San Diego Grand Jury Issues Land Survey Report

[mpallamary]

The San Diego Grand Jury just issued its report on land survey problems in San Diego. Changes are underway and I am hoping the politicians respond accordingly.

[E_Page]

A great step in the right direction, Mike.

But the GJ seems to hold the common misconception that the agency can offload the responsibility for ensuring monument preservation onto the contractor. Many agencies do that, and argue that it's OK because County (or City) Counsel says it is. But County (or City) Counsel is ignoring the fact that the requirement to ensure proper monument preservation is a responsibility described in the licensing law for surveyors and is therefore a license-specific responsibility. Contractors are neither licensed nor trained to recognize all types of survey monuments nor to recognize their significance, or the non-significance of a monument-like object (the proverbial "goat stake").

The responsibility to cover the costs of monument preservation can be assigned to the contractor by contract, but the responsibility to ensure monument preservation cannot be contracted away, or assigned through a non-licensed entity via contract.

If it is the City's practice to offload the responsibility to ensure monument preservation to construction contractors (licensed through the State Contractors Board), then they still fall short and are responsible for any violations arising from failure to preserve monuments in connection with City performed or contracted projects.

For private projects permitted by the City, I agree with the GJ that the City's responsibility begins with education and ensuring that the private entity acknowledge's their responsibility, and does not go so far as assuming primary responsibility for monument preservation in connection with private projects.

Overall, it seems to be a well-balanced report, recognizing the past or continued existence of defficiencies in the way local govt (particularly the City) has met, or failed to meet its responsibilities with regard to land surveying, records, and monuments, recognizing recent and ongoing improvements by local govt to properly meet its responsibilities, and identifying areas that require continuing improvement.

Thanks for posting.

[land butcher]

Thank you Michael.

Hopefully things will improve. In skimming the GJ report I and what you have written I think the responses you received and the GJ received were "similar".
It's a shame it takes a GJ investigation to get something like this corrected.

I have only done research at SD County about 3 times in the 2000's and found their system hard to use.

Curious, in Riverside County are the microfiche cards still out in the public area and all mixed up?

[Proud7191]

When one reads the local chapter meeting minutes, one sometime feels that the wheel is set in motion and there is no change possible. Thanks for thinking outside of the box and using a process to let the Giants (City /County) know that they do have to be accountable and answer for their actions or lack thereof. Jp

[Gary Schenk]

Does this mean we need to fund govt?

[desert turtoise]

"The County does not have authority to enforce compliance with land survey requirements outside of it's rights-of-way. "
"Additionally, the County does not have authority inside the cities' jurisdiction to enforce compliance with PLSA."

Interesting. Is that a general statement by the Grand Jury going beyond monument preservation?

Based on typically comments written in red pencil on our CR and ROS submittals across the state, it is clear we being told "how to survey"
or being given suggestions as to how to survey. Likewise for city surveyor comments on surveying procedure for parcel maps.

[scarpa]

DT: Since those words you quoted only appear under the Survey Monument Preservation section and the connotation does not appear anywhere else in the report, I will ASSUME it is NOT a general statement by the Grand Jury.

[desert turtoise]

"The Grand Jury found that there may still be a few City employees who are reluctant to serve some members of the private-sector professional community. These individuals are remnants of the prior culture of decentralization and office independence."

That city, like others, is in debt up to their eyeballs from failed management. See federal indictment of City San Diego pension management team about 8 years ago for sweeping budget shortcomings under the rug so no one would know of their inability to pay looming pensions (while voting themselves a big raise !!)

Don't see how they could fund a modern GIS survey records system. They had to suspend maintenance of their city-wide benchmark system 3 years ago !!

They should have gone into bankruptcy like other cities did. Now they are stuck with those unrealistic pension obligations. Would someone please tell me, in the world we live in today, how reasonable is it to pay retired people 70 to 80% of their regular pay for doing nothing ?? The rest of us on the outside who struggle to survive cannot pay for retired bureaucrats.

What is that other guy's name who posts?, Defund Government ??

[Dave Lindell]

What is that other guy's name who posts?, Defund Government ??

Land Butcher, 5 posts up.

[dmi]

Should we rewrite the law so that anytime anyone thinks the terms of a contract agreement "don't make sense anymore", (read I do not like the agreement ANYMORE THAT I made so let me out no harm no foul) they can bail on the agreement. Is that really the America you want, the one where EVERY contractual is MEANINGLESS? I am not so niave. I do know that VALID agreements are BREACHED every day. When we reach the point in time when all or most contractual agreements are not worth the paper they are written ,HIGH TAXES WILL BE THE LEAST OF OUR WORRIES.

[Dave Karoly, PLS]

Does this mean we need to fund govt?

LOL

[desert turtoise]

Don't breach contracts. Just do not sign unrealistic contracts with public employee unions or public employees. Otherwise, the result is debt, default and a land called: America Land of the Brave, Home of the Fee

[Jim Frame]

Just do not sign unrealistic contracts with public employee unions or public employees.

I agree that this is the way forward: bring public employee compensation packages back into rough parity with the private sector, then wait for the cadre with overly generous retirement packages to make their way to the other side of retirement. (That's an actuarial euphemism I just made up.) It'll take 20 or 30 years to get things back into balance, but I think it's the only practical way to achieve the goal for most public agencies.

.