissioner but not to fire the commissioner ... I'm not aware of any other position that has this (protection).

"It actually has good policy reasons," he said. "The Legislature was concerned about agriculture commissioners being influenced by local politics."

Pfeiffer said the state association "definitely wants to promote professionalism" but added it isn't easy to get a commissioner's license in the first place.

"It takes a long time and it's very involved, as it should be, but again it's the process we're concerned about," she said. "We hope that it works out according to the law."

Online

California Department of Food and Agriculture: www.cdfa.ca.gov

California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association: http://cacasa.org