Here are the minutes for the latest ARRL Board meeting, which took place in Newington on January 17-18, 2020. Interesting reading as always.
The President appointed Vice Directors Luetzelschwab, Zygielbaum and Tharp as tellers. First Vice President Widin took the chair and opened the floor for nominations for President. Mr. Ritz nominated Mr. Tiemstra for President. Mr. Norris nominated Mr. Roderick for President. On the motion of Mr. Ryan, seconded by Mr. Holden, it was VOTED to close nominations. Ballots were distributed, collected and counted by the tellers with the following results: Mr. Roderick, 8; Mr. Tiemstra, 7. Mr. Roderick was declared re-elected President (with applause).
What’s interesting to me is that K5UR was only re-elected by a single vote.
After a couple of other officer elections, they held the vote for CEO.
President Roderick opened the floor for nominations for Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Carlson nominated Dr. Michel. President Roderick stated that this would be a Yes/No vote. Ballots were distributed, collected and counted by the tellers with the following results: Yeas, 6; Nays, 9. Dr. Michel was not re-elected Chief Executive Officer.
I find it kind of odd that the board would have to vote for officers, such as the CEO and CFO, and that this is done annually. I’m also curious as to what kind of contract Michel had and what it had to say about the possibility that he could be voted out at any time by the Board.
There are some other interesting things in the minutes, including:
- A proposal to make it less expensive for older members to become Life Members (#40,41). The motion reads, “The ARRL establish a reduced-rate, revenue-neutral Life Membership program for individuals age 70 or older, with cumulative annual membership of 25 years or more, at an initial rate of $750.” To me, this seems too little and too late. I’m not sure that many 70-year-olds are going to find this an attractive offer, since they’re going to have to live until they’re 85 for this to pay off for them.
- The HF Band Planning Committee submitted a report (#32,33). I’ve reported on this elsewhere.
- The Ad Hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee is back with several whacks at “describing different but acceptable approaches to obtain relief from private land use restrictions impacting Amateur Radio station antenna structures.” The next step is for the committee to “to proceed to obtain Congressional sponsorship, employing any of these three approaches and using its best judgement on any alterations or modifications that our advisors or sponsors may require or suggest.” (#51)
- Expanded board meeting reporting (#55). Let’s face it. Board meeting minutes can be vague and leave a lot to the imagination. Witness the current issue of the CEO firing. The minutes have very little to say about that. With that in mind, the board has asked the staff to “produce a sample, expanded report for Board- confidential distribution only, of the January 2020 Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors per the extended format proposed by the Committee on Communications.” Note that they don’t say it will be distributed to members, but perhaps, in the future, we’ll get more than what we’ve been getting.
- Strategic planning (#65). Noting that the current strategic plan was meant to carry the ARRL through 2020, some board members thought it might be a good idea to come up with a new one. This is a great idea, but, of course, the devil is in the details. This item notes, “The ARRL Strategic Planning Committee shall be chaired by the ARRL President, or their designate, and will at a minimum consist of the ARRL CEO, and additional ARRL Board members and Officers with experience in strategic planning. The committee shall also include others, (including outside consultants and appropriate ARRL staff), as the committee deems necessary to fully complete its mission.” Notice that no mention is made of including any rank-and-file ARRL members. I’d suggest that it’s not going to be very successful if they don’t.
- Schmucks like you and me might someday be able to attend board meetings (#67). The board asked the Programs & Services Committee to evaluate a by-laws change that would allow members to attend the public portion of board meetings. I still say that they should live-stream the meetings.
That’s all from me. If you do take the time to read the minutes, let me know if you find something else of interest there.
Jim Cook says
It took them this long to produce the minutes? The ARRL is lucky we don’t have any alternative organizations to join instead.
D Jeffrey Blumenthal KB9CZ says
The meetings should be streamed except for personnel discussions.
Goody K3NG says
I find the two year contract with a board vote required for renewal for the CEO position to be odd and problematic. It makes the CEO’s ongoing employment rather binary and doesn’t lend itself to a typical corporate employment process with constructive feedback and corrective action. It’s easier for board members to just vote a CEO out rather than going through an iterative process. It also probably doesn’t allow for a severance agreement and an orderly and planned transition of duties.
I’m dismayed that in the ARRL website article announcing the interim CEO we were promised more information in the minutes however the only additional information the minutes essentially provided was the vote tally. So much for transparency. Oh, that’s right, I forgot. This is a “personnel matter.”
Goody K3NG says
The Board would declare the whole meeting a personnel discussion. :-D
Ken Dickson W6MF says
The actions taken by this board over the last few years has been rather disturbing. Since David Sumner left we’ve now had 3 CEO’s, one an interim. 2 very short timers. As I read the January minutes the CEO was voted out and within the next couple of actions Mr. Shelley, by name, was already voted into the interim position and then an item or two later he was voted in as the Secretary. Looks like there may have been a little collusion involved in this hasty appointment. I’m a 50 year member of ARRL and have tried to support the organization financially and as an Amateur Radio Operator. These under the table activities that are obviously taking place do not represent the Membership and they appear to be becoming more destructive than constructive. I’ve been in business for lots of years and outward appearances reveals a lot of information even though published information does not always reveal the actual happenings of an activity. There is an old saying “figures don’t lie, but liars will figure” and I fear that we, the membership, is being subjected to some of that at this time. We do not need politics involved in this organization. Get them out! I can’t imagine anyone wanting to take this CEO job if you are up for a vote every year. Something very wrong here!!