Environmental Health and Protection Adventures
By
Larry J. Gordon, Visiting Professor
School of Public Administration
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
With Contributions by Environmental Officials
Thomas E. Baca
Russell F. Rhoades
Cubia L. Clayton
Sarah B. Kotchian
FOREWORD
by
Cubia L. Clayton
Former Deputy Director,
New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division
This is a story of one man's experiences while managing and improving the environment of New Mexico during one of the most interesting, exciting and tumultuous periods in our state's history. It may be read with benefit and pleasure as a history at the local and state levels of our nation's attempt to deal with the effects of industrial revolution and unbridled western expansion.
Larry Gordon was deeply involved with the development of national environmental control programs as both advocate and consultant from the earliest days of an emerging national awareness of the need for them. In a multitude of situations, his programs and ideas implemented at the local level served as a national laboratory. It is difficult to estimate how many of the environmental health programs across the country owe at least part of their structure and implementation to his ideas, but I suspect that a thoughtful and perceptive reader anywhere in the country may see some of the ideas at work locally.
This is also a story which could and should be read by students preparing for a career in the environmental health field. Although he may not have intended this as a text for emerging environmental program directors, all who have aspirations toward a profession in the field would benefit from a study of the principles and program elements which are so carefully enunciated. They are as valid today as when Larry first brought them together in a cohesive whole.
There is a perspective, however, which seems to me to be lacking in the story, and that is the more deeply personal and human side of Larry Gordon. It is an aspect which Larry, who is usually a very private person does not often show, but it is as much a part of him and his story as any other. Since I was a member of Larry's staff beginning in October, 1961 in Albuquerque, it may be appropriate for me to fill in some of the gaps.
Larry notes that his first job out of college was teaching. One might get the impression that was but a short detour on the way to his true career field, but nothing could be further from the truth. A new employee in the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department spent the first six weeks reading and studying with occasional trips to the field in the company of one of the more senior people to observe the solution to problems he had been studying.
Larry was constantly busy, one of the busiest persons I've ever known, but he always had time during the day to discuss the things I was studying and answer the questions that inevitably arose. At such times, he never gave the impression that my questions were in any way an imposition. He was always careful and thorough in his answers and seemingly willing to devote whatever time I wanted to discussing and explaining. In short, Larry was a private tutor for his new employees, and one of the finest teachers I've ever known.
Nor did his teaching stop when people progressed to full-time field work. He required people to set aside at least one hour a day for reading various professional journals in order to remain current with progress in our area. I can remember many long and fruitful discussions in the office which arose as a result of something I had read. Again, Larry always seemed to have whatever time one wanted to participate, explain and teach.
I must confess that it was many years later that I came to a full appreciation of the lessons I had learned over my years of association with Larry. One day in the late seventies, I was reviewing some of the letters of resignation I had gotten from various employees and was suddenly struck by the fact that almost without exception they thanked me for the things I had taught them while I was serving as their supervisor. I realized with one of those rare flashes of insight one sometimes gets that I was only emulating Larry, my own teacher. Although teaching is only mentioned in passing in his book, I will always think of Larry personally as my first and most important teacher in the field of environmental health.
Larry also possesses the rare ability to match program needs with personnel aptitudes and interest. Many times over the years I have seen him promote people into jobs which required a specialized knowledge they didn't have fully developed at the time of promotion. In almost every case, with Larry's help and guidance and a lot of extra hours in hard study, those same people became in fact what Larry pronounced them to be, the department's experts.
Early in my career, Larry designated me the department's expert in swimming pool sanitation and safety, and later expanded the task later to include water supply and sewage disposal systems. If a question concerning these areas came up, Larry always deferred to me as "the department's expert." I was not yet experienced enough or mature enough to appreciate that his knowledge and experience in the field was far ahead of mine and that the true expert was himself.
When he developed a local swimming pool ordinance based on a U.S. Public Health Service recommend code, he involved me at every step and incorporated many of my suggestions. I was immensely flattered and secure that I was the expert he proclaimed me to be. That lasted until the first City Commission meeting to consider the ordinance. Although Larry was to make the formal presentation of to the Commission, he asked that I attend as his backup and resource person.
