Pets are family, especially now

Kathy Davis
Communications

Smokey (Chery)

The stuck-at-home nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has shined a spotlight on the important role our non-human family members play in our lives. Pet adoptions have skyrocketed this year as people seek companionship. Teleworkers and folks spending more time at home have developed closer bonds with their household pets.

The WSDA culture tends to attract people who appreciate animals – whether those that live in the barn and the pasture, or those that prowl our homes.

How has this unprecedented time affected our experiences with pets and animals? The Insider asked agency employees to submit their stories and photos. Here’s a roundup of those stories.

From Chery Sullivan, Dairy Nutrient Management Program

Theo was here (Natasha)

After 17 years, we said “Rest in Peace” to our handsome cat Harley. Working from home gave me a front-row seat to watching our other cat Maxine mope around the house calling piteously for Harley. We said “No more cats!” But two months later, my husband was scrolling through a kitty rescue Facebook page and showed me a picture of a grey and black tabby kitten. Smokey joined our family July 24. Maxine seems to have forgotten about Harley; she’s too busy hissing and spitting at Smokey.

From Natasha Ames, Financial Services
My parents and I moved into a new house in February. As it began to settle, we noticed cracks forming in some of the walls. The builder came and put some plaster over the affected area. After he left, my cat Theo decided to investigate the builder’s handiwork. See the picture of his signature on the wall. He’s definitely brought us a lot of joy (and some headaches) during this pandemic.

Marge and Homer (Jaclyn)

From Jaclyn Hancock, Natural Resources Assessment Section
We adopted a second dog in the spring since we knew we would be home and able to do some training and take plenty of dog walks. In the beginning, six-year-old Marge resisted her new brother Homer, but now they are great companions. Homer came from Texas, and we are showing him around the Northwest by taking him to the Puget Sound and on plenty of hiking and camping trips.

From Christina Zimmerman, Pesticide Licensing Program
Since we moved to Washington three years ago,
my daughter and I had been without a pet, and she’s

Barbie and Bowie (Christina)

been wanting to adopt a cat. I, being a lifelong dog person, kept putting it off. Finally in February, we adopted a seven-month-old black tabby from the Mason County Kitten Rescue and named her Hokulani (heavenly star in Hawaiian). When we noticed she wanted more playtime than we could give her, we decided to adopt another kitten, but somehow came home with two – a brother-sister pair. It’s fun, exciting, and frustrating at the same time! I have scratches everywhere and every toy I get for them is destroyed in a day.

Charles and Miss Goose (Catherine)

From Catherine Bowman, Pesticide Compliance Program
One night we were out after dark, in bare feet, chasing one of our rabbits, Cotton Tail, in the grass, through the berry patches, and around the shed. We finally cornered and caught her in the tall grass. I am tired of these rabbits! But I am only teasing when I tell my son Charles I’m going to put them on Craigslist. Charles says, No! Sometimes it is fun chasing the rabbit. About a month ago, we added Miss Goose to our farm. Where else but on a farm would we get these experiences?





From Annette DeLong, Fruit and Vegetable Inspection

Harley and Bella (Annette)

Days before we were sent to telework, our family found out our two-year-old, four-legged fur child, Bella, had lymphoma. It was a complete shock and heartbreak for our family, our pack. WSU oncology gave us information on chemo and possibly extending her life. We felt she was way too young to leave our family, so we fought beside her for five months. One day a week we spent long days driving over to Pullman for her treatment. We lost her on August 3. In the midst of it all, our older dog Harley also fell ill. Two months battling his liver cancer, he left us two weeks after Bella. While the loss has been devastating, I am thankful for being able to telework, which enabled me to take care of Bella and Harley and to spend every moment with them during their last days.

From Abbey Nickelson, Natural Resources Assessment Section
Dale is a six-month-old kitten who found us after being a stowaway in a horse trailer. He fit right in from the start and landed a permanent home. He’s my constant companion during my workdays at home and has even gone camping with my husband and I.

Dale (Abbey)

From Mindy Buswell, Animal Service Division
Sassy Buswell is the cat-tiest cat. Since adopting her in 2009, she has welcomed my husband and begrudgingly allowed our baby to co-exist in her home. But she never predicted the COVID-19 pandemic with subsequent work-from-home order and temporary closing of our two-year-old’s daycare. For 10 weeks, Sassy’s sunning, napping, cleaning, and alone time was nonexistent. She stalked around the house yelling at us, refusing to come out from under the bed, and constantly wanting to be let out. Since the daycare reopened and I went to work upstairs, Sassy has claimed the downstairs as a “Mindy-free zone” and

Sassy Buswell

gives me taciturn looks when I come in her sight line.
In summary: How has this unprecedented time affected our experiences with household pets and animals? The Insider asked agency employees to submit their stories and photos. Check out the roundup of those personal stories. 

Joel Kangiser leaving a legacy of pesticide regulation

Kathy Davis
Communications

In his quiet, earnest way, Joel Kangiser has made a lasting impact on Washington State’s agriculture industry over his 30 years with WSDA’s Pesticide Management Division.

On Sept. 1, Joel will start a well-deserved retirement from state service. He leaves a legacy of regulating pesticide use to protect the safety and health of ag employees and the public. 

“While supporting agriculture, we are obligated to keep people safe from pesticide exposure,” he said. “It is this balance that can sometimes be challenging.” 

For the past six years, Joel has been the program manager for the Pesticide Compliance Program. Since starting with the division in 1990 as an investigator, he has served in a number of positions, including case review officer, assistant program manager, registration program manager, and policy assistant. 

