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NSPS extreme few who actually know what’s best for all of us find
themselves stymied by unnecessary clamor.
Membership Opinion Well… what if we combine the secretary and treasurer positions

and remove that from being an elective position? Then, once it
I woke up today, got my morning rituals out of the way and then is occupied by the perfect person of superior commitment, the
boxed up my NSPS Fellow pin and mailed it back to the central turmoil of elective change can be lessened greatly. Additionally,
office. I have decided to extricate myself from membership in let’s reduce the elections to a single position and then the others
the increasingly closed and autocratic organization. This decision will be filled through accession. Only one new face in the officers
did not come easily and I am quite sad. Let me explain. corps each year. Blessed stability is now achieved. And, while
we’re at it, let’s make sure the eligibility for the remaining officer
Once upon a time, say ten years ago or thereabouts, the National positions is limited to the Directors, because obviously no one
Society of Professional Surveyors found itself struggling to else could have the passion, dedication or knowledge to occupy
stay afloat after the dissolution of the American Congress on such important positions.
Surveying and Mapping. A declining membership and a pile of
bills brought the leadership of NSPS to a bold decision. The NSPS Now, I probably shouldn’t say this, but in NSPS we are all equal, it’s
reorganized itself along the ideas laid out in the vision of a few just that some of us are more equal than the others. Democracy
state Governors. The 100% Membership campaign was aimed at always seems to suffocate itself in the interest of expediency.
taking this important national group from a membership of less
than 2500 toward a true national representation by capturing But wait, there is one more great idea out there that we should
the estimated 20,000 members of the several state societies explore. This might be the best one yet. What if we limit the
throughout the nation. The perception at the time was that the voting for the single officer position to one vote per state? It’s
nearly $300 cost of NSPS membership was stifling the teeming too troublesome to solicit votes from mere members who can’t
masses from climbing onboard the great ship of Survey state. be bothered to learn about the candidates. Not enough of
The deal cut at the time was to offer NSPS membership at an them bother to vote anyway so let’s condense the voting to the
annual rate of $40 provided that participating states guaranteed knowledgeable and committed.
that 100% of their members took advantage of the offer. The
movement took off slowly at first but caught steam fast and In nearly all cases, a state’s single vote will be cast by that state’s
within a couple years 47 of the states had signed on, and one Director. And so the horizon is now truly closed. Only Directors
more since. Of course, shortly after, it was determined that can be officers and only Directors can vote for officers. And in
$40 was not enough, (actually it was known at the beginning but most, if not all of the states, those Directors are appointed by
$40 was as high as some of the hardline governors were willing to their state society board so at nearly no point can the vast body
go), and the states’ agreements were modified to make $50 the of NSPS regular members elect anyone, for anything. The terms
new membership amount. Still cheap for what we members are ‘electorate’ and ‘voting body’ have ceased to have relevance. Just
getting, right? pony up your fifty bucks (for now…) and keep your mouth shut. A
topic for later debate: what should we call the great unwashed,
As part of this effort to wrap its arms around the various since the term voting member is a thing of the past. (May I
states and territories, the structure of NSPS governance was suggest “Patsy”)
significantly modified, as well. Before reorganization each state
provided a governor, who together formed a lesser body called In those earlier years, under a spell of idealism, I spent my share
the Board of Governors, which was an advisory council rather of blood, sweat, toil and tears helping bring about the 100%
than a voting body. The country was divided into ten Areas membership reorganization, but I did not do so in order to arrive
comprised of three or four states each, and the members of at this end. I find myself ashamed of all of you who turned the
each area elected a Director, who sat on the Board of Directors. NSPS into this exclusive club. From here on out you’ll be going
Officers could come from anywhere within the membership, by on without me and probably more importantly to you, without
virtue of winning an election. The board of directors, along with my fifty bucks. If I have to drop my state membership in order
the officers, did all the voting and decision making for NSPS. to get out from under this preposterous arrangement, then I will
Motions from the lesser board were taken under advisement and reluctantly do so. I now think the 100% membership idea was a
sometimes rejected. That’s politics. failure and I apologize to my state for helping persuade them to
go along.
The reorganization did away with state governors and dissolved
the Areas, replacing both with a new idea: each state’s I wish you well.
representative would now be seated at a single table, so to
speak, as a Director. This was a strong step in the direction of Carl C.de Baca PLS NV CA
representative democracy and tended to energize the states, NSPS CA Governor Emeritus
at least for a while. But it turns out that democracy is messy. NSPS Area 9 Director Emeritus
The ‘wrong’ people get elected, the ‘wrong’ ideas get promoted, NSPS NV Director Emeritus
the troublesome get in the way of the truly committed and the NSPS Fellow (formerly)

10 The Nevada Traverse Vol.49, No.1, 2022