While discussing the proposal, one of the Commissioners asked Larry what pH was. Larry explained that it was an indication of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. But sensing the Commissioner wanted something more, he said that technically it was defined as the log of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration. This came from the man who always professed to have no great knowledge about the science of swimming pools! The Commissioner was satisfied and I was suddenly enlightened. Never again would I make the mistake of underestimating Larry's knowledge in any area, and never again would I make the mistake of thinking I was necessarily the most knowledgeable person in the office in all areas of any program.
I hope the reader will see from these examples that Larry is far more than a bureaucrat who understood the needs of his state and nation for programs to address and correct the problems of environmental deterioration. He has the ability to manage people and surmount the almost overwhelming obstacles confronting one who tries to change things for the better, and he possesses both in about equal proportions. I shall always cherish the years I had the privilege and opportunity of working with and learning from Larry Gordon. He was and is my leader, teacher and friend.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Larry Gordon is Visiting Professor, School of Public Administration, University of New Mexico. In l988, he retired as New Mexico Cabinet Secretary for Health and Environment, after serving in various environmental health and protection, and public health positions for 38 years.
Mr. Gordon started his career as a County Sanitarian in 1950 in Silver City, New Mexico after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and receiving his B.S. in biology and chemistry from the University of New Mexico. He received his M.S. in biology with a major emphasis in ecology from UNM in l951, and earned his Master of Public Health from the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health in 1954.
Mr. Gordon envisioned and designed, gained statutory authorization to create, and was the first Director of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Environmental Health Department, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency, and the New Mexico Scientific Laboratory System. He also recommended creation of the New Mexico Public Health Division (initially termed the State Health Agency), and was instrumental in the planning and design of the New Mexico Health and Environment Department, which he headed as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Environment prior to his retirement from state government in 1988.
Larry Gordon served as President of the 55,000 member American Public Health Association, the world's largest association of public health professionals, in 1980-81.
As a Navy Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Reserve, he also fulfilled federal environmental health and protection responsibilities.
Mr. Gordon and his wife, Nedra Gordon, live in Albuquerque. Their daughter, Debra Dunlap, Executive Director of the Albuquerque Subcontractors Association, is married to businessman Rick Dunlap; they have two daughters, Dana and Kim. Nedra and Larry's older son Kent Gordon owns and manages a marketing research organization, and lives in California with his wife Elli and daughter, Bianca. Larry and Nedra's youngest son, Gary Gordon, is a partner in an Albuquerque law firm. Gary and his wife, Terri and daughter Celine, live in Placitas.
Larry Gordon is the recipient of numerous state and national professional honors and awards. He is also listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the West.
ABOUT THE TITLE
My brother, Ladd S. Gordon, was with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish from the time he graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1949 until his retirement from state government in 1975. He subsequently held key professional positions with the National Rifle Association and Ducks Unlimited before he fully retired in 1985.
During his tenure as New Mexico Game and Fish Director from 1962 through 1975, he had an exemplary record and moved the department into the era of modern game and fish management. His record was one of professionalism and disdain of attempts to inject political sleaze into the department. The New Mexico Game and Fish Department received international recognition during his tenure as Director.
Ladd Gordon passed away prematurely in 1991 at age 66, one of the fifty Americans who die by slow suicide each hour from the slow, creeping, insidious, toxic, mostly irreversible and ultimately fatal effects of that uniquely perilous legal product called tobacco.
Ladd planned to write a book dealing with his conservation and wildlife management experiences. He planned to title it, A New Mexico Adventure. I have partially plagiarized his planned title, but not the content.
Larry J. Gordon
Albuquerque, New Mexico
March 1, 1994
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book is about environmental health and protection as well as other public health issues, experiences, principles and many of the key players involved in them in New Mexico from 1950 until 1994.
Larry Gordon was directly involved in nearly every major issue relating to the organization of environmental health and protection, and public health programs and agencies in New Mexico from 1950 through 1988, as well as the development and implementation of most environmental health and protection statutes, ordinances and policies during that period of dramatic change. He took special pride in recruiting, developing and mentoring professionals for leadership positions in environmental health and protection, and public health agencies.
