PLSO The Oregon Surveyor November December 2020

11 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon |  www.plso.org OrYSN Corner Out of college, Blake first worked for Rob - ert Hamman at Multi/Tech as a Field Crew Chief. “He put me in a truck and gave me the freedom to make some mistakes. It was a hell of a learning experience. It was my responsibility to get jobs done and I learned a lot in those two years. Rob- ert having the trust to put me in a truck when all I had was my education was great. I really enjoyed the responsibility.” After two years, Blake accepted the sur- vey department position. “I had a kid on the way, and I wanted flexibility and sta - bility rather than busy summers and slow winters. I also have a benefits package that insures my whole family inexpen- sively. If I miss a day of work, I am not putting construction crews off sched- ule—my work waits on me. I do miss the hustle and bustle of private practice and the speed at which changes can happen,” Blake said. When Blake was hired, Gerry Pappe was the City Surveyor prior to his retirement. “Gerry retained everything. He had all the city code memorized. Gerry taught me the importance of doing research. He showed me the importance of doing a chain of title to the original deed of the current property configuration,” Blake said. During that time, Kent Inman was Blake’s coworker before he became the Marion County Surveyor. “Kent has the highest standards of anyone I’ve worked with,” Blake said. “He showed me the impor- tance of my work being ‘finished product,’ not something we would spend a couple review sessions on.” After Gerry’s retirement, the city hired Jon Yamashita of Otak on a temporary basis during the search for a permanent city surveyor. “Jon had me focus on cor- recting problems, but when something was up for interpretation, he was willing to leave it up to the surveyor preparing it,” Blake said. Paul Kowalczyk is now the city of Salem surveyor. “He is a blend of all of them,” Blake said. “He has very high standards, but he is a Young Surveyor too. We bounce ideas off each other and have real dis - cussions about the way things should be done. Since Gerry and Ken’s departure, Paul and I are rebuilding the institutional knowledge at the city, together.” Blake Whelchel is fromAumsville and has been married to his high school sweet- heart, Dara, since 2015. They have two sons, Thayer, born March 2018, and Cohen, born August 2020.  x Blake Whelchel, his wife Dara, and their son Thayer, with Cohen on the way.