[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E826-E827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING JERRY PRIETO, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 2008

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Jerry Prieto, 
Jr. upon being honored with the ``Fresno County Farm Bureau 
Distinguished Service Award'' at the Fresno County Farm Bureau's Annual 
Banquet to be held on Thursday, May 8, 2008.
  Jerry Prieto, Jr. is a native of Corcoran, California. He is the son 
of a former migrant farm worker and was raised in a small town with a 
small family. Mr. Prieto attended California State University, Fresno 
and obtained his Bachelor's of Science degree in Plant Science. In 1974 
he began working for the Fresno County Department of Agriculture and 
six years later he obtained the position of Deputy Agricultural 
Commissioner. After nine years he went to work for Fresno County 
Personnel Department as a Senior Personnel Analyst. In 1993, Mr. Prieto 
was appointed Fresno County Resource Manager. He was responsible for 
solid waste issues throughout the county and operated the American 
Avenue Regional Landfill, the Southeast Regional Landfill and the 
Coalinga Landfill. He was also responsible for providing road 
maintenance, street lighting, garbage collection, parks, sewer and 
water services to ninety special districts.
  In 1999, Mr. Prieto was appointed to the position of Fresno County 
Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weight and Measures exactly twenty-
five years after he began working for the department. He was 
responsible for promoting and regulating the nation's number one 
agriculture producing area. Mr. Prieto also served as a member of 
Governor Gray Davis' State Committee on Terrorism and the Western 
Weights and Measures Association Board

[[Page E827]]

of Directors. He served as the first Chairman of the California 
Agriculture Commissioners and Sealers Association's Food Safety and 
Agriculture Security Committee. For four years he served as Chairman of 
the Fresno County Department Heads Council. Currently, Mr. Prieto is a 
member of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, the Fresno County Council of 
Governments Farmland Conservation Steering Committee, Chairman of the 
Fresno County Council of Governments Farmland Preservation Advisory 
Committee, and the Fresno County Land Conservation Committee. He is the 
immediate President of the California Agricultural Commissioners and 
Sealers Association and was the first Agricultural Commissioner to 
serve two terms as President. Mr. Prieto is the Chairman of Secretary 
Kawamura's AB 771 Honeybee/Seedless Mandarin Co-Existence Working 
Group.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Jerry Prieto 
upon being awarded with the ``Fresno County Farm Bureau Distinguished 
Service Award.'' I invite my colleagues to join me in wishing Mr. 
Prieto many years of continued success.

                          ____________________