This book deals with numerous environmental and public health organizational, statutory, budgetary, programmatic, policies and political issues which occurred in New Mexico from 1950 through 1988. Relevant involvement of governors, legislators, lobbyists, city commissioners, county commissioners and mayors is chronicled, as well as Larry Gordon's recommendations regarding creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the confirmation process involving former USPHS Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
This book also contains a number of Mr. Gordon's professional publications, letters and presentations. As he gained higher responsibilities in larger organizations, Mr. Gordon found it essential to write and publish to the end that personnel in his organizations, as well as the public, would understand his vision, philosophy and organizational goals.
Larry Gordon is the author of more than 185 publications dealing with local, state, and national environmental protection and public health policy.
ABOUT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express appreciation to my wife Nedra and children Debra, Kent and Gary for their continuing support and their belief that I was accomplishing something important during my 38 year career in public service. This support was particularly important during times of stress and controversy. On a number of occasions, my wife encouraged me to remain in New Mexico during difficult times, rather than accept more lucrative professional offers elsewhere. Additionally, all members of my family spent many hours reviewing and editing the manuscript for this book.
My career and accomplishments would have been impossible without the support of dozens of outstanding professional protégés, supervisors and colleagues, many of whom are mentioned in this book. Management is truly the art of getting things done with and through other people. Many of my long time associates were also essential in reviewing, editing, and suggesting improvements in the contents of this book.
It is important that I note the positive influence of my parents, Andrew J. and Deweylee S. Gordon, who inculcated me with a value system which included an absolute understanding of the necessity of ethical behavior.
And finally, I thank the many citizens, civic and political leaders, and media reporters and editors who were supportive of progressive recommendations and actions. Change is not possible in the absence of public support and understanding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. DAWN OF A CAREER............................................................................................................... 1
2. THE SEVENTH DISTRICT HEALTH DEPARTMENT................................................................... 2
3. THE DIVISION OF SANITARY ENGINEERING AND SANITATION............................................... 3
4. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH............................................... 4
5. REVISITING SANITARY ENGINEERING AND SANITATION ........................................................ 5
6. THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE.................................................................................................. 6
A. In the Beginning ----...................................................................................................... 6
B. An Era of Change.......................................................................................................... 7
C. Food Protection in Albuquerque................................................................................... 9
D. Radiation in Nevada..................................................................................................... 12
E. Radiation Exposure in Albuquerque............................................................................. 13
F. Housing Conservation and Rehabilitation..................................................................... 14
G. Water and Sewage Related Issues.............................................................................. 15
H. Air Pollution in Albuquerque and New Mexico............................................................... 16
I. Valley Annexation.......................................................................................................... 20
J. The Municipal Health Act............................................................................................... 24
K. The Nation's First Environmental Health Department................................................... 25
L. Solid Waste Experiences.............................................................................................. 27
M. Animal Control............................................................................................................. 30
N. Achievement Recognition............................................................................................. 32
7. RETURN TO SANTA FE — A NEW CHALLENGE..................................................................... 36
A. The Environmental Services Division........................................................................... 36
B. Outrage over a Paper Mill............................................................................................ 41
C. The Great DDT Fiasco................................................................................................. 42
D. A Statement on the Quality Of Our Environment.......................................................... 43
E. Regulating Land Use.................................................................................................... 45
F. Unification Needed for Environmental Management..................................................... 46
G. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency................................................................. 49
H. The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency.................................................. 51
I. The Agent Orange Caper.............................................................................................. 57
J. 1971 Environmental Improvement Agency Position Paper............................................ 58
K. Occupational Health and Safety................................................................................... 60
L. A Potpourri of Environmental Management Methods.................................................... 62
M. Mercury Hysteria.......................................................................................................... 66
N. Do Wildlife Have Rights?.............................................................................................. 68
O. The New Mexico Council on Environmental Quality...................................................... 70
P. Command-and-Control or Performance?..................................................................... 72
Q. Consumer Protection versus Special Interests............................................................. 73
8. THE NEW MEXICO SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY SYSTEM........................................................ 76
A. The Public Health Laboratory....................................................................................... 76
B. The Environmental Laboratory..................................................................................... 77
C. The Scientific Laboratory System................................................................................. 78
D. A Regional Laboratory?............................................................................................... 82
