There’s a pretty active discussion in the MyARRLVoice Facebook group about the ARRL Board’s selection of a new CEO. And, as you can imagine the knives are out. The post by Dave Bernstein is perhaps the most critical. The main thrust of the item is to criticize the “secretive” way that the board selected Howard Michel, WB2ITX as the new CEO, and to call for live-streaming of board meetings, but there are also criticisms of the new CEO and the announcement of his selection.
At issue is his perceived lack of amateur radio activity. The ARRL news story says, “Michel says that some of his favorite activities include attending hamfests to find old stuff to repair or repurpose, contest operating, and DXing, especially on 80/40 meters.” Some hams were quick to dispute that, pointing out that WB2ITX doesn’t have a Logbook of the World account, nor could they find any evidence of contest scores.
The real issue I have with the ARRL board and their announcement of the new CEO is that they (the board) are in a period of time where there is plenty of controversy in regards to their actions over the past year.
While we do give them power to seek out and elect viable candidates for the position, they have acted in ways that do not benefit the League in their actions regarding HOA’s, and Code of Conduct issues.
It is difficult for me, as a Licensed operator, to have confidence that the Board is working for the greater body of members.
If he wasn’t the CEO then someone in ARRL messed up:
“In 2015, Michel was the volunteer president and CEO of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a volunteer-led IRS 501(c)(3) association advancing technology.”
Was he the CEO?
Well, I’ve just done some more research on this. Apparently, his title was president and CEO, but it appears to me that his responsibilities were more along the lines of the ARRL president, Rick Roderick, K5UR. That is to lead the board of directors and be the public face of the corporation. The job description for IEEE president doesn’t really include any financial or managerial responsibilities for the corporation. That job falls to the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, who is an actual employee of the IEEE.
My suggestion is that the BOD withdraw the offer and start over again. This time, make the process open and public and allow members to vet the candidates and offer feedback. This guy is so anti Conservative and Constitution based on his Facebook page, which they edited this morning, that he will lack support of at least 50% of us who’s views he has openly attacked. NOT MY CEO.
It is good to see from the minutes that 7 of the 15 directors wanted to delay the vote. And 6 of the 15 voted against hiring the new CEO. Clearly a split on the Board of directors.