PLSO Oregon Surveyor Vol. 40 No. 6

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 5 It has been an honor to serve as your 2017 PLSO Chair. I wish everyone success, fulfillment and happiness in your chosen career of surveying. I would urge everyone to take a few minutes to look at the Idaho Board of Licensure Spring/Summer News Letter. It is obvious to me that this message from the Board Chairman is a warning that these types of problems created by surveyors will have consequences. My take is that if we want to retain our sta- tus as professionals we have to act in a manner that truly protects the public. At the beginning of the year, I pledged to work on three goals: financial stability, increasing membership, and profes- sionalism. I believe that steps have been taken to address these issues with our rebranding effort. Hopefully it will help us attract new members, thereby sta- bilizing our financial base. Also, with this exercise, we are looking to make ourselves more relevant to surveyors that currently do not belong to PLSO because they see no benefit in the or- ganization. Finally, we are embarking on a course to update our image so that the public understands that we are tru- ly professional. Over the past 40 years, I have seenmany changes to our profession. Some would have us believe that it does not have a place in the future. I have no doubt that there will continue to be challeng- es to the profession with the passage of time. However, if we adapt and em- brace change, continue to add value to our Client’s projects and most impor- tantly always remember we are serving the public, then I believe the future is indeed bright. It has been an honor to serve as your 2017 PLSO Chair. I wish everyone suc- cess, fulfillment and happiness in your chosen career of surveying. As was stat- ed in my first editorial, “Surveying is as pleasant a profession as one could choose." My final words: Let’s be pro- fessional out there! created by surveyors. During the 2017 legislative session all members of the House, Senate and Governor’s office were contacted by very unhappy constit- uents. Many of the surveyors involved in these disputes stated that they were only expressing a professional opinion, and if their opinion differs from anoth- er surveyor, it is up to the land owners to litigate the dispute in the courts. Some also believe that this releases them from further involvement, obli- gation, or litigation. We are licensed as experts in Land Surveying. Per our rules of Professional Conduct, we are obligated to safeguard the life, health, property, and welfare of the public. This means as professionals we are obliged to assist our clients in re- solving boundary issues and offer our best council to attempt to reach a res- olution. We must always be aware that our decisions will impact other proper- ty owners and while we only have one client that has retained our services, in actuality we are working for everyone affected by our boundary resolution. The State of Idaho actually has a sec- tion of their code called Obligation to Communicate Discovery of Discrepancy. Basically, it lays out a formal procedure requiring surveyors with differing opin- ions to attempt to resolve issues like those described above. While I am not aware of a similar rule in the Oregon Code, I have always felt that when I differed with another surveyor on the position of a corner, that the other surveyor must be contacted as a pro- fessional courtesy. Obviously, if members of the public are complaining to the entire State Legislature and the Governor, there is a problem. Surveying is facing enough challenges without the members of our profession creating additional problems. From the Chairman materials did not translate well when converted to a digital format. At this point the choices were to either continue doing the same things we had always done and hope for a better result or try something different. As I believe you are aware, with the support and di- rection of the Board, we are embarking on a rebranding process for PLSO. We are currently working with the Pivot Group, LLC to help us move forward. Current deliverables include a brand strategy, new logo and color palette, and devel- op/update print and digital marketing materials. My hope is that with the help of thesemarketing experts we can begin to make ourselves and our profession more relevant to a younger generation and the public at large. Over the course of this past year, I have discussed matters that I believe are pertinent to being a survey profes- sional. These include development of relationships with other professionals and industries, building communica- tion skills, understanding budgets and finances, and keeping current with soft- ware and equipment. Also, one of my favorites is dressing appropriately for the situation, just to mention a few. However, the Spring/Summer, 2017 News Bulletin from the Idaho Board of Licensure of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors real- ly struck a chord with me on what it is to be a professional. I touched on the subject in my last article and it should be recognized by all of us. In Idaho, it is in the Administrative Code, under Rules of Professional Responsibility. This section reads virtually the same as our Rules of Conduct. IDAPA 10.01.02.005 Primary Obligation .01: All Licensees and Certificate Holders shall at all times recognize their primary obligation is to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties. Apparently, there has been an increase in the number of complaints filed against surveyors establishing monuments for the same corner position, sometimes hundreds of feet apart and an unwill- ingness on the part of the surveyors involved to resolve these discrepancies. This has resulted in expensive litigation born by the affected property owners in an attempt to resolve the problem