E. A Pound-And-A-Half Won't Hurt You!........................................................................... 83
F. Slow Suicide and Slow Homicide................................................................................... 84
9. THE NEW MEXICO PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION......................................................................... 85
A. Recommending the Agency.......................................................................................... 85
B. Health Bill of Rights...................................................................................................... 87
10. STATE HEALTH OFFICER..................................................................................................... 89
11. THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT................................................................ 92
A. The Apodaca Years..................................................................................................... 92
B. The Bokum Incident...................................................................................................... 93
C. Bruce King Returns...................................................................................................... 94
D. Does New Mexico Have An Inferiority Complex?........................................................... 95
12. PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION........................................ 97
A. Description of APHA..................................................................................................... 97
B. Testimony..................................................................................................................... 98
C. Comments on an Annual Meeting................................................................................ 99
D. The Ronald Reagan Administration............................................................................ 101
E. Ronald Reagan's EPA................................................................................................. 103
F. The EPA in Transition................................................................................................. 104
G. The Awful Truth about Our Earth................................................................................ 106
H. A National, Rational Energy Policy.............................................................................. 108
13. RETURN TO CAMELOT?...................................................................................................... 110
A. Leaving the Health and Environment Department....................................................... 110
B. The Kinney Administration........................................................................................... 111
C. More Albuquerque Accomplishments.......................................................................... 113
D. Hazardous Waste Testimony....................................................................................... 115
E. Other Professional Opportunities................................................................................ 117
F. The USSR, A Land Of No Problems............................................................................ 118
G. The Schultz Administration.......................................................................................... 120
H. Regulator or Professional?.......................................................................................... 121
14. THE ANAYA ADMINISTRATION.............................................................................................. 125
15. RETURN TO THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT.......................................... 126
A. Appointment as Cabinet Secretary.............................................................................. 126
B. Guidance for HED Personnel...................................................................................... 128
C. The Carruthers Administration.................................................................................... 131
D. New Mexico Public Health Association Address........................................................... 132
E. The Legislature........................................................................................................... 135
F. The Road to Solid Waste Management....................................................................... 137
G. The Negative News Media........................................................................................... 138
H. More Professional Recognition.................................................................................... 140
I. Parting Thoughts.......................................................................................................... 141
16. A REWARDING "RETIREMENT"............................................................................................ 143
A. The Zimmerman Award................................................................................................ 146
B. Public Health: A Blurred Vision................................................................................... 149
17. LADD S. GORDON: CHAMPION OF WILDLIFE .................................................................... 155
18. THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION....................................... 159
19. THOMAS E. BACA COMMENTS:........................................................................................... 171
20. RUSSELL F. RHOADES COMMENTS:................................................................................... 173
21. SARAH B. KOTCHIAN COMMENTS:...................................................................................... 177
1. DAWN OF A CAREER
"There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune: Omitted, all the voyage of their lives is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea we are now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures." Shakespeare.
The first light of dawn was barely touching the fir and spruce atop the Black Range between Hillsboro and Silver City as I drove to my first job with the New Mexico Department of Public Health. That was in May of l950.
I had spent the previous night at my parents' farm-ranch which we called Amber Acres, near La Joya, New Mexico. My parents had purchased several hundred acres of land near La Joya and donated it to the New Mexico Boys Ranch which they had planned, established and managed, as well as serving as Ranch Father and Mother. Later, we moved to our own farm and ranch nearby. After graduating from the University of New Mexico in 1949, I taught high school science at La Joya Independent School District in 1949-50. In 1950, I had not yet completed my orals for the degree of Master of Science in biology with a primary emphasis in ecology.
As I crossed the Black Range in the early glow of dawn, I wondered about my new job as a "sanitarian" with the Seventh District Health Department in Silver City. I had seen the posted position announcement, been interviewed and hired by District Health Officer John C. Mitchell, M.D., M.P.H. But I still knew little about the duties. The job required a degree in science, and was to pay $225 per month, 6¢ per mile for official mileage using my still-to-be-paid-for 1949 Hudson, and $6 a day per diem when I had to be away from Silver City overnight on business. I would be receiving the $225 through seven checks each month: one each from Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo Counties; Silver City, Deming, and Lordsburg; and the State of New Mexico.
