Todd Kaufman, Loudoun County Assessor — Starring in “Bureaucrats Gone Wild”

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.

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[tags]Todd Kaufman, Blogging, First Amendment, power-crazed bureaucrats[/tags]

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