The personal cost of toxic herbicide exposure is a burden no family should have to bear. I understand this all too well. I recently lost an uncle who was valiantly battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for a long time. His struggle and eventual victory in a class action lawsuit against Bayer-Monsanto for glyphosate exposure, a known carcinogenic herbicide, highlights the urgent need to address this issue. My father in law also succumbed to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I feel the pain of these losses, and I am very concerned for myself, my son and our dog that we bring to the park almost daily. As well as the other children, parents, elderly and dogs I see at the parks. 

Toxic herbicides like glyphosate or 'Round Up,' are frequently used in our city parks, high schools, sports fields, greenways, and other city-maintained locations. Exposure to these pesticides is a public health concern. According to the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans". In light of this, our city must take immediate action.

I implore the city to implement a ban on the use of glyphosate and other toxic herbicides and pesticides across all city-maintained locations. Additionally, past spraying sites need to be remediated. It is essential to shift towards non-toxic care only for maintaining our parks and public spaces.

The health of our families and our environment hangs in the balance. The time has come for us to demand safer, healthier alternatives to toxic pesticides, like other cities like Talent already have. Other cities that show it can be done include Irvine, CA who share all the products they’ve changed to on their city website. Let us make a change now before it's too late. Please sign this petition for the well-being of our children and everyone enjoying our city's public spaces.