2. THE SEVENTH DISTRICT HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Grant County headquarters of the Seventh District Health Department, as was typical of many health offices of that era, was located in the basement of the court house. The district also had offices in the court houses in Deming and Lordsburg.
My programmatic responsibilities included food protection, milk sanitation, industrial hygiene, solid wastes, plague surveillance, insect and rodent control, nuisances, municipal sewage treatment plants, water supplies, swimming pools, and hotels and motels for the counties of Grant, Luna and Hidalgo, plus all the dairy farms shipping into that district from the lower Rio Grande Valley. Throughout my career, I valued and professionally profited from those early experiences, which involved personal relations, public relations, enforcement, prioritization, risk assessment, epidemiology, risk communication, sampling, surveillance, laboratory analysis, and data analysis and interpretation. What a way to begin my career!
In later years, I often wondered if I would have developed a career in the field of public and environmental health had it not been for the constant mentoring and support offered by Dr. Mitchell. He had been educated in public health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and he took a great deal of time to instruct me in the principles and practices of public health. He went out of his way to see that I attended appropriate professional meetings to expand my knowledge and horizons. And he supported me locally to ensure that I was successful and effective. Prior to my first court case he took me to see the Judge, told the Judge that he wanted me to be effective, and admonished the Judge to render a supportive decision.
The Judge did just that!
On August 26th, 1950, Nedra Callender and I were married in A1buquerque, and moved to Silver City to make our first home. Transportation problems made it impractical to utilize the New Mexico Public Health Laboratory in Albuquerque for water, milk and food work, so Dr. Mitchell sent hired Nedra and sent her to be further trained under the tutelage of State Public Health Laboratory Director Myrtle Greenfield. This greatly enhanced Nedra's laboratory skills, ensured compliance with Standard Methods, and she became the laboratory technician for the District Health Department. Nedra's degree from UNM was in biology and her previous experience had been in microbiology. The extra money from the laboratory work was a welcome addition to my $225 salary. I also frequently worked as night manager at a Silver City theater, and slept in my car when away from home overnight to help live within our income.
It was a very enjoyable and educational stage of my career!
3. THE DIVISION OF SANITARY ENGINEERING AND SANITATION
In the spring of 1951, I was invited to accept a transfer and a promotion to the State office effective August 1, 1951. James R. Scott, M.D., Ph.D., was State Health Officer; Charles G. Caldwell, M.S., was Division Director; and Carl E. Henderson, M.S., was my division supervisor. I was assigned as the state sanitarian, with Carl Henderson as my boss. Other division supervisors with whom I was privileged to work, included James Doughty, Carl Jensen and Robert P. Lowe. Again, I was very fortunate to have outstanding professionals as mentors. My duties were statewide ensuring quality control and training for field staff. The training involved all aspects of the duties of local environmental health personnel throughout the state.
State Health Officer Scott was particularly proud of the personnel in the Division of Sanitary Engineering and Sanitation. One morning in the spring of 1953, I was privileged to accompany the senior Division personnel to an informal meeting with Dr. Scott. At one point, Dr. Scott chose to commence praising "his boys", as he termed us. He indicated his pride in the graduate professional degrees of each person present, but completely ignored me. I finally spoke up to remind him that I had a Master's degree in biology with an emphasis in ecology. He looked at me rather condescendingly and said, "Son, we've got to get you off to school!"
(Our adorable daughter, Debra Gordon, was born in Albuquerque August 27, 1951, and I was actually home!)
I had already determined that earning the degree of Master of Public Health was essential for my further professional development and career advancement. I investigated a number of schools of public health and chose to apply to the University of Michigan School Of Public Health due to its academic and professional strengths, as well as the fact that the environmental health program had close ties to the National Sanitation Foundation housed within the School of Public Health.
4. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
(Our adorable son, Kent Gordon, was born in Santa Fe, September 16, 1953, the first night after I left home by train enroute the University of Michigan.)
Michigan was among the older and more prestigious schools of public health. All faculty had excelled as practitioners prior to academic appointment, and all students were required to have a minimum of three years field experience before qualifying for admission. These two factors made the school distinctly practitioner oriented. In later years, I repeatedly observed that Michigan School of Public Health Alumni disproportionately held key leadership roles in federal, state and local agencies as well as in professional groups such as the American Public Health Association.
