[HoustonHam] Austin, TX hamfest

[Chris Boone]

Hi Bill!

Good questions and sure they deserve to be answered...

The issue is vote by mail for the TX VHF FM Society...something that has
been a thron in my side since the late 70s.....and more especially the 80s
when a past president of the Society LIED to the membership about it..

The current issues are:
Vote by mail, should it be allowed? (some of us think it should go beyond
that...vote by the NET..this is the 21st century :)
Raising the dues (again)...this is tied to vote by mail because the proposed
method of above may cause some financial hardships....(BUT the dues have
risen from $6 a yr to now $15 or 20 per year in a short time) Besides, the
VHF FM Society gets PAID by ARRL for the rptr information published in the
ARRL's annual Repeater Directory....(its close to TWO grand!)...and there IS
the life membership account which was created to allow members to pay 20-25x
the annual dues and become a life member...this account has the provision to
have the INTEREST drawn ever quarter and used in the general fund...thus
preserving the principle...so WHY are the dues being raised again? Why is
the Society so hurting for money?
CHARGE for Rptr coordinations!!! This HAS been a free service by a volunteer
group...(always has been)...NOW there is a motion to start charging...what
happens if you don't want to pay? No coordination? What about those legacy
rptrs that have been around for decades?? Are they grandfathered?? Why even
charge?? Is the current funds not sufficient?

That's just the tip of the iceberg...but you can see they are important and
vital!!

ANY ham can belong to the VHF FM Society....but NOT every ham who joins can
vote...currently you HAVE to travel to Austin to do that...On officer
elections or matters changing the coordination standards, why not allow
members to vote via mail (or the net?)

I mistyped in the original msg and said you do not have to be a
coordinator...when I should have said, you do NOT have to be a rptr
operator/owner to be a member....

Thanks and I hope that helps!

Chris
WB5ITT
Life member since 1977
Director 1987-1989 and 1997-1999
(Im no life long politician like some.....just someone who got elected and
tried to serve those who elected me)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Buoy [mailto:n5bia at arrl.net] 
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 9:29 AM
> To: houstonham at mailman.qth.net
> Cc: CBoone at earthlink.net
> Subject: Re:[HoustonHam] Austin, TX hamfest
> 
> Chris;
> Can you detail the issue(s) you mentioned, and let the group 
> know the meeting details? Maybe I'm out of the loop, but I'd 
> bet I'm not alone on this... 
> 
> I'm not questioning that there is an issue to resolve, but 
> knowing a little more about the players, the issues, and the 
> stakes will help make for an informed, intelligent decision.
> 
> You state that "...any Ham who shows up at the meeting and 
> pays dues..." can vote. Any dues to any organization, to the 
> ARRL, or ???
> 
> I will be there, and if an issue likely to affect repeater 
> operation for all of us is under consideration, I'd like to 
> put my .02 cents in. I am not a coordinator, or anything like 
> that, just an interested Ham. 
> 
> 73,
> Bill
> N5BIA