Dougherty tapped for county tick committee

Supervisor Jim Dougherty has been named as a member of a Suffolk County advisory panel that was recently re-established by the county Legislature in an effort to eradicate tick borne illnesses.

Mr. Dougherty, representing the East End Supervisor’s and Mayor’s Association (EESMA), was appointed as one of 16 members to the Tick Control Advisory Committee of the county’s Division of Vector Control.

Introduced by County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac), who represents Shelter Island, the unanimously passed legislation charges the advisory committee with “developing a successful plan to reduce tick-borne illness” and “review tick control methods and management options; provide advice to the Tick Surveillance and Management Program and provide input to the annual vector control plans; and assist in public education and dissemination of information regarding the prevention of tick-borne illnesses …”

The original advisory committee, established two years ago, “made some important strides shifting the county Vector Control’s emphasis from totally mosquito [issues] to mosquitoes and ticks,” Mr. Dougherty said.

Mr. Dougherty, chairman of the EESMA, reported to his Town Board colleagues in an email that at a recent EESMA meeting it was agreed to put pressure on the county to “shift the emphasis from science (but keep it in the mix) to money, money, money.

Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) heartily agreed, citing Shelter Island as the only tick-menaced entity so far getting any state money.”