My time spent at Michigan was academically, professionally and personally gratifying, and consistently proved to be among the "keys to the kingdom" for an extremely rewarding career in public and environmental health. For some years after graduating, I felt that I should have been taught more specific facts and techniques. Over a longer period of time, however, I have been increasingly thankful for the orientation to public and environmental health philosophy, concepts and practices.
5. REVISITING SANITARY ENGINEERING AND SANITATION
I hoped that earning the MPH would provide an opportunity for a promotion within the Division. I was eager to utilize my newly acquired knowledge. But I did not reckon with the ways of a bureaucracy. I found myself performing the same duties, and additionally being assigned local responsibilities within the First District Health Department headquartered in Santa Fe. That was acceptable, but the attitude of District Health Officer Marion Hotopp was not. I was trained to be effective and ensure compliance with applicable requirements. To me, that was the ethical way of serving the public and earning my salary (by now $325 per month). After failing to gain compliance through warnings, written notices and bluff, I commenced legal action against a number of individuals and businesses in the First District. Upon learning of these actions, Dr. Hotopp shook her finger in my face and admonished, "Don't you ever, don't you ever, take legal action in my District, for to do so is to admit failure through health education."
I immediately requested that the First District duties be reassigned, and I returned to my statewide training and quality control role.
Shortly after that, I was invited to accept the position of chief sanitarian with the Health Department of the city of Albuquerque at $450 per month. Big bucks! When I informed Charles G. Caldwell that I was resigning, he said, "We can meet that salary." I could only respond that he should have said that yesterday, and that I was already committed.
6. THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE
A. In the Beginning —
The Albuquerque Health Department provided a challenging experience as well as a career opportunity. Programmatic scope was very limited. No other personnel in the department had any formal education in public or environmental health, or even had a degree of any type. The director, Wayne Stell, devoted most of his time to the interests of his church, his commercial "help-yourself" laundry, and his coin-operated "ponies" in front of markets. Most of the personnel would meet each morning for coffee and small-talk in the old Hilton Hotel Coffee Shop, and then retire to their other interests that included a dog kennel, a small farm, home chores, or reading at the Albuquerque Public Library for the day. After observing this for a few weeks, I suggested to the director that all personnel (including the director) at least check back into the office at the end of the day. Stell said that he did not want the troops to do anything he didn't want to do.
I also found that a few personnel would not even bother to appear at the morning coffee sessions for a few weeks prior to the city election as they tried to insure election of their favorite candidates to the city commission. Others would visit dairies, food establishments and slaughterhouses occasionally to recommend the purchase of Lindane vaporizers (later outlawed) prior to returning after hours to sell the vaporizers.
I learned that some personnel would visit businesses to collect fees-for-service as required by city ordinance, and that the fees collected never reached the city treasurer.
City employees were being paid 5¢ per mile plus gasoline from the city pumps for the use of their private vehicles, there being no city vehicles furnished. There was a long line of personal vehicles lined up at the city gasoline pumps each Friday afternoon as city personnel prepared for their weekend trips on personal business, or emptied their tanks on the mesa to make it appear they had driven more miles in order to qualify for higher mileage reimbursement.
About this time, Howell G. "Bud" Ervien was hired as Assistant City Manager. One of his first acts was to develop a fleet of city vehicles and a car pool for employees previously driving on mileage. Total miles reported as traveled by city employees were miraculously cut in half!
I obviously had a problem on my hands. The department director reluctantly agreed that I could require personnel to attend all-day training courses every Friday. This served to infuriate a number of personnel to the end that they resigned.
B. An Era of Change
During this period, something really positive occurred. I was able to hire Peter O. Griego! Peter, a biology graduate of UNM, was qualified, motivated, goal-oriented, ethical and loyal. He provided a breach in the otherwise unified wall of opposition and corruption. Other personnel attempted to get him to play their game, join their ranks, and told him he was making them look bad. Having Peter Griego on staff led to further resignations, and we were able to hire a few more qualified personnel. Position descriptions were modernized, job titles were improved, salary scales were upgraded, and professionalism enhanced. We persuaded all employees to wear coats and ties, unless involved in milk sanitation or meat inspection duties.
