"Greening" of Mosquito Control -- Thanks to Environmental Wisdom, Our Local Mosquito Control District Leads the Way, Saving Money and Lives

Thanks to our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County.

I am grateful that our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County uses natural, non-organophosphate pesticides.

I am grateful that AMCD did not buy a helicopter.

AMCD finally cancelled in 2007 an ill-advised contract approved by a prior board. In 2006, then-Chair BARBARA BOSANKO and member MARY TARVER WILLIS lusted after a helicopter. Watching them -- and longtime AMCD attorney GEOFFREY DOBSON – was like watching a duck try to make love to a football. DOBSON told the AMCD Board that it was “legal” to buy a Bell Long Ranger Jet Luxury Helicopter without competitive bidding because it was “sole source.”

GEOFFREY DOBSON was wrong. It was not a legal contract. In fact, the Restatement of Contracts, 2d, Section 178 (Contract Violation of Public Policy) and the District’s 1992 Purchasing Policy made it illegal.

Chauvinistic GEOFFREY DOBSON quit rather than answer questions about the legality of the helicopter purchase. The Board then hired two more lawyers. They quit amidst concerns about a videotaped Sunshine violation with BOSANKO and another board member and the board attorney.

A third lawyer opined that the contract was illegal. AMCD got a full refund. The public interest won – the 99% won. The 1% lost the battle and the war.

Never before had corruption in St. Johns County been so exposed and so defeated.

Without a helicopter, and without ever spraying organophosphates, how has AMCD fared? How are the mosquitoes?

AMCD has done just fine.

Without a luxury Bell Jet Long Ranger helicopter, AMCD does not risk the loss of life that helicopter pilots and passengers face every single day. A similar helicopter recently killed a surgeon, his assistant and a pilot on their way from St. Augustine to Gainesville to pick up a donor heart for heart transplant surgery at the Mayo Clinic.

Without organophosphates, skeeters are being controlled just fine.

Money is being saved. AMCD is not obliged to pay for a helicopter pilot, maintenance mechanic or aviation gasoline each month.

Lives are being protected from mosquito-borne fatal diseases.

AMCD employees, citizens and pets are not being exposed to organophosphate carcinogens any longer.

In fact, I reckon that it has been more than 2.5 years since AMCD squirted organophosphates on us from contractor aircraft. The last time AMCD did so, it cited an “emergency,” heavy rains in June 2009. AMCD and its contractor acted rashly, not directing a no-spray zone around known bald eagle nest trees mapped by St. Johns County and available on St. Johns County’s website. This rash action potentially violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Unlike other government officials, AMCD has learned from its mistakes.

We can have clean air, uncontaminated by pesticide poisons.

We can have efficient, effective government, uncontaminated by corruption and wasteful spending, of which AMCD’s no-bid helicopter is but a synecdoche (a part that stands for the whole).

We can have a government that works for the 99% and not for the 1%.

In the New Year, let’s resolve to do better, work harder and, like any good diplomats, “Don’t Take No For An Answer!”

Yes we can!