[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 10 (Friday, January 16, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMEMORATING DAVE BENGSTON FOR HIS OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AS 
 MENDOCINO COUNTY AGRICULTURAL COMMISSIONER AND SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND 
                                MEASURES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 16, 2009

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dave 
Bengston upon the occasion of his retirement after 37 years of 
outstanding service to the people of Mendocino County. During his 
tenure as Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures, 
Mr. Bengston's distinguished career includes many milestones.
  He was instrumental in the eradication of the Ribes mite, which was 
not previously known to occur in North America. Mr. Bengston wrote a 
new quarantine for Grape Leaf Skeletonizer to protect the wine grape 
industry and succeeded in keeping the pest out of the county. He 
instituted an annual countywide pesticide container recycling event. 
And he coordinated a hazardous materials collections process.
  Dave Bengston, born in Modesto, in the heart of California's fertile 
Central Valley, was drawn at an early age toward agricultural pursuits. 
His first jobs as a teenager were picking peaches and working in 
canneries. While attending Modesto Junior College he developed a ``love 
for botany.'' From there he attended Stanislaus State before 
transferring to the University of California at Berkeley.
  In addition to his more than fulltime work schedule, Mr. Bengston 
developed a passion for mycology. In 1972 he already had a license in 
Apiary Inspection when he got a job with Mendocino County as a weights 
and measures inspector. A benefit to his move to Mendocino was the 
myriad variety of wild mushrooms, for which he has become an expert in 
identification.
  He met his wife Christy, who was the 4-H secretary for the University 
of California Extension Service, in 1974. They were married 2 years 
later and have two grown sons, Brett and Logan.
  Since 1989, when he became Mendocino County's Agricultural 
Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures, Mr. Bengston has been 
instrumental in the success of keeping Mendocino free of such invasive 
pests as the Mediterranean fruit fly, vine mealybugs, and the Gypsy 
moth. He also made contributions to the glassey-winged sharpshooter, 
national organic, and West Nile virus programs and was instrumental in 
enforcing the ordinance banning genetically modified organisms in 
Mendocino County.
  As is true of extraordinary public servants like Mr. Bengston, he 
also gave back to his community. He was a member of the Ukiah Kiwanis 
Club, a board member of the Mendocino County Promotional Alliance and 
director and education chair of the Peregrine Audubon Society, to name 
a few. Bengston also found time to be a charter member of the Dorothy 
King Young Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. He coached 
youth soccer and basketball and played men's league soccer and was a 
soccer referee until 1993. He also has served as an advisor to the 
Ukiah Association of the Handicapped and the Regional Occupational 
Horticultural Program.
  Madam Speaker, through his visionary leadership, technical expertise 
and quiet persuasion, Dave Bengston has made a long-lasting positive 
impact on the resources of the county of Mendocino. For these reasons 
and for the widespread respect of his colleagues and community, it is 
appropriate at this time that we honor Dave Bengston.

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