Well, the results are finally in. No, I’m not talking about the national mid-term election results—some of those votes are still being counted. I’m talking about this year’s ARRL board elections. ARRL members have spoken, and four new faces to the board in what was perhaps the most contentious election in a long time.
Three of the five incumbents, plus an incumbent vice director running for the Northwest Division director position, were defeated by candidates calling for more transparency and for changes in the way that the ARRL operates.
Here are the results:
Central Division Director
- Kermit Carlson, W9XA 1,898
- Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L 1,755
Hudson Division Director
- Ria Jairam, N2RJ 1,292
- Mike Lisenco, N2YBB 1,239
New England Division Director
- Fred Hopengarten, K1VR 1,432
- Tom Frenaye, K1KI 1,383
Northwestern Division Director
- Mike Ritz, W7VO 1,589
- Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ 1,308
- Horace Hamby, N7DRW 495
Roanoke Division Director
- George Hippisley, W2RU 1,891
- Dr. James Boehner, N2ZZ 1,365
In the only two contested vice director elections, Mark Tharp, KB7HDX defeated Daniel Stevens, KL7WM and Delvin Bunton, NS7U in the Northwest Division and in the Roanoke Division, William Morine, N2COP defeated John Humphry, W4IM. All newly elected officials will take office at noon on January 1, 2019.
The only real surprise here is that Valerie, NV9L, failed to win in the Central Division. She has certainly made many contributions to amateur radio, both in the DX/contest community and on Ham Nation. Apparently, though, she made some statements that she was forced to retract, and that probably hurt her campaign.
Overall, though, I’m very pleased with the results. Although some of the margins of victory were small—K1VR won by only 49 votes and N2RJ won by 53 votes—I think it’s pretty clear that the members want change. Now, it’s up to the board, including its newest members to effect that change. As always, I’m ready to help in any way that I can.
Bob K0NR says
Kermit Carlson, W9XA is well known in the VHF community and (from my impression) is a positive influence on amateur radio. It does not surprise me he was reelected.
Sara says
100% agreed.
W9XA is right there in the trenches participating with other hams and being involved at all levels from clubs to events to contests ands more.
I got a chance to speak with both him and NV9L at DXCC a few months ago and altothough she wasn’t running yet, I feel like I learned what I needed to know about both then, and my take was reaffirmed at the Chicago Marathon last month.
It doesn’t surprise me Kermit won. It surprises me he didn’t win by more.