One morning I looked out my fifth floor office window and observed one of our personnel gunning the engine of his official vehicle and almost covering the area with black exhaust. Previously, I had not had sufficient cause to get rid of him. I knew him to be an alcoholic, and his work was slip-shod. I asked Peter Griego to get his personal vehicle. We followed the individual all day as he went to Belen and back without doing any work. I asked him into my office late that afternoon and told him what I had observed. I inquired if he preferred to resign immediately, or be dismissed. He glared at me and retorted: "You son of a bitch, I'll resign." He was the last of the incompetents whom I had inherited.
I should note that Lester Stevenson, one of the original crew, had always attempted to do his job, difficult though it was under the conditions. As the department was professionalized and Les found he was being supported, he became a key force in administering pure food control efforts upgrading the operations of all city food processing establishments, as well as those shipping food or food products into the city from elsewhere in the state.
With the addition of a number of qualified personnel, program effectiveness and the reputation of the department began to significantly improve. A number of the new personnel became career professionals, and I was privileged to work with them for the remainder of my career. Among these were:
Pat Kneafsey, later to be a division chief, earn his MPH, become Special Projects Manager in the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency (EIA), and Director of the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department
Thomas E. Baca, later to earn his MPH, become Manager of the EIA Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, EIA Field Services Manager, Director of the Environmental Improvement Division from 1977 until 1981, Santa Fe City Manager, University of Arizona Vice President, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment for the U.S. Department of Defense in 1990, and Director of Environmental Management for Los Alamos National Laboratories in 1994.
Russell F. Rhoades, later to earn his MPH, become EIA OSHA Manager, Environmental Improvement Division (EID) Field Services Manager, EID Director from 1981 until 1983, and Director of Environmental Services for U.S. EPA Region VI in 1984, Director of the Arizona Environmental Quality Department, and Director of Environmental Management for Public Service Co. of New Mexico.
Cubia L. Clayton, who later headed water and sewage control efforts for the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, earned his MPH, and became Deputy EID Director in 1977, and Air Quality Bureau Chief in 1987; and an Environmental Consultant upon his retirement from state government in 1989.
John Cordova, who was later selected to head the Albuquerque Model Cities Program, then directed the Joint Projects Office in Washington for all U.S. Senators and Representative form New Mexico, and performed in a variety of important roles as a consultant.
Harold Eitzen, who earned his DrPH and became a well known industrial hygienist and epidemiologist working primarily in the private sector.
Richard Brusuelas, who earned his MPH, became environmental health planner for the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Environmental Health Department, Dade County (Florida) environmental health planner, Director of the New Mexico Health Systems Agency, a health services consultant, and Bernalillo County Environmental Health Director in 1992.
A number of other significant changes also occurred in Albuquerque. Wayne Stell resigned, and I was appointed director in November, 1957. With the complete involvement and support of these new professionals, all departmental functions were improved. We established excellent working relationships with the State Division of Sanitary Engineering and Sanitation, the U.S. Public Health Service, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the State Public Health Laboratory in Albuquerque. I had become a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Reserve which led to several opportunities for further training and active duty assignment and experience. The public, the news media, and the city commission were amazingly supportive.
The following discussion of the city food protection program is a typical example of changes that occurred.
C. Food Protection in Albuquerque
There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order. Machiavelli
In 1955, a U.S. Public Health Service evaluation of the food program indicated it was among the worst in the state and the nation in terms of compliance as well as administration. We commenced routine, thorough inspections; continuing training classes for food service employees and managers; proper administration of state laws (local ordinances were still antiquated); and worked with the news media to keep the public informed of the problems and department activities and needs.
Scores of establishments were downgraded, many voluntarily closed rather than be downgraded and subjected to publicity by the news media, and the compliance ratings began to dramatically improve.
Peter O. Griego once asked me how I was able to close so many substandard establishments without taking legal action. I pointed out that I merely gave them their choice of being downgraded and subjected to an article in the newspapers, or closing voluntarily until standards were met. They usually chose the voluntary route.
Peter discovered that the method worked. We didn't have to resort to a single court case!
But a number of somewhat recalcitrant owners and operators were feeling th