The Summer of Living Dangerously (But Safely) - California Land ...

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professional organizations and Congress would increase significantly.
The problem lies in that the state societies are independent, well run
and as concerned about maintaining their membership as we are about
ours. The bigger states offer benefits that are the equal of the ones that
NSPS offers and the smaller ones are concerned that our dues are too
high. If we suggested a combined dues structure that allowed members
of one to be members of both, the fear is that the cost would price
some people out of joining or rejoining. Newly installed NSPS president
Wayne Harrison created an ad hoc committee comprised of 4
area directors, including myself, plus the state executives from 3 state
societies to explore what we could do to develop closer relations and
hopefully share membership. Everything is on the table, dues included.
Board of Governors (BOG) Meeting
This meeting was dominated by the withdrawal issue. The motion
to withdraw was made and passed on a very close vote, 26 to 21 with
2 abstentions. The reason for the close vote had more to do with the
method of delivery rather than the message itself. This suggestion to
withdraw was delivered to the ears of the directors and governors alike
in the first day’s meetings. It was the first time many of them had
heard it. The typical reaction was strong and negative at first, but as
the idea had a chance to sink in, opposition generally faded.
Unfortunately for all involved, the well was poisoned to a certain
degree by introducing the concept to the governors at large while at
the same time coordinating with one governor to bring forth the
motion to withdraw. This gave many of the governors the impression
of a conspiracy.
Matt Vernon, the California governor, reacting to the fact that a
motion was made without the governors really having a chance to
think about it and without giving the state time to consider the proposal,
made a competing motion to postpone withdrawing until the
fall meeting to give the states a chance to study the idea. In a painful
example of the way that parliamentary procedure can be manipulated
to produce something quite different from the original motion, an
amendment was suggested, debated and subsequently passed that
added language to Vernon’s motion calling for the withdrawal while
the state study the issue concurrently. This modified motion passed 36
to 5 with 5 abstentions (somebody left the room after the 1st motion),
giving the directors something to chew on the next day: two similar
motions pointing out the need for debate at the Board of Directors
meeting.
On a more pleasant note, the ad hoc governors committee on
Machine Guidance was reconstituted with a new chair and they are
still charged with developing an NSPS position on the surveyor’s role
in the machine guidance process. This will doubtless lead to discussion
with engineers and contractors groups and, hopefully, vendors
with the goal of carving out a position that all can agree on.
Board of Directors Meeting
As with the governors meeting the previous day, this too was
dominated by the withdrawal issue. The audience included a large
number of governors sticking around another day to see how their will
would be interpreted. The BOG’s first motion was considered, including
the uncomfortably close vote that passed it. This motion was recognized
as being inferior to their second motion in terms of wording
and it was summarily voted down. The second motion, being the modified
Vernon motion was lengthily debated and passed 11 to 5. We
have two years to work out the details on withdrawal and on the new
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Area 9 Director’s Report
structure and this is critical: if at any time the circumstances change
or if a workable restructure eludes us we can terminate the withdrawal
and remain as we are.
Other Important Issues
The Railroad Monumentation committee is still trying to get legislation
introduced. The reception in Congress is encouraging and it is
a matter of timing more than anything else.
• The legislative earmark for TrigStar was rejected. TrigStar is
of course sufficiently funded currently. The hope was to secure
funding for an aggressive expansion. Congress’s taste for ear
marks has markedly declined in the last couple years. We will
keep trying.
• The Board of Directors voted to grant up to $20,000 toward
creation of a monument that tells the correct story of the
establishment of the ‘Four Corners’ monument common to
Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. This is greeted
warmly by the Navajo upon whose land the four corners
monument lies and who are getting tired of debunking the
recently reported myth that the original corner was set in
correctly and is off by 2.5 miles. This is a good public
relations move for the surveying profession.
• NSPS has completed a Crisis Management Manual and it will
soon be available to the members.
• The ALTA committee is working toward another periodic
update of the ACSM / ALTA standards
• Lobby Day will be handled at congressional home offices in
the states in August this year in a partnership between NSPS
and the state societies. This could be the biggest one ever!
• The Governors and Directors voted to invite the Cayman
Islands surveyors’ organization to join NSPS.
• This year’s fall meeting is in Orlando in conjunction with the
ASPRS and AutoCarto conferences.
• Next year’s conference will be in San Diego in July in
conjunction with ESRI’s Survey Summit.
- Respectfully submitted for consideration by all in Area 9.
i The four member organizations of the ACSM are the NSPS, the American Association
of Geodetic Surveying (AAGS), the Cartography and Geographic Information Society
(CaGIS), and the Geographic and Land information Society (GLIS).
www.californiasurveyors.org