County agriculture commissioner starts Monday

By: LORELL FLEMING - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 26, 2006 8:42 PM PDT ∞

With the eagerness of a young child awaiting the first day of school, Robert Atkins said he is excited about taking the reins Monday as San Diego County's agriculture commissioner.

"Do I have a few first-day jitters? Of course," said Atkins, 56, during a recent interview. "But mostly, I feel excited about getting in to work."

Atkins fills a vacancy created when Kathleen Thuner stepped down earlier this year, after 23 years in the job.

He is leaving his post as chief deputy commissioner in Los Angeles County's Department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures. He has had that position since May 1999.

The job that Atkins does in San Diego County is likely to be closely watched by many.

Agriculture ranked as the fifth-largest industry in San Diego County in 2004, according to the latest crop report issued by the county. The total impact of agriculture on the local economy in 2004 was more than $5 billion.

With a population of about 2.9 million people, San Diego County has 5,255 farms ---- the third-highest number of farms for any county in the nation. The average county farm is 9 acres or less.

Goal-setting


Atkins said one of his major goals is to do more to let the public know what the department is doing and how it benefits the public.

"We're already doing some of that through Web pages, publishing newsletters and brochures, and by talking to the press," Atkins said. "I want us to keep that up. I also want people to know how to contact us with questions, problems or comments." The department's Web site is www.sdcounty.ca.gov/awm/.

Atkins said he is also looking for ways to free inspectors of paperwork so they can focus even more on their fieldwork.

One thing he wants to do specifically is to decrease the number of people inputting data collected in the field, whether it's scale and scanner information or agricultural data.

"There's less chance of error with fewer people dealing with the data," Atkins explained.

On the fly


Pest detections and eradication programs are not anything new to Atkins.

He found one of the first medflies in California in September 1975 in Venice. At that time, he was doing fieldwork, running pest trap lines, he said.

Atkins managed fruit-fly detection and pest prevention programs between 1981 and 1992 in Los Angeles County. He served as on-site county representative in several eradication efforts against the medfly and Oriental fruit fly. He held the same position in the 1983-84 Mexican fruit fly eradication.

Growers in San Diego County are very familiar with problems that stem from Mexican fruit-fly infestations.

A discovery of two fertile Mexican fruit flies in Fallbrook in 1999 led to an eight-month quarantine over 72 square miles. The quarantine cost an estimated $2.83 million in crop losses, according to the county.

In 2002, a Mexican fruit-fly infestation in Valley Center prompted a several-month-long quarantine over 130 square miles. That quarantine resulted in crop losses of about $2 million, according to county department of agriculture records.

Despite the financial fallout from quarantines, Atkins said he is not afraid of getting a quarantine issued.

"If needed, you have to impose quarantines ---- and do it quickly. It's a bit like surgery, sometimes you have to do a little damage to do a lot of good," Atkins said. "But we'll do everything we can to keep pests out from the start."

More about Atkins


Early on, Atkins aspired to be a field entomologist who would work on preventing pest problems, he said.

"Last thing I wanted to do was to be locked up in a lab or constantly stuck behind a desk," he said. "But I quickly found out that somebody needs to make good, quick decisions to make it possible for field staff to work. I found out that I had a knack for that sort of decision-making.

"It's my job to equip people properly, unburden them from paperwork and explain how we're spending public money," he added. "In short, it's my job to help good people do good things by doing my job well."

His annual salary will be $125,000.

Atkins was born in Los Angeles and raised in Torrance. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1973 with a bachelor of arts degree in entomology. In 1994, Atkins earned his master's degree in public administration at Cal State Long Beach.

Atkins and his wife, Anne, have been married since 1981. The couple have two adult sons.

They will live in a home they are building on 6 acres in Fallbrook. The property has 150 cherimoya trees and 250 avocados trees. However, Atkins said he is not a commercial grower.

Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (760) 731-5798 or lfleming@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

About the department


The San Diego County Department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures focuses on promoting agriculture while protecting the environment with an eye on human health and safety issues.

By law, the department must inspect crops and farm animals; regulate pesticide use; and operate programs for prevention, detection or eradication of widespread pest problems. In addition, county agriculture, weights & measures staff compile and publish annual crop statistics.

The department also works to protect consumers from unfair pricing by monitoring scales, scanners or anything used in determining prices, such as the pumps at gas stations.

It has 140 employees.