President's Message

Members,

We have just experienced and witnessed what two horrific Cat 3 & 4 Hurricanes can do to our State in a 3-week period. The devastation, flooding and interruption in our lives, our businesses, and our overall health and well-being cannot be understated.

Our thoughts, prayers, and well wishes for and to all of those affected come from the heart and we want you to know that we are there for our members. The Executive Committee and the Board have increased our Disaster Relief Fund (which was at $12k+) another $20k in emergency funding immediately, with the option of increasing it to $50k if needed.

Please reach out and let us know which members are in the most need and fill out the form on our website so we can review and address them as quickly as possible. We realize this is a trying time for all those affected, but please provide enough detail and documentation so we can make an appropriate assessment. We would like to be able to help as many as possible.

Our members, all of you out there, are what makes us strong and we want to ensure that you know we stand with you to help where and when we can.

In this edition of the Florida Surveyor, we are adding the newest Strategic Plan which was put together and fine-tuned and prioritized from our meeting back in April. Even though there are many items in this that are important to our future, we have prioritized certain items that are most needed and agreed upon.

1.   Because of the Deregulation issues that we successfully won again with the help of our terrific Lobbying firm and our Legislative committee; we need to look forward for next round on this issue which is not going away.

Our FSM PAC Fund has become more important than ever before to play this political game we’re in. We addressed this at the Strategic Plan meeting and are convinced that it needs to stay properly funded to the tune of $50k+ every year to address these matters as they come up. We need to be proactive in this and stop being reactive. Like it or not, we have to play politics and be able to have personal relationships with important Legislators that will have our backs and understand what Surveyors are, how we contribute to the economy and the protection of the Public.

We do that by having a close association of our Legislative Committee and our lobbyist who provides us vital information on who needs to be supported and can provide us the best bang for our hard earned money. Push came to shove last year, and our FSM PAC fund was woefully inadequate to provide enough funds needed to support our allies in Tallahassee. So, a call went out and spread through word of mouth that we needed at least 20 long time members to provide $2500 each in emergency funds and to do this within 2 weeks. It was accomplished and we met this important goal, strengthening critical relationships and supporting election campaigns.

Our message to all members out there, is to please look for ways to add funds to our FSM PAC on a continual basis, fundraisers, clay shoots, picnics, fishing tournaments, and provide suggestions and ideas.

2.   Chapter 472 and Standards of Practice needs to open and the language fixed and clarified in some areas to lessen the ability of others to try to deregulate us because of the current wording. The only way to do this properly and more safely is with the help of our regulatory board; Florida Board of Surveyors and Mappers, to open it. They would like us FSMS to come up with the appropriate language changes and that we all agree to before any attempt is done.

We have set this as a priority in the coming year to work on that language and be proactive and be ready for the next round.

These are the two top priorities, but please read through the plan and ask questions.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard D. Pryce

Previous 2024 Messages
January 2024
February 2024
March 2024
April 2024
May 2024
June 2024
July/August 2024
September 2024