He also did two short stints with the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Division, as a food safety officer and a compliance officer. 

“I have appreciated Joel’s approach to detail in his work and striving for our program to be at its best,” said Tim Schultz, who is now acting manager of the Compliance Program, where he has spent many years. “His leadership has improved our program. It has been an honor working with Joel.”

Happily ever since

Joel graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in crop science. He worked in industry jobs and ran his own business for three years. 

Joel during a chemigation tour in 2008 pictured with Monte Spence, who
was then with Windflow Fertilizer, Mattawa. 

“But I never landed a position that really satisfied me,” he said. “I decided to give WSDA a try and have happily worked here ever since.”

Along with pesticide compliance investigations and enforcement, Joel earned a reputation for the non-glamorous, but crucial, work of developing the laws and rules that regulate industry and guide government activities. 

He recalled that he had only been on the job for about a year when he was assigned to draft rules for wood destroying organism inspections for the pest control industry. He spent three years working with industry leaders to simplify and consolidate “very old, archaic rules” for restricted use herbicides in Eastern Washington. 

“It seems each project we work on has an impact on our stakeholders and sometimes the impact can be pretty major,” he said. 

Robin Schoen-Nessa, Pesticide Management Division assistant director, has worked with Joel since 1991. She remembers a collaborative project on which they were simpatico, and another where “we butted heads constantly and argued like siblings!”

She added, “We both matured and got to a place of appreciating each other’s perspective. I will miss him and his knowledge, expertise and friendship.” 

Joel has plenty of ideas for ways to keep himself busy after he leaves WSDA. He plans to do more volunteer work, especially at his church. More fishing, traveling, golf, hiking, hunting, painting, gardening, cooking……Whew! Enjoy yourself, Joel. You will be missed.

In summary: In his quiet, earnest way, Joel Kangiser has made a lasting impact on Washington State’s agriculture industry over his 30 years with WSDA’s Pesticide Management Division. On Sept. 1, Joel will start a well-deserved retirement from state service.

Nine win prizes in two-quarter QUICK Award drawing

Kathy Davis

Communications

Julie Gubbe

Nine WSDA employees became eligible to select a prize because their names were randomly selected in the most recent QUICK Awards drawing. 

Due to disruption from the agency’s COVID-19 response, awards from the first two quarters of 2020 were combined for this prize drawing. Agencywide, employees handed out 98 awards to their coworkers from January through June.

QUICK Awards are presented by employees who see their peers demonstrating good work and service to others – either inside or outside the agency. Here are the prize recipients from the drawing and what their coworkers said about them.

Vanessa Gillaspie, Administrative Services, Payroll, Olympia

Kerrie Pfalzgraf

“Vanessa goes above and beyond for her customers. She always is willing to help and take the extra steps to ensure customer satisfaction. Her service over self-mentality is greatly appreciated.”

Julie Gubbe, Administrative Services, Financial Services, Olympia 

“On February 18th Julie provided extraordinary training about travel requirements while on state business. Thank you for taking time to provide such precise, yet understandable training for the Administrative Services Division. You always provide top notch customer service, second to none professionalism, and impeccable work ethics every day.”

Kyle Thomas

Stacy Laney, Food Safety and Consumer Services, Food Safety, Olympia 

“Thank you for volunteering in the Safety Program’s deescalation pilot by helping the agency potentially identify new, dynamic, and relevant training for our employees. Your participation allowed us to strengthen our understanding of human nature…helped us develop better processes at every step to move behavior management programs away from models based on control to a model based on cooperation and understanding.”

Vanessa Gillaspie

Wade Peterson, Plant Protection, Pest Program, Olympia 

“Thank you Wade for coming in every day and quietly working away to identify the invasive pests threatening our food supply! We appreciate you.” 

Kerrie Pfalzgraf, Animal Services, Animal Health, Olympia 

“Kerrie provides excellence in customer service inside and outside the program. Kerrie has historical knowledge that helps the Animal Health Program remember how we got here, where we have been, and has embraced change to make us better. Her recent work to improve data accuracy and timeliness in the RAD database is greatly appreciated and allows the vets to monitor disease trends in our state.”

Anthony Pleasant

Anthony Pleasant, Commodity Inspection, Fruit and Vegetable Inspection, Yakima 

“For doing an outstanding job supervising the Selah/Gleed area! You have gone the extra mile to help the area and program. We appreciate your get-it-done approach.”

Kyle Thomas, Commodity Inspection, Fruit and Vegetable Inspection, East Wenatchee 

“Stepping up and taking on the challenge of supervising cherry staff! Kyles’ calm demeanor and experience have made this cherry season a success!”

Stacy Laney

Ramona Vickers, Commodity Inspection, Seed Inspection, Yakima 

“Great job interacting with the auditor during our rectification ISO audit! Knowing your experience and knowledge of the Seed Program and our Quality Manu, helped us get through the audit. Thank you for all the hard work and effort you put in daily.” 

Christina Zimmerman, Pesticide Management, Pesticide Registration and Licensing, Olympia 

“Thank you Christina for being here and for helping track down the answers to questions. I am glad you are here for the testers also. It allows them to keep working and protecting our food supply.” 

September 30 next drawing deadline

When you catch one of your coworkers doing something special for staff or customers, why not let them know with a QUICK Award? You can find the award form on the intranet. 

In summary: WSDA staff presented nine QUICK Awards during the first quarter of 2020. Ninety-eight names were randomly drawn to receive prizes. See who they are and why they were recognized by their colleagues.