San Mateo County Celebrates Weights and Measures Week 2017

Redwood City, CA — Pints, pounds, inches, feet — how can anyone be certain the number they see at the gas pump, on the vegetable aisle scale or across the grocery store register scanner is accurate?

The County of San Mateo’s weights and measures professionals, that’s how.

In honor of its own weights and measures department, as well as colleagues across the nation, the County of San Mateo is celebrating Weights and Measures Week 2017. The honor began at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting where Fred Crowder, County agricultural commissioner/sealer of weights and measures, accepted a resolution recognizing the week which pays tribute to the efforts to regulate existing standards and develop new ones in response to ever-evolving technology.

The recognition continues through next Tuesday via the County’s social media channels where visitors will have the opportunity to meet some of the faces verifying the technology, take a behind-the-scenes peek inside their certification lab and learn important tips to avoid scams, fraud and other consumer pitfalls.

Weights and Measures week is held annually from March 1 to 7 to commemorate the signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799. The 2017 theme is “Tradition and Technology Drive U.S. Standards for Trade” — a theme that resonates with the goals of the County’s office.

“The public likely takes for granted that transactions involving weights and measures are accurate and my staff works hard to make sure that is true. We enforce adopted standards and strive daily to keep consumers safe and give them their money’s worth whether they’re pumping gas or buying groceries. We all benefit from these standards in ways we’re probably not even aware,” Crowder said.

On any given day, Crowder’s staff is conducting regular inspections of gas pumps, including opening them to check for “skimming” equipment placed inside by scammers to collect personal financial information from credit cards swipes. Other staff are checking that bar codes at retail stores are ringing up the correct prices when scanned. Others still confirm that taximeters tick off the correct mileage.

The office is also invested in developing standards and testing for emerging technologies like electric fueling systems and GPS-based measurements.

Setting these uniform standards and abiding by them are a key component of equity in the marketplace which results in a strong economy, Crowder said.

And if consumers have any questions about the validity of the County’s weights and measures systems, Crowder said they should have no problem finding the number to call.

“As the sealer of weights and measures, my name and number are on more than 31,000 devices in San Mateo County,” he said.

Learn more about the San Mateo County’s weights and measures team by visiting the County’s Facebook page this week at: www.facebook.com/CountyofSanMateo

--

IMAGE: Fred Crowder, agricultural commissioner/sealer of weights and measures, points to the gas pump seal of inspection bearing his name.

– STORY AND PHOTO BY: County of San Mateo