Todd Kaufman, the County Assessor in Loudoun County Virginia may have started something he’ll regret.
Seems that Danilo Bogdanovic wrote a post in his blog that Mr. Todd Kaufman Assessor feels contained “inappropriate and misleading information” and he’s requested the removal of said post/info.
In a blistering email to Danilo (posted here) Todd Kaufman the Loudoun County Assessor stated:
The Office of the County Attorney, the management team of your office, the Chairman of the NVAR, and the Chairman and CEO of the Dulles Area Association of Realtors are copied in this correspondence.
Sounds like nothing more than a threat to me. Playing the lawyer card doesn’t sit well with me. Or apparently many others judging by these posts (and their comments) popping up over the real estate net:
Can Todd Kaufman Tell Me What to Say and Not Say?
Attempted Censorship of a real estate blogger in Virginia
Todd Kaufman Assessor Loudoun County, VA and Tylene Gamble, Chief Appraiser, Wharton County kindred spirits
Real Estate Bloggers are not citizens
Local Tax Assessor gets hammered…
Attempted Censorship or misguided public official?
Heck, even a local paper has joined in…
More of Mr. Todd Kaufman’s inept tact and style can be seen in the email exchange between Danilo’s broker and Kaufman (posted here). It includes such gems from Kaufman as:
Since you feel that this is a Constitutional issue, I suggest that you read the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment so you have an accurate understanding of both.
His approach is unprofessional, negative, and adversarial. (Ahem. WHO is approaching this in such a manner?)
Since you have declined my invitation to adhere to your professional code and standards, you have left me no alternative but to pursue this by filing a complaint with the National Association of Realtors as an ethics violation. My position will be clearly stated and documented in that complaint.
Knock yourself out Todd Kaufman, Loudoun County Assessor. In my opinion, your claims are baseless and you are nothing more than a pompous, arrogant ass. From what I’ve seen, you have yet to say exactly what was “inappropriate and misleading information”. Is a retraction warranted? I don’t know. And like Russell, I don’t really care.
Want to see what Google sees when you step in it Mr. Kaufman? Go here.
There is a right way and a wrong way to approach something you feel is incorrect. Why not reach out to the person in a civil manner, rather than being a complete and total jerk about it — throwing around your perceived power and generally acting like a crybaby?
Ask me to remove this post Todd Kaufman. Please ask me.
This little brouhaha does bring up some very interesting subjects. Does the Realtor’s Code of Ethics trump the Constitution? (I think the answer to that is a resounding no). Does a real estate broker have the right to oversee and even dictate what can and can not be on one of their agents blogs (Yep, like it or not — and kudos to Danilo’s broker for supporting him). Is a blogger responsible for “reporting” accurate information? (Sure, but being human, mistakes will be made. How many retractions and corrections do you see in the mainstream media every day?) These subjects and more will become topics of discussion as real estate blogging matures.
.
Technorati Tags: Todd Kaufman, Blogging, First Amendment, power-crazed bureaucrats
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to this blog via email or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
31 Dec 07 4:13 pm
It’s interesting to see how quickly Google picks up the blog posts. Todd Kaufman will be living with those search results for a long time.
31 Dec 07 4:19 pm
Ben -
No kidding. Google stuffed this post into the #2 spot for that search (Todd Kaufman assessor) - 11 minutes after I posted it…
And it’s at #8 for just Todd Kaufman.
31 Dec 07 7:04 pm
I think somebody is going to wake up with a BAD hangover tomorrow…
01 Jan 08 5:17 pm
[...] Jay: No kidding. Google stuffed this post into the #2 spot for that search (Todd Kaufman assessor) - 11 [...]
02 Jan 08 10:46 am
Thanks for the link love. I think I am beginning to understand.
http://agent21.featuredblog.com/
03 Jan 08 12:38 pm
[...] inlookers: What’s all the fuss about? And: What happens if you get wrong in the Brave New World of Web 2.0? Google [...]
04 Jan 08 11:02 am
[...] Sound familiar? It’s pretty much the same thing we (and others) have said. [...]
05 Jan 08 1:13 pm
Find a hobby.
05 Jan 08 8:10 pm
Loudoun County Tax Blog
05 Jan 08 10:03 pm
Dayne -
Maybe my hobby is helping to expose government officials that like to try to squash the rights of their constituency.
05 Jan 08 10:20 pm
“Anonymous” -
I was going to comment directly on your blog, but I’m not going to create a LiveJournal account just to do that, so I’ll say it here.
1) At least those who have been posting about Todd Kaufman’s outrageous behavior are using their names and aren’t hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet.
2) The fact that the Western States Constitutionalist Alliance web site “looks like shit” really has nothing to do with anything. But if it makes you feel better to attack someone’s grammar or website appearance, knock yourself out. The mentality of your attacks match up rather well with the mentality of Todd Kaufman’s attacks.
3) Not everyone that has written about these events contributes to Bloodhound Blog. When you say “All Bashes Against Todd Kaufman from Same Sources” you are completely incorrect. Yes, some of us contribute to a blog, but we are all individuals. Yes, real estate bloggers in general are a pretty tight knight group. And when one of us is attacked, we all tend to respond. What is your point?
Mr. Kaufman is entitled to say whatever he wants. But in my opinion, the guy is a complete jerk — a pompous arrogant ass. Likely he feels the same way about me. I could care less.
Thank you for adding to the material on the Internet about Mr. Kaufman. Your blog, despite your feeble attempt to defend Mr. Kaufman, will likely help contribute to the Loudoun County Assessors website free fall in Google.
If I may ask just one question, why are you afraid to say who you are? Your defense of Todd Kaufman Assessor loses a lot of credibility if you aren’t even willing to identify yourself.
06 Jan 08 1:17 pm
[...] Of PeopleKris Berg — Alphabet Soup, Alphabet SoupJay Thompson — Bureaucrats Gone Wild, Todd Kaufman, Loudoun County Assessor — Starring in “Bureaucrats Gone Wild”Mike Price — Armchair Quarterbacking, Armchair Quarterbacking Real Estate 2.0Krista Baker [...]
11 Jan 08 2:10 am
This is one of the reasons I love the internet. I think in the past people like Todd could go around bullying people and get away with it. Now if you run around acting like a jerk there is a good chance its going to be posted all over the internet for a long time to come. Picking up the phone and having a friendly conversation would have been much wiser. In the past when people have used that tacit I have gladly updated my blog with new information and made a friend in the process.