California Strawberry Commission hires government affairs director
California Strawberry Commission hires government affairs director
Watsonville, CA-based California Strawberry Commission has hired Rick Tomlinson to the newly created position of director of government affairs.
Effective July 1, Mr. Tomlinson fills a role the industry's board of directors identified -- with the approval of a strategic plan in January -- as timely and of vital importance to the strawberry industry.
The director of government affairs will serve as an industry liaison for regulatory issues at local, state, national and international levels. Based in Sacramento, CA, Mr. Tomlinson will be situated at the center of state legislation to represent the interests of the industry and identify emerging laws and regulations in their early stages.
Mr. Tomlinson, who grew up in Prunedale near the Salinas-Watsonville strawberry area, said that he is well acquainted with issues that affect the strawberry industry, such as air and water quality and pesticide regulation.
"I went to school with strawberry farmers, I had friends who were strawberry farmers," Mr. Tomlinson said. Mr. Tomlinson, who is half Mexican, said that his grandmother was a migrant worker and his mother grew up in the fields and followed the harvests. His father-in-law's family grew strawberries in Sacramento, CA.
Mr. Tomlinson said that he looks forward to "supporting a group I believe in, and said he was struck by the progressive nature of the California Strawberry Commission and its strategic plan.
Mr. Tomlinson, who earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California-Berkeley, has worked in a variety of governmental roles, including serving as chief of staff for a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and as an appointee of the governor in the position of chief of the Office of Environmental Technology with the California Environmental Protection Agency. His work with the state helped Cal-EPA win the Harvard Innovations in Government award in 1996. The Western Governors' Association then selected him as its environmental technology adviser. In that role, he led the initiative to expand the acceptance and reliability of new environmental technology.
Mr. Tomlinson recently returned to Sacramento from Washington, DC, where he worked for the Environmental Council of States, an association of each state's highest level environmental official. While in Washington, he served as program director of the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, and worked on a variety of national environmental issues. Rodger Wasson, president of the California Strawberry Commission, said that the position of director of government affairs was created because it had become clear to the commission that the number of issues at the local, state and national levels are "snowballing and that they are "more and more complex.
"You've got to be on top of the science, Mr. Wasson said. "We're trying to make sure we've done our homework on issues such as water and air quality and food safety, he said.
Effective July 1, Mr. Tomlinson fills a role the industry's board of directors identified -- with the approval of a strategic plan in January -- as timely and of vital importance to the strawberry industry.
The director of government affairs will serve as an industry liaison for regulatory issues at local, state, national and international levels. Based in Sacramento, CA, Mr. Tomlinson will be situated at the center of state legislation to represent the interests of the industry and identify emerging laws and regulations in their early stages.
Mr. Tomlinson, who grew up in Prunedale near the Salinas-Watsonville strawberry area, said that he is well acquainted with issues that affect the strawberry industry, such as air and water quality and pesticide regulation.
"I went to school with strawberry farmers, I had friends who were strawberry farmers," Mr. Tomlinson said. Mr. Tomlinson, who is half Mexican, said that his grandmother was a migrant worker and his mother grew up in the fields and followed the harvests. His father-in-law's family grew strawberries in Sacramento, CA.
Mr. Tomlinson said that he looks forward to "supporting a group I believe in, and said he was struck by the progressive nature of the California Strawberry Commission and its strategic plan.
Mr. Tomlinson, who earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California-Berkeley, has worked in a variety of governmental roles, including serving as chief of staff for a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and as an appointee of the governor in the position of chief of the Office of Environmental Technology with the California Environmental Protection Agency. His work with the state helped Cal-EPA win the Harvard Innovations in Government award in 1996. The Western Governors' Association then selected him as its environmental technology adviser. In that role, he led the initiative to expand the acceptance and reliability of new environmental technology.
Mr. Tomlinson recently returned to Sacramento from Washington, DC, where he worked for the Environmental Council of States, an association of each state's highest level environmental official. While in Washington, he served as program director of the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, and worked on a variety of national environmental issues. Rodger Wasson, president of the California Strawberry Commission, said that the position of director of government affairs was created because it had become clear to the commission that the number of issues at the local, state and national levels are "snowballing and that they are "more and more complex.
"You've got to be on top of the science, Mr. Wasson said. "We're trying to make sure we've done our homework on issues such as water and air quality and food safety, he said.
