"Breaking news! Hold your fire!
NSPS
Some of our readers may not be aware of an issue that recently arose in reaction to a question posed to a local Arizona newspaper by a landowner who was in a dispute with a neighbor over some landscaping. The newspaper ran a video clip of an interview in which listeners were told they could establish their own property lines using data from the Maricopa County Assessor's Office or they could hire an assessor to mark their property lines, in either case avoiding the expense of hiring a professional surveyor. To say the least, surveyors were upset, and apparently the reaction from the surveying community has been overwhelming, and widespread.
President Kent Groh of the Arizona Land Surveyors Association's Central Chapter has told NSPS News & Views that he has contacted the newspaper reporter who initiated the video and offered to help set things straight. Kent says the reporter is "more than willing to make it right." She is going to post a follow-up video retracting/correcting her statements and is proposing to write an "Ask the Surveyor" type column in the Real Estate section of the newspaper, creating a great opportunity for some positive exposure for the surveying profession.
As important, though, she asked that the letter writing campaign stop, as some of them she has received have taken this to a personal level. Kent urges his fellow surveyors to do this so the reporter's editors won't become "unwilling to work with us."
Let's not miss an opportunity to turn something negative into something positive. So please, HOLD YOUR FIRE! "
Kind of disappointing to read that the reporter is being subjected to personal attacks by "professionals". Especially since she is not even the one who provided the misinformed advice. The reporter was merely interviewing someone else - a "supposed expert".
Here is the video (hopefully this works) in case you have not seen it -
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1851878743001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0qEGoJHIc9eCWxv1yx9NX42&bclid=1852103402001&bctid=3601089349001
Looks like the reporter's mistake was not finding out what expertise the "expert" had.
Does anyone know what the qualifications of the "expert" being interviewed are?
From the information given, I expect she was the local property valuation administrator (tax assessor in some areas).
Jon
Hold your horses, this issue is being handled by the APLS. Catherine has invited our executive to present a correct answer to the question. She knows she stepped in it and is prepared to do another segment with the Surveyors answering the question.
We would appreciate the surveyors not sending emails to her and allow us to follow up.
David Shane
APLS Treasurer
I thought that was what I read above.
It is embarrassing!
Not only when reported in this fashion but even more so when we, as surveyors, respond in a negative fashion.
I will bet that most people in the real estate profession and the general public think that is the way to find a property line. Just look at your local "GSI"!. It just goes to show that we need to put nice little articles in the real estate section of our local newspapers talking about how we can HELP the home buying process.
"Enough with the negative vibes Moriarty"
joe
ps: Had a person walk into my office today with a "GSI" map, from the City, in hand asking why the line went through the edge of his house. People will believe what they see on "offical" web sites.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Typing class 9th grade!
I thought that surveyors were trained to eliminate blunders.
When somebody steps in it, there is no reason to duck and hide nor is there any reason to avoid the obvious.
Everyone has made misquotes before, some greater than others.
Time to step up and get an education from the experts or time to let PR do their mojo.
I would think that hearing from the experts on a site setup for experts with a membership full of experts on that topic would provide the most relevant source of information available.
Flame on or Flame off, take it like a grownup and learn from it.
0.02
> I will bet that most people in the real estate profession and the general public think that is the way to find a property line.
I would agree with that assessment. It is amazing how little most of the public know about the surveying process, or any process that is not directly related to their own little bubble.
Here in Kentucky we recently had a County Judge-Executive quoted in an news article speaking about the position of County Surveyor. His entire statement was so full of uninformed information that it was sad to think that an elected official would be that clueless about another elected office.
Of course much of the general population of the state thinks that the position of County Judge-Executive still is a judicial position! Even though the judicial part of the position has been essentially eliminated and it is basically a management position now.