ASHI and NAHI to merge due to dwindling membership numbers.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jburkeson1

What part is spin? Looks like all fact to me.

To me, "spin" is when...in one thread...an Executive Director of an association freely acknowledges that he has no way of validating who has actually completed all 60 something requirements for membership in the association....and then, throughout the message board, he proclaims that he has "6,000 members".

That takes balls.

[David Nice]

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I guess it could fall under some part of the ASHI Ethics.

Closing up the public part of the INACHI site would stop all of this nonsense. But, it would also limit the exposure that Nick wants for INACHI. This I'm betting is the main reason that it has stayed open.

Even over on Inspection News and The Inspectors Journal you see very little badgering and bashing. Sure it rears it's ugly head from time to time but after a dozen or so post it is forgotten by most. The owners of those sites moderate the threads pretty good, as many already know.

Hi Scott,

The interesting thing is that as much as I am involved in InterNACHI stuff, including our state chapter here in Wisconsin, I don't get much time to hang out and read much of this. Even though much of it is a lot of the same crap, different day, new names, fake names, different positions and on and on, I do (on rare occasion) find some interesting info if I have time to wade through the muck.

Even now, the idea of a ASHI/NAHI merger is news to me. Personally I hope that ASHI is careful about the details of such an undertaking. If such a merger could be a way of taking care of NAHI members whose hard earned money has been wasted on frivolous lawsuits and other miscellaneous and nefarious activities, it could be a good thing.

I have good friends that are still members of NAHI. I also have a number of friend who have long left NAHI (I’m talking years here) and can’t quite figure out why they are still listed as members. I can assure you that I would never suggest such a thing if I did not have direct knowledge of this long term padding of membership rolls. If any type of merger agreement has any basis in numbers, I would hope that an audit of the NAHI membership roster would be performed to shed those that have long since departed.

Contrary to the unfounded opinions of some, InterNACHI does not have a backlog of listed members who have left the organization. I guess it is fun for some to surmise such a thing, but those in charge of membership have no incentive to do this, and they do not just let people ride on very long without renewing.

Purely subjective ethics issues and issues of conduct outside of dealing with clients and other principals of a transaction are all too often abused to prevent people from speaking their mind, to prevent people from practicing their livelihood or thwart belonging to multiple organizations out of some suggestion that one cannot have dual “loyalties”.

I have even recently been the subject of just such accusations of questionabe ethics for my membership in both a state inspector’s organization and as a leader of our state InterNACHI chapter. Interestingly enough, this effort to besmirch my character and personal and professional ethics has been spearheaded by members of NAHI in what appears to be yet another effort to make me the latest whipping boy in a tired old (and what was supposed to be settled) dispute between these 2 national organizations.

It seems that the smaller NAHI seems to get, the higher up the ladder those with the same questionable ethics and leadership tactics seem to have risen up within the organization. As many valuable members leave with disgust, the easier it seems for them to be able to grab for even more control of the sinking ship that they themselves have been poking holes in for far too long.

It is my own person suspicion that certain NAHI leaders are more interested in a merger with ASHI in yet another effort elevate the sinking ship in much the way they tried to tie themselves to an effort to try to campaign for the of an ASTM Home Inspection SOP. In the continued absense of good leadership, an effort to grab ahold of a lifeline from ASHI seems to me to be the next incarnation of a the same failed strategy.

In the current economic climate, it can seem to be harder for those who have the best interest of the industry at heart, to have the time and energy to continue to fight the good fight, when those who are interested in exerting power and adding feathers to their cap (or trying to pull a rabbit out of it) seem to try to exert their influence. In the grand scheme of things, one has to wonder if they are really gaining anything at all.

I guess there are probably 2 ways to approach the thought of such a merger. One could be to proceed with caution and the other could be to run the other way. Or perhaps a 3rd way ... just let the thought quietly slip away and just continue going about the business at hand.


Peace.

[Jeff Orcas]

Blaine,

I just saw your last couple of posts. As one of the more stable members who has shown some leadership I really appreciate your comments.

You made a comment that "someone is making money at all three organizations". That's a pretty fair statement. My question is if NACHI has over 6,000 members, it is taking in somewhere around $1,734,000. Since there is no board of directors or advisory council does anyone really know where or what happens to the money? A least ASHI and NAHI have BOD and committees that see what is happening. Why doesn't NACHI have the same? At one point the NACHI tax returns where posted. Have the latest tax returns for 2008 been posted? How paid employees does NACHI have? Can the members see what they are being paid? I know that ASHI and NAHI make this available to the BOD members.

Jeff

[David Nice]

Seems the nearly identical set of questions were asked some time ago by a poster of a different name, and also a non-member (hmmm). I know of no corporation that does not have a board of directors, so the lead in statment is false. These are good questions for members to ask in the members only section, if any member is particularly concerned.

[Nick Gromicko]

Jeff, InterNACHI's Committees and Chapters all run autonomously. InterNACHI's BOD has no influence on their decisions (yes, you can ask them to verify this is true) although their scopes and staff's scopes overlap in some areas, and sometimes we have to referee arguments. InterNACHI's BOD consists of Chris Morrell (IT), Attorney Joe Ferry (legal) and me (operations). None of us are compensated for being on the board. Joe and I aren't compensated at all directly or indirectly, we are both volunteers. Chris is a full-time employee but grossly underpaid. Even in this bad economy he regularly turns down 200K-300K job offers. The system works pretty well as we kept the BOD in more of a traditional role (appointing and hiring good people then letting them do their thing as opposed to micro-managing).

Anyway, long before you start worrying about where InterNACHI is spending its money, you ASHI guys should try to figure out how InterNACHI provides roughly 200 times as many benefits www.nachi.org/benefits.htm for its members for less annual dues. We do more for less www.nachi.org/whats_new.htm than any trade association (not just inspection associations) in the world. Until you crack that mystery, InterNACHI will continue to grow and other inspection associations will continue to wane. Planet InterNACHI... resistance is futile.