Gardening fans are digging in to stop Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon’s plan to pull the popular Master Gardener program out by its roots.
Reardon released his 2005 budget Thursday, and cuts in the $548.9 million proposal include chopping about $120,000 from the Master Gardener program.
That cut has disappointed those who are familiar with the program.
“It would devastate this whole program,” said Margaret Duncan, an Edmonds resident who has been a master gardener for 12 years.
Duncan started taking classes after visiting the group’s booth at the county fair and now gives gardening advice to as many as 300 people who stop by her table at the Saturday farmers market in Edmonds.
“I don’t think they realize the impact we really have,” she said.
King and Snohomish counties were first to start the program more than 30 years ago. It’s now spreading across the country, said Jennifer Forsch, president of the Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation.
“That doesn’t happen if you’re just cute. It happens if you provide services to the community that are valuable,” Forsch said.
The program trains about 75 new master gardeners every year, who use grocery stores, nurseries and other venues to teach people about composting and how to solve plant and pest problems. Volunteers also staff phone banks to answer questions, and maintain public gardens throughout the county. They also host popular talks featuring gardening experts such as Ed Hume.
More than 200 gardeners volunteered for the county program this year, and supporters say their volunteer work totaled almost 14,000 hours through September. Paying county employees to do that work would have cost more than $195,000, they say.
In making budget cuts, including those in the Master Gardener program, Reardon said he had to compare what the county was getting in exchange for the money spent.
“What I had to do was make a value judgment. Will this improve our citizens’ quality of life? Will this protect them when they dial 911? Will this prepare our children to learn in the 21st century? Will this help expand the economy?
“I had to look at high impact, high-value services, and fund those,” Reardon said.
While some areas of the county’s budget cuts were meant to head off a potential $13.4 million deficit next year, other areas of the budget were increased. None of the reductions are yet final, however, because the budget will be revised by the Snohomish County Council before being adopted in November.
Councilman Gary Nelson said people are passionate about the Master Gardener program and it has made a big difference in residents’ lives.
“That program has been a tradition in Snohomish County for as long as I can remember,” he said.
“The executive mentioned how much he wanted to help senior citizens. Well, that comment flies in the face of what he then intends to do with the Master Gardener program,” Nelson said.
Supporters said they are already pressing the County Council to keep the gardener program intact.
They’re also worried that cutting funding for the program would mean the loss of $250,000 in matching funds the county gets from Washington State University to support its community horticulture program.
“I think it’s very unfortunate,” Forsch said. “I don’t think it’s a wise move on the part of the county.”
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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