Martinez paper reports on 4-H call to action

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will be met by 4-H youth and volunteers at their 9:30 meeting this morning if a call to action issued by UC Cooperative Extension county director Shelly Murdock is followed, according to a story in the Martinez News-Gazette.

According to the article, Murdock wrote the following to 4-H constituents in the county:

“4-H in our county is in imminent danger of being dissolved and we need your help to show your support of the Cooperative Extension Office. Our entire department has been slated for elimination from the county budget. Not next year…this year. If this happens, there will be no 4-H program in our county. The county only pays 12 percent of our yearly budget. For every $1 the county contributes, $8 additional dollars comes from other sources [such as UC Davis].”

The article said UC Cooperative Extension 4-H program representative Connie Tolleson urged concerned residents and parents to lobby the board of supervisors to retain 4-H support.

“The matter is currently up for consideration between this week’s meeting and next week’s, and since the Board always makes its decisions behind closed doors, in total violation of the Brown Act, we have (to) act now,” Tolleson was quoted in the paper.

Read more