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Time was, the job of Garfield County surveyor carried a lot of clout, and a race could be expected every time the seat was up for election.
That was a long time ago. Garfield County Clerk Mildred Alsdorf, who is wrapping up her own political career this fall after 35 years of working local elections, can't recall there ever being a surveyor race during all that time. But that's finally changing this fall, with a contest between Republican incumbent Scott Aibner and Democratic challenger David Nicholson.
It's a stark change from 2002. Sam Phelps was resigning from the office and no one ran for it when it came up for election that fall. So county commissioners advertised the vacancy, and Aibner applied and was appointed. He took office in 2003 and was required to run for election in 2004 to serve out the remainder of the office's four-year term. He ran unopposed then.
Willa Soncarty, registrar for the Frontier Historical Museum in Glenwood Springs, said that in the old days the Democratic and Republican parties always would field a candidate for the office.
"It seemed to be that it was never a race that went uncontested," she said.
Today, Aibner said, "Most people don't even realize that the surveyor is an elected position."
In Garfield County's early days, surveyors were involved in dividing up land that was still being settled, and even helping establish a property's value, the way the county assessor does now, he said.
"They were the first people out on it and it gave them a lot of responsibility. They had a lot of say, a lot of clout," Aibner said.
Today the county surveyor reviews plats and provides surveying-related services to the county. Aibner said it's not high-paying, so the surveyor needs to have outside income as well. With so much private surveying work available locally, few people need the income of the county job or want to deal with the political aspects of it, he said.
Nicholson said the surveyor office can help bring some name recognition to its occupant's private business.
He started doing surveying in 1974. While he calls Aibner "a good guy," he believes his own experience could be put to good use as county surveyor.
"I feel that we could get better service from our surveying system from the county, and record-keeping," Nicholson said. "... Not to say that our system is bad, but there's so much out there that can be improved. And of course trying to find funding is going to be interesting."
He said he wants to help surveyors come up with common solutions and use the same data to reduce conflicts.
Aibner said he also had hoped to improve record-keeping when he first took office, but found that those records are the purview of the Clerk and Recorder's Office, and not the surveyor.
But after four years in the office, he said he understands its workings well.
"I took over from where it was and have improved on it and am just looking forward to the opportunity to continue improving on the position and making it run smoother," he said.
The candidates agree that the county surveyor role is important, even if it's low-profile. Improper survey information can result in people buying lots different in size from what they had been led to believe, or create problems in developing a property.
"If there's not enough information on the plat to lay that lot out on the ground from a survey standpoint, then there's issues because it opens up an ambiguity," Aibner said.
Nicholson said surveying "is kind of below the surface, it's not right there in front of you but it does affect a lot of things every day."
Contact Dennis Webb: 945-8515, ext. 516
dwebb@postindependent.com
That was a long time ago. Garfield County Clerk Mildred Alsdorf, who is wrapping up her own political career this fall after 35 years of working local elections, can't recall there ever being a surveyor race during all that time. But that's finally changing this fall, with a contest between Republican incumbent Scott Aibner and Democratic challenger David Nicholson.
It's a stark change from 2002. Sam Phelps was resigning from the office and no one ran for it when it came up for election that fall. So county commissioners advertised the vacancy, and Aibner applied and was appointed. He took office in 2003 and was required to run for election in 2004 to serve out the remainder of the office's four-year term. He ran unopposed then.
Willa Soncarty, registrar for the Frontier Historical Museum in Glenwood Springs, said that in the old days the Democratic and Republican parties always would field a candidate for the office.
"It seemed to be that it was never a race that went uncontested," she said.
Today, Aibner said, "Most people don't even realize that the surveyor is an elected position."
In Garfield County's early days, surveyors were involved in dividing up land that was still being settled, and even helping establish a property's value, the way the county assessor does now, he said.
"They were the first people out on it and it gave them a lot of responsibility. They had a lot of say, a lot of clout," Aibner said.
Today the county surveyor reviews plats and provides surveying-related services to the county. Aibner said it's not high-paying, so the surveyor needs to have outside income as well. With so much private surveying work available locally, few people need the income of the county job or want to deal with the political aspects of it, he said.
Nicholson said the surveyor office can help bring some name recognition to its occupant's private business.
He started doing surveying in 1974. While he calls Aibner "a good guy," he believes his own experience could be put to good use as county surveyor.
"I feel that we could get better service from our surveying system from the county, and record-keeping," Nicholson said. "... Not to say that our system is bad, but there's so much out there that can be improved. And of course trying to find funding is going to be interesting."
He said he wants to help surveyors come up with common solutions and use the same data to reduce conflicts.
Aibner said he also had hoped to improve record-keeping when he first took office, but found that those records are the purview of the Clerk and Recorder's Office, and not the surveyor.
But after four years in the office, he said he understands its workings well.
"I took over from where it was and have improved on it and am just looking forward to the opportunity to continue improving on the position and making it run smoother," he said.
The candidates agree that the county surveyor role is important, even if it's low-profile. Improper survey information can result in people buying lots different in size from what they had been led to believe, or create problems in developing a property.
"If there's not enough information on the plat to lay that lot out on the ground from a survey standpoint, then there's issues because it opens up an ambiguity," Aibner said.
Nicholson said surveying "is kind of below the surface, it's not right there in front of you but it does affect a lot of things every day."
Contact Dennis Webb: 945-8515, ext. 516
dwebb@postindependent.com
About the office
• Staff size: Surveyor and deputy surveyor (currently unfilled). Survey work also is conducted on a contractual basis through County Surveyor Scott Aibner's private company at a reduced rate.• Annual budget: $20,000 per year.
• Main duties: checking development plats for accuracy, providing surveying-related services to other county offices such as road and bridge, building and planning, and county attorney.
• Salary: $1 a month, plus $100 per page for plat reviews. Plats typically run from one to 10 pages, and Surveyor Scott Aibner estimates that he checked 20 or 25 plats last year.
Scott Aibner
• Occupation: county surveyor, owner of River Valley Survey in Rifle.• Occupation prior to holding political office: private-sector surveyor.
• Age: 44
• Family: Married to Shelley, father of two daughters.
• Hometown: Rifle
• Party affiliation: Republican
• When did you come to Garfield County, and from where: 1980, coming from Colorado Springs, where he grew up. He was born in Pueblo.
David Nicholson
• Occupation: owner of Divide Creek Surveyors for the last half year, previously worked for about 18 years for Schmueser Gordon Meyer Engineers & Surveyors.• Age: 54
• Family: Married to Ann, father of two daughters; has two grandchildren.
• Hometown: Silt area
• Party affiliation: Democrat
• When did you come to Garfield County, and from where: 36 years ago, from Huntington Beach, Calif.
