Concern over the ARRL Board’s actions, including:
- the ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of Members of the Board of Directors and Vice Directors,
- The censure of Southwestern Division Director Dick Norton, N6AA, and
- other proposals that would, in effect, make the ARRL less democratic,
is growing. In addition to letters being sent directly to board members, by individuals and clubs, a group of prominent amateur radio operators have set up the website myARRLvoice.org.
According to the website,
myARRLvoice is an independent grassroots group working on behalf of our fellow Members of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), monitoring the activity of ARRL leadership and advocating change to ensure the organization’s effectiveness in matters of policy and governance, and to foster ethical and competent stewardship.
Associated with the website, is the myARRLvoice Facebook group, where these issues are being discussed. The group has more than 500 members already, and is growing rapidly. I just spent more than a half hour scanning the discussions there, and many of them have some real substance.
If you are concerned about these issues, and haven’t already contacted your director about them, please do so. myARRLvoice.org has set up a page on The Action Network to allow you to do this quickly. The next ARRL Board meeting is on January 19, so time’s running out for you to make your voice heard.
Dave New, N8SBE says
I used the interface on the website to send a ‘canned’ letter addressed supposedly to ‘all directors and officers’, against my better judgement (form letters are almost always universally ignored by elected representatives, and especially from non-constituents), but mainly because I was pressed for time at the time, so I didn’t end up writing (yet) the personal email I’d like to send to Dale Williams, our Great Lakes Division Director.
For some reason, I thought that Dale had voted against the N6AA censure, but I looked at the minutes of that meeting again, and found that he had actually voted for it during the roll call vote. Since there is no record of the earlier (on that call) voice vote, I don’t know if he voted originally against it, but was afraid to go on record in the face of the majority.
Sigh. I saw Dale at the last hamfest I was at, but because at the time I thought he had voted against the censure, I didn’t take the opportunity to bend his ear. I guess I owe that to him now. I’m really disappointed that he didn’t stand up against the majority of the board, when the circumstances surrounding the censure were so suspicious.
Dan, I’m sorry that you lost your Vice Director bid by such a small margin. If you ever decide to run again, you will have my vote for sure.
Dan KB6NU says
Not only did Dale vote for the censure, I believe he was the chair of the Ethics and Election Committee at the time of the vote. In the form letter he sent to several ARROW members who urged him to reverse the censure, he wrote, “The Board’s decision to censure Dick Norton represents a decision that was made by a significant majority of the Board (11 to 3). That vote speaks volumes.” What speaks volumes to me is that the Board still refuses to say anything more than that. By refusing to give a clear reason for this censure, they are just asking for criticism.
Thanks for your vote of confidence, Dave, but I’m now ineligible to serve on the Board because I am in the ham radio business.
John A, Demetrius says
We seem to be moving a way from being a membership organization to a pure nonprofit. If we are a membership organization, than we have to be a democratic organization. That is an organization where free discussion is allowed, not stymied.
Ed KC8SBV says
2018 HB is bigger than ever with no projects in it. Symptom of the problem, who cares, why is it that way? ARRL isnt who they were, and probably no going back.