I'm Done!!!!
PWNA Bulletin Board posts
This letter has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Power Washers of North America.
For the foreseeable future the PWNA will only be posting on The Grime Scene's PWNA section. It is the opinion of the board of directors that it is important that our industry behave in a way that is professional, uplifting, and encouraging. Healthy disagreement and debate is the foundation of finding the best way forward and making our industry all it can be. However, when respectful disagreement and debate collapses into personal attacks, name calling and worse, it reflects poorly on all of us. Negative comments stifle creative thinking and prevents new and alternative ideas from being shared. When someone is not willing to post their ideas because of the response they may receive, the system is no longer working. Our industry is moving into a political landscape that will put all of our businesses at risk. We must meet this challenge with a healthy and positive Clear Voice for Our Industry.
The following are the rules of the game if the PWNA is to post on The Grime Scene:
· Disagreement is fine. However, when you disagree it is to be respectful while encouraging the person you disagree with. If this is violated the person making the post will have an opportunity to rewrite the post or the post will be purged.
· Negative responses with no other purpose than to be negative will be purged. Do not post unless you have a helpful alternative or input.
· Any name calling, personal attacks, accusations or lying will be purged.
· If the same person continues to violate the rules, they will be prevented from posting in the future.
The PWNA follows a code of ethics:
CODE OF ETHICS
As a member of PWNA, I believe in fair and honorable practices and pledge to maintain the highest ethical standards in my business, and I obligate myself and my employees to work by the following Code of Ethics:
I will, at all times, conduct my business in a fair and honorable manner. I pledge to represent our products and services as they actually are, to do what I promise and to promise only what I reasonably can do, to compete fairly with others on the basis of the merit of my products and services, and to refrain from making false or misleading statements about my competitors or their products or services.
I commit to help any and all fellow PWNA members in the furtherance of industry knowledge.
I promise to comply, both in spirit and letter, with all rules and regulations prescribed by law and by government agencies for the health, safety and well-being of my employees, the public, and the environment.
I further pledge to perform all services within any Standards and through the use of any Best Management Practices adopted by PWNA
This letter will be reposted from time to time as necessary. Thank you.
Mike Hilborn
PWNA Executive Director
Here is the text in it's unedited form:
One of the pillars of the PWNA is to be a Clear Voice for Our Industry. We must be that clear voice regardless of the consequences. We must be that clear voice even if it means we may lose members. The Board of Directors believe that if we stand up for what we believe and live by the PWNA's code of ethics we are in fact serving our members that have elected us to be on the board. We believe we are demonstrating leadership. As a matter of fact, our membership continues to grow. Although far from where our membership should be, we are currently at 266 members which is the highest our membership has been in years.
Scott, we do not have a personal vendetta against PWI or Ron Musgraves. PWI and Ron Musgraves are followed by a very large number of people in this industry. Most would agree that it would be in our best interest to do everything in our power to stay on his good side. It is our hope that the relationship can be reconciled sooner rather then later. However, as you will read below, we are unable to associate ourselves with this type of behavior. Whether we are a small or large organization will not impact our convictions.
Tony, you asked me to point out the reasons why the BOD decided to post only on the Grime Scene. Here is why:
Under the thread "Certified House Washers PWNA.ORG" An individual made a post that was then responded to in a negative way. After the response post, this individual writes "And this is one reason why I don't care to post. Kinda sorry I did now!" The bulletin boards should be about having people share their positive experiences without someone going negative and insulting the person posting.
Under the thread "Powdered Bleach Review Roof Cleaning Products". Although this thread started out well, it turned very negative and very personal. In my opinion, at some point an administrator should have interjected to keep the conversation on track. I would describe what I read as a feeding frenzy.
"Houston Lack of Comment Period for Cosmetic Cleaning BMPs" thread. Directed toward me "If you're willing to educate yourself instead of assuming you know everything about wash water control." I have never stated or implied that I know everything about wash water control. The fact that it comes from Ron, owner of the bulletin board, carries more weight that the statement is true.
"Houston Lack of Comment Period for Cosmetic Cleaning BMPs" thread. Ron directed toward me "I reach out by inviting you golfing in San Diego." Ron never asked me golfing. When I called him on it he said that he had asked Daryl golfing and that I could come along.
"Houston Lack of Comment Period for Cosmetic Cleaning BMPs" thread. Regarding the BMPs and that in some cases water reclaim is needed. "Robert and Delux have a great marketing program, bravo to them for helping themselves." Shameful. For Ron, the owner of National Cleaning Expo and the Pressure Washing Institute bulletin board to imply that they are doing this for personal gain is reprehensible.
"BMPs What They are and What They are Not" thread. Ron writes "That was very offensive telling members to shut up because people are volunteering there time and should basically shut up." I never said this or anything remotely like this.
"BMPs What They Are and What They are Not" thread. Off Duty Fireman posts "Is it just me, or does this look like a Carlos letter? The following post is from Russ Spence "Te habla espanol?" I would like to know what Russ meant by that?
"BMPs What They are and What They are Not" thread. Off Duty Fireman posts "Robert believes that Houston is not that bad. You want someone like that writing BMPs that will affect our business?" Robert Hinderliter referred to "as someone like that"? The Off Duty Fireman has no real idea as to what Robert actually said?
"BMPs What They are and What They are Not" thread. Ron's comment to John T. "We are not like you with a police retirement collect $100,000 for life each year." John writing an opposing view and then being questioned as to his commitment level is wrong.
