(This story was updated to clarify information.)
CANTON – Tires vanish from the roadside, a cloudy pool turns crystal blue, and a restaurant kitchen gets a surprise once over.
It’s all in a day’s work for Canton’s Environmental Health Division.
“You never know what’s going to come up,” said Blayne Brocious, an environmental health specialist. “You can’t make some of this stuff up.”
The team, part of the city’s public health department, tracks hazards such as nuisance complaints, food safety risks, school conditions, mosquito breeding sites and even animal bite investigations.
After years of being stretched thin, the division is nearly fully staffed again, and the impact is showing as inspections rates rise.
For example, internal department records show 20 standard risk food inspections were completed in August 2025. In September, those same inspections reached 122. Though these numbers vary based on different factors, inspection rates have stayed up, reaching a peak of 141 in October and 73 for January.
In August, one inspector was doing all food safety checks. Now, three employees are on the job.
“The public has an expectation that if they go to buy food, the food is going to be safe to eat,” Director of Environmental Health Gus Dria said.
More nuisance complaints are being investigated and resolved, as well as complaints about smoking in workplaces.
In recent months, the division has been able to meet state standards. In the past, public pool inspection goals have not been met regularly due to staffing shortages. But, in 2025, the department had a goal to inspect 16 pools, which they met.
Dria said pool inspection and safety education are essential to community health.
“No one wants to think about it, but a pool is a big community bathtub and a spa is a heated bathtub,” he said. “But science tells us we can have a safe swimming pool.”
By inspecting public pools and giving operators the tools and guidance they need to maintain them, environmental health staff hope to keep facilities safe and meet state expectations.
As staff continue training and settling into their new roles, Dria said he hopes to boost inspection rates across additional programs, including nuisance property management, while strengthening core services such as solid waste management and mosquito control during the warmer months.
‘Remove one barrier at a time’: Recruitment strategies increase staff
Since 2018, Canton’s Environmental Health job postings have gone unanswered.
“We would get one or maybe zero candidates,” Health Commissioner Amanda Archer said.
In 2022, the team hired workforce development specialist Madisyn Smith. She identified the problems. To start, candidates needed to register for a specialized license, which cost a $50 fee, before they could even apply. The requirement often deterred otherwise qualified candidates.
Canton removed the pre-application license requirement and offered to interview qualified candidates who could earn their license before being officially hired. Interest surged and four inspectors joined within a year.
Smith has continued building the pipeline at a wide range of events, from career fairs to elementary school information sessions.
“You can’t apply for something you don’t know about,” she said. “If we remove one barrier at a time, things will change.”
Who’s on the team? And who’s still missing?
Even with new hires, the division isn’t fully staffed.
At the beginning of 2025, staffing was at a bare minimum: a director, one inspector covering nuisance complaints for the entire city and one inspector handling all food safety, with a part-time inspector filling in on weekends.
Over the course of last year, the department has added two more food inspectors and two more nuisance inspectors.
Last year at this time, the department had five full-time employees and one part-time employees. Now, they have eight full-time employees and two part-time employees.
Current vacancies include one administrative specialist and two environmental health specialists. The department is also allotted space for four environmental health technicians in case additional property cleanup support is needed.
Brocious is one of the new additions to the team. He joined in July with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies.
He spends his days navigating complaints, addressing nuisance residential properties and other environmental tasks. His favorite part of the job? The measurable community impact.
“That’s one of the main things I like about this job is being able to directly see results of your work,” Brocious said. “It’s not always pretty, but this stuff does need done and people are normally very appreciative.”
Hunter Jepsen, an environmental health specialist who has been on the team since 2021, has felt the impact of new hires.
“For better part of two years there were three of us that were the only inspectors in the city,” he said, recalling a time when Dria spent much of his time in the field completing inspections.
As the team continues to train and expand, Dria’s main goal is to improve public services and continue protecting the community, as well as working to fill vacancies and continue to meet and exceed state expectations.
“Staffing since 2018 has been a bit of a roller coaster,” he said, describing current staff as “phenomenal.” “The last six months is us thinking we are on the nice calm part of the roller coaster. We’re hoping that stays.”
Contact Abreanna Blose by email at [email protected] or by phone at 330-580-8513.
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