shrug-l: Conflict of interest?

William B. Porter william.porter at famu.edu
Mon Jul 23 11:31:46 EDT 2007


I'm not sure that a conflict of interest can be reasonably claimed when
the subject has a role in two voluntary, not-for-profit organizations.
Neither SHRUG nor URISA compensates their officers. The position of
president in any voluntary guild organization may [arguably] receive
name recognition that could further his/her career -  but that's a
nominal benefit at best. 

I admire people who are willing to add administration of SHRUG, URISA or
any guild type organizations to their work load. The only persons I can
conceive of having valid objections to time dedicated to SHRUG and URISA
are the managers to whom Mr. Hartsfield reports; and perhaps his wife.


I realize that surveyors and GIS people worked at cross purposes in the
past. The argument about who can collect data will continue - but so far
it has not threatened my job. I am a biologist who learned digital
mapping, RTK GPS [centimeter level] and SAS statistical analysis while
executing my 'real' jobs. I don't presume to have the credentials to be
a registered surveyor nor will I start a statistical consulting firm. I
believe that these disciplines [GIS, GPS and statistics] are naturally
related and learning one contributes in some measure to understanding
the others. 

Conflict between surveyors and GIS people will be resolved by the
legislature, not by the President[s]of URISA and SHRUG.  I hope that
URISA and SHRUG have more in common than in difference. I am sure URISA
is more than a one-subject lobby for surveyors. If Mr. Hartsfield is
willing to donate that much of his time to volunteer as administrator in
these organizations then I respect him for it. He is doing the work of
three people and being paid for only one.  


William Porter		William.porter at famu.edu
   GIS/GPS  Application Coordinator           	850 412 5598
Enterprise Information Technology		
Florida A&M University
1601 S. ML King Blvd
TLH FL 32307




-----Original Message-----
From: shrug-l-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:shrug-l-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Gary Watry
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 10:02 AM
To: Mayo, Michele L.; shrug-L at lists.dep.state.fl.us; Wolfe, Heather
Subject: RE: shrug-l: Heads Up


I agree in part

Let anyone who wants to be part of the Shrug Workshop participate. A
SHRUG-FLURISA conference is fine but not a FLURISA-SHRUG Conference.
This is first and foremost a SHRUG event.

However, I see a large conflict of interest in Lee Hartsfield beimng
president of both SHRUG and FLURISA at the same time, especially when
they are in discussion with each other.

I believe he should be required to step down from one of these
organizations before any further discussion takes place.

A "conflist of interest" or a "preception of a conflict of intesrest" is
not in the best interests of either organization.

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Wolfe, Heather" <HWolfe at seminolecountyfl.gov>
Date:  Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:55:20 -0400

>I'm not in the Seven Hills area, but wanted to submit a thought to the
>rest of you. I have always thought that one of the  major sources of
>disagreement between surveyors and GIS professionals is that they did
>not understand each other's roles. My personal opinion (I am sure some
>of you feel differently) is that if I can trust a surveyor to collect
>field data for me, if he can do it more accurately than me, and if it
is
>not prohibitively priced for my organization, let him (or her) go to
it!
>My job is not threatened by this as the majority of what I do is
>analyzing data that has already been collected. I fly a desk, not a
>Trimble. Neither does my existence as a GIS professional not under the
>direct supervision of a surveyor threaten the surveyor's job. Many
times
>I have questioned about the validity of putting a GPS in the hands of a
>field tech instead of a surveyor simply because it's cheaper. Most of
>the non-surveyor GPS work that I have seen in different organizations
>has been done that way- by field techs, not by expensive GIS
>professionals.
> 
>The second observation is that many GIS professionals I know don't
>attend FLURISA because it's "mostly for surveyors" (quote from another
>GIS professional I know). Most of us have to choose which conference to
>go to. Which should we spend our education allotment on- SHRUG, SERUG,
>FLURISA or the San Diego ESRI conference? Usually both SHRUG and
FLURISA
>lose this contest.  This is a shame because there seems to be a
widening
>breach between GIS professionals and surveyors, two groups who could
>cause incredible change to our world for the better if only we can get
>along.  
> 
>In view of that, I think that it would be very beneficial for the two
>groups to have a joint conference. More dialogue usually equals more
>understanding and eventually cooperation.  This seems like a great
>opportunity to help along the relationship between our two groups. Will
>it make SHRUG bigger? Maybe. Is that bad? Sometimes. But there are many
>issues in Florida where the participation of more people would be
>beneficial to all (standardized shapefiles, to name just one).  I think
>that in this situation the greater good outweighs the lesser evil. 
> 
>Thanks for listening to my soapbox speech!
> 
>
>Heather Wolfe
>Sr. GIS Analyst, Planning & Development
>Seminole County Government
>1101 E. First St.
>Sanford, FL 32771
>
>Office 407-665-7378
>Fax 407-665-7412
>HWolfe at seminolecountyfl.gov
>www.seminolecountyfl.gov
>
>
> 
>
>________________________________
>
>From: Mayo, Michele L. [mailto:Michele.Mayo at dep.state.fl.us] 
>Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 5:09 PM
>To: shrug-L at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>Subject: shrug-l: Heads Up
>
>
>
>Hello List,
>
> 
>
>A proposal was introduced in Thursday's SHRUG quarterly meeting to
>investigate a merger of our annual conference with that of FLURISA,
>known as the Joint Mapping Conference.
>
> 
>
>Lee Hartsfield, current SHRUG president, announced that he had recently
>been elected president of FLURISA.  Lee now serves as president for
both
>organizations.  After giving a very general outline of his proposal to
>discuss combining the two conferences, Lee asked the small gathering to
>vote for or against further discussions with FLURISA, saying that,
>according to SHRUG by-laws, there were enough people present to take a
>vote on the matter.  Although several of us expressed reservations, Lee
>did take a vote and his motion was carried.
>
> 
>
>This is not a trivial decision.  In my opinion, any proposal that could
>fundamentally change the character of our organization should be put to
>the SHRUG membership at large before any negotiations are conducted
with
>outside parties.  The grass-roots character of SHRUG has kept our
>organization strong, solvent, vibrant and valuable for eight years.  We
>could lose that if we fail to keep the membership informed and involved
>in plotting our future course.
>
> 
>
>If this proposed action concerns you, please let your SHRUG officers
>know.  Their contact information can be found here:
>
> 
>
>http://www.shrug-gis.info/shrug_business.htm
>
> 
>
> 
>
> 
>
>Michele Mayo, GISP
>
>Florida DEP, Beaches and Coastal Systems
>
>Coastal Data Acquisition Section
>
>3900 Commonwealth Blvd. MS 300
>
>Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000
>
>850.413.7776
>
>michele.mayo at dep.state.fl.us <mailto:michele.mayo at dep.state.fl.us> 
>
>www.floridadep.org/beaches/programs/cda.htm
><http://www.floridadep.org/beaches/programs/cda.htm>
> 
>-****Florida has a very broad Public Records Law. Virtually all written
communications to or from State and Local Officials and employees are
public records available to the public and media upon request. Seminole
County policy does not differentiate between personal and business
emails. E-mail sent on the County system will be considered public and
will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to
State Law.****-
> 
>-****Florida has a very broad Public Records Law. Virtually all written
communications to or from State and Local Officials and employees are
public records available to the public and media upon request. Seminole
County policy does not differentiate between personal and business
emails. E-mail sent on the County system will be considered public and
will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to
State Law.****-
>
>
>

_______________________________________________
SHRUG-L mailing list
SHRUG-L at lists.dep.state.fl.us
http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/mailman/listinfo/shrug-l


More information about the SHRUG-L mailing list