"Board and Environmental Committee to Vote on Proposed BMPs" thread. "There ya go, Mike H private message". Ron posts a 2 to 3 minute video directed 100% to me for the world to see. Anything but a private message. Beyond unprofessional.
"PWNA Convention October 20-22, 2011 at the Hotel Preston" thread. "I have even forgiven the checking into my background on who I am." First, the PWNA did not check into Ron's background, I did. Up until now, I have not posted what I learned on a bulletin board or talked about it outside of the board of directors. I have talked to a couple of individuals who Ron had told that then contacted me. Also, Ron brought it up on a conference which included Kory and myself. Here is the real story.
For a couple of years Ron Musgraves has told me, and others, that he does 3.5 million dollars a year cleaning sidewalks. Given his notoriety in the industry I had no reason to doubt him. I have attended classes he has taught on how to successfully grow a business through unique and successful sales programs and by effectively using the internet. On the bulletin boards and round tables, Ron portrays himself as a power washing and sales expert. For this reason, I wanted to visit Ron's operation and see what I could learn from an industry leader and someone so successful.
In 2010 I asked Ron if I could visit his operation. He said yes. In 2010 I visited the operations of Chris Lambradines, Rich Colletti, Mike Kreisle, Michael Stuart, Paul Horsley, Doug Barrett and Eric Clark. A number of times a date was chosen and then cancelled. In early March I talked with Ron and told him I was coming to Phoenix with my wife Cindy whether he was going to be there or not. Ron and I had actually scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 15th which was to include Daryl Mirza to discuss the Houston issue. Then we had the conference call with Ron where he hung up on the board, I had a phone call from Ron immediately after the conference call where he cancelled our April 15th meeting. Like I said, I had already booked the flight and whether Ron was in Phoenix or not, I was going to go to Phoenix with my wife.
While in Phoenix Cindy and I met with some friends for a couple of days and Cindy and I visited the Grand Canyon. I had more than enough time to at least drive by Ron's operation to see what I could. Here is what I found:
The only link on Ron's website that works is the bulletin board link. The rest of the buttons bring you to an under construction page. Take a look for yourself at Pressure Washing Phoenix Arizona. The page is outdated looking and not what you would expect of a 3.5 million dollar company.
From the hotel I called the toll free number on Ron's website and it was answered directly by Ron.
Search the White Pages for Pro Power Wash and nothing comes up.
The Better Business Bureau has no information on Pro Power Wash.
Google Pro Power Wash and the only thing that comes up is his website. Google Roof-to-Deck and the whole first page is my company.
Every address I could find was a P.O. Box.
The corporate documents with the Arizona Secretary of State have a P.O. Box.
I called AZ Power Wash Pros and talked with the owner to see if he knew where Ron's facility was and because I thought maybe Ron owned this company because the name was so similar to Pro Power Wash. The owner said he had never seen any of Ron's vehicles. I asked the owner who the largest power washing companies were and he said Acme Power Washing, Desert Eagle Power Wash and possibly AZ Power Wash Pros.
After my conversation with AZ Power Wash Pros, the owner called Ron to tell him that I was asking about Ron's business. Ron left me a voice mail saying that he had been contacted by several people (I had only talked with one) and he was upset that I was calling his competitors to learn about his business. Ron also called me a "bonehead". Understand that I called his competitor because I wasn't finding anything on Pro Power Wash by going through steps 1 through 8 above.
Ron gave me an address of 1040 Indian School Road and said that is where his operation is. He said to beware of the dog and to not bother his tenants and that he owned the buildings. I stopped by there 3 times at all hours of the day and found nothing but empty buildings with for rent signs in front of them. I also found through County records that the properties were not owned by Ron.
Through The Official WhitePages - Find People for Free I found a home listed for Ronald A Musgraves, Jr. in Gilbert, AZ. Here I found 6 yellow trailers with power washers on them. There was no signage on the property or on the trailers. You can view the property using Google Earth. There you will see 6 trailers.
I visited 13701 E Ray Road Saturday morning around 10:00 am and found 6 trailers on property. I visited again around 6:25 pm Sunday and found 6 trailers. At 6:15 am Monday morning I found 4 trailers and shortly after that 2 unmarked pick-up trucks with unmarked trailers returned and parked the trailers. At 11:30 am Monday I checked again and found 6 trailers on property. Ron's property was about 10 minutes from my hotel and I stopped by 4 times to make sure I checked frequently to have the most accurate information I could have.
I called Acme Power Washing and the owner of that company said that he had never heard of Ron Musgraves or Pro Power Wash. Desert Eagle Power Wash always went to voice mail.
My expectation was that I would find a professional looking operation running between 20 to 30 vehicles. In 2010 Roof-to-Deck did $3.52 million which required around 30 mini vans plus a few sales cars operating in 3 large markets. That is not what I saw. Draw your own conclusions.
For the reasons above is why the PWNA will only be posting on The Grime Scene for the foreseeable future.
Thank you, Mike Hilborn
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Jackie Tacheny, Office Manager
1410 Energy Park Drive, Ste 6
St. Paul, MN 55108
800-393-7962 phone; 651-699-6709 fax
info@pwna.org; www.pwna.org
I have removed this post. This particular post had not been approved by the Board of Directors. In fact, I reached out to Eric Clark and Paul Horsley before it was posted and they both advised me not to post it. I apologize to both Ron and the Grime Scene community. It won't happen again.
Sincerely,
Mike Hilborn
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