[K3CAL] Open letter to the board

[Eric Christensen]

On 03/04/2016 03:47 PM, David Olenjack wrote:
> So I just read the email above  from Charlie and I am confused
> about something.  I saw an email response from Eric beneath it.
> Either my email is messing up, or Eric chose to reply to a limited
> number of people and not post his response on the reflector for all
> to see.  I am a bit disheartened by this as such an action could
> easily be seen as purposely trying to hide information from the
> members.  I'm not implying in any way that this was the intent, I'm
> just saying that this lack of transparency can have very negative
> consequences on your reputation.

No, the response went by way of the email reflector (see
http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/k3cal/2016-March/003354.html).  Not
sure why you didn't receive it but it was sent that way.

> Also I have a bit of an issue with Eric's message, which I'll quote
> here:
> 
> *Dave Weaver's Initial Statement:*
>> It was brought to my attention that the installation of new
>> equipment for the repeater for Prince Frederick project was to be
>> halted at March Meeting until a new written plan was in place. As
>> per the new president Ed Noell.
> 
> *Eric's Response:* No, this is neither what happened nor what was
> intended to happen.  We were specifically talking about *future*
> projects and trying to actually create a plan going forward for
> what we want to do 1, 3, and 5 years out as well as completing the
> Prince Frederick Project.  Work is continuing on the Prince
> Frederick Project (see below).
> 
> Now the issue I have is that this is just not correct.  Eric
> reported from the Repeater Committee about the 1, 3, and 5 year
> plan that was being constructed as to what the plans were for the
> repeaters in the future, in which he discussed ideas about linking
> the two repeaters (.950 and .985) and possibly adding a digipeater
> to the .950 machine. Jim (K3UGA) asked why we weren't going to just
> finish the project with the PF machine that had already been
> approved and which had funds already allocated.  Eric responded
> that we were going to do that, as well as these other things too,
> as outlined in the new 1, 3, and 5 year plan.

Perhaps this is part of the misunderstanding.  The digipeater part of
the Prince Frederick Project has always been a part of the project and
was approved along with the voice repeater.  I believe Jim's concern
was a focus on the digipeater and not on linking the repeaters.

My response (although perhaps it wasn't clear?) was that I planned on
working on both simultaneously and was not favoring either part of the
project ahead of the other.

> So if I'm right, Eric said that this work was going to happen,
> along with other work that was part of the proposed 1, 3, and 5
> year plan.

I had placed both the linking of the voice repeaters and the
installation of the packet digipeater in the 1 year plan (stuff to
happen this year) as a recommendation to the club from the repeater
committee as we want to go ahead and get this stuff done.

> If this is the case, then Dave is 100% correct.  You cannot just
> halt work that has already been approved, with money allocated from
> the treasury, because you want to additional work and you haven't
> even come up with the full plan of the additional work you want to
> do.

No additional work, see above.

> If we had a plan that was approved by the membership and which had
> funds allocated, then we need to finish that plan.

Which is what we're doing.

> Any future plans (1, 3, and 5 year or otherwise) are separate
> orders of business, and until voted on and approved (with
> allocation of new funds) do not count for anything as far as the
> organization is concerned.

Correct, see above.

> And yes, Ed did "table" the discussion until the Repeater Committee
> came back with a finalized plan to submit to membership.  Now, it
> is my belief that he wasn't intentionally trying to stop a project
> that was already approved.  However, because the Repeater Committee
> was trying to lump that already approved work in with new work (if
> I'm understanding this correctly), that is effectively what
> happened.

Correct, this was not to stop work on the Prince Frederick Project but
rather to get input from the membership on what else they'd like in
the 1, 3, and 5 year plans before presenting the plans (of which I was
trying to get input at the meeting).

> Eric also states that "And from what I've seen participation is
> up, attendance is up".  I think this might have a bit to do with
> people coming to the meetings to try to figure out what is going
> on.  Because let's be honest, there's one side of the issue that is
> speaking out loud and often, and the other side that is sending
> emails only to specific people, and when asked say things like
> "it's a long story" and "I don't want to get into it right now".

I'm not sure which side I'm supposed to be on in this.  Personally,
I've been trying to avoid the negativity that drove four members away
from the club (all of whom are back, now, thankfully).  I don't react
to screaming so if I'm on the side of "I don't want to get into it
right now" understand that it's because I wish all the negativity had
never happened and that dwelling on it only hurts the community overall.

> I've said this before and I will say it again.  CARA is the only
> link some of us have to Amateur Radio and whatever happens needs to
> happen for the betterment of the organization. This nonsense needs
> to be resolved and we need to move forward.

Completely agree.  I'm doing my best to get presenters scheduled for
upcoming meetings and am trying to get folks to come in and talk about
their adventures in ham radio (what they've been doing/experimenting
with/researching recently).  Getting more folks on the air is
important for the community and diversifying our interests is great.

To go off on a tangent for a moment I'd like to give some examples of
what I've heard other people are doing or are interested in that I
think would be great presentations or show-and-tells for the meetings:

Don KR3A just finished a CW class where he's now up to 25 WPM and is
starting another class that will take him up to 30 WPM.  Karl, KG1L,
is building 2.4 GHz antennas from cans and other assorted items.  Jim,
K3UGA, is interested in most everything but has been working on his
go-boxes that have everything needed for emergency operating.  Bob,
N3PPH, chases DX constantly and would likely have some interesting
stories to share.  Dave, KB3RAN, does a lot of portable HF digital
operations with a solar panel.  And Ron, WA4PRR, is interested in
microwave work and has a lot to share.

These are just some of the examples of stuff that we should be sharing
as a community.  Instead we seem to be focused on negativity.  We
should be coming together to share information.  Instead, we can't
seem to move forward because a couple of people are trying to stir up
trouble.  So you'll have to excuse me for trying to keep the
negativity to a minimum, in spite of being targeted by it, as I'd much
prefer to focus on the positives and move into the sharing of
information and getting more people on the air than dealing with
threats and disparaging comments.

73,
Eric WG3K