???THANK YOU!!!!!!

. . . I am a landscape contractor in Arizona. My biggest problem here isn?????t the weather, it isn?????t taxes, it isn?????t the economy. IT?????S CROOKED CONTRACTORS that take unfair advantage of the underground illegal workforce. Arizona?????s contractor associations also agree with the ANLA stance . . .?????(R)

Overwhelmingly, across the country, those
of you who are out there competing are fed up with those who use illegal immigrants to supply their labor.

Of course, I did hear from Robert Dolibois, the executive vice president of ANLA, . . . Whose note only said: ???Based upon the editorial appearing in the October 2007 issue, you are embarrassingly uninformed on this topic.?????(R)

I also heard from a slew of ANLA members (only one was an LCN reader) who called me all kinds of names, but never once offered up a solution other than to defend their desire for this cheap and often-underground labor force.

Excuse me, but what I do know is that some facets of this industry are addicted to the use of the underground, often illegal workforce as a primary source of labor.

This is one reason why, as I?????ve said before, it is not a good idea for landscape contractors and nurserymen to be served by the same association, as is the case with the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA). Either you serve the seller or you serve the buyer, but you can?????t serve both.

In fact, the use of this labor force is stealing jobs from Americans, keeping thousands on welfare, and undermining the fabric of our society and our industry.

While almost every state landscape contractor association is urging its landscape contractor members to follow the rules, rise above the underground labor force and report those who compete illegally, John Aguirre, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseryman likens the majority of Americans to Hitler, Goebbels or Joseph McCarthy, claiming that those who don?????t like illegal immigrants are full of hate and lies and that this hatred is only ???skin deep.?????(R)

Go figure that . . . Another executive director of a nurseryman?????s association, calling us names and telling us that laws don?????t matter, especially if it benefits the nursery industry . . .

Then I heard from William Stalter, the executive director of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association, who took the time to throw out several insults but never once offered anything constructive to the discussion.

So, if I accuse you taking the wrong path, you fire back that I?????m a racist and full of hatred for the poor and hungry . . .

In essence the ANLA is perpetuating a feeling that to work in the landscape industry you have to be a second-class citizen and that no self-respecting American would want a job like that . . .

Why is it that the immigrants see the work as honorable and the citizens see it as degrading?

How about a better alternative? Is there an ANLA program to solicit landscape workers from the inner cities? Is there an ANLA program to use inmate labor and teach them a viable skill? Is there ANLA market research that tells us that the consumer isn?????t willing to spend an extra percent or two on green goods and services if it means they can cut those dollars from their taxes? Has the ANLA ever launched a national campaign promoting the value of a career in landscape? I don?????t think so . . . But that is what an association should be doing. Instead the ANLA sounds more like an agriculture association in seeking a labor solution outside our borders.

Hey, we?????re all in this game together . . . If you have something positive to contribute, LCN is the forum that will give you that space. (In fact every one of the aforementioned letters can be read in their entirety at landscapearchitect.com /research/article/9930)

LCN honestly invites you to offer solutions, but I?????m still dismayed that so many executive directors of nurseryman associations can only offer up insults and bitterness.

Do you need illegal workers? Well go ahead and get them . . . There?????s nothing to really stop you . . . But it would sure be nice to see the ANLA develop a plan to enhance the workplace and opportunities for career-minded Americans in the industry. Indeed it would be nice to see the ANLA take the high ground on this issue and focus their energy on enhancing the stature of the landscape industry rather than telling everyone that no American citizen wants to be a landscaper. That would be the better long-term solution to assist the hard working American entrepreneurs who obey the laws and who make up the majority of this great and honorable profession . . .

Just some more food for thought . . . or to choke on . . .

God Bless