[K3CAL] Open letter to the board

[N3AE]

Eric, 

I may need to get a hearing aid because what I heard from you and Ed was that we were "not going to do anything" until a written plan was in place, i..e. stand down all repeater activity until a written plan is prepared. 

If I heard incorrectly, or your intent was different than what was said, then I'll take the blame for stirring the pot. 

This seems like Deja Vu "all over again" from a few years ago when there was a blow-up about the repeater being for the club vs for RACES. I'm really hating repeaters any more. They seem to tear clubs apart. 

Regards 

Shawn 


----- Original Message -----

From: "Eric Christensen" <eric at christensenplace.us> 
To: k3cal at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2016 2:22:25 PM 
Subject: Re: [K3CAL] Open letter to the board 

I don't want to engage in back and forth negativity, but I will take 
this opportunity to clear up a few inaccuracies. 

On 03/04/2016 12:57 PM, David Weaver wrote: 
> Hello all Cara members and Board members. 

> 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. 

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). 

> Instead I was told to return 
> everything and stop work. I still would like to complete this project as 
> I think it would benefit all of Calvert County and its amateur radio 
> operators North and South. I do need the support of the board and 
> Calvert amateur radio Association members. That means I would be put 
> back on repeater committee as the chairman so that I can get the support 
> of the right people at the right time to get this equipment that we have 
> donator our money to operational in a timely manner. 

You originally said you wanted the support from 100% of the members and 
that just isn't going to happen. Honestly, I'm having to go back and 
figure out what has been done to both repeaters because you just started 
doing stuff instead of bringing ideas to the membership and properly 
documenting the project. I don't want to do this haphazardly and going 
forward I want to be methodical and make educated choices. I also want 
to document everything so we have a solid baseline to work from if we do 
implement improvements or need to troubleshoot a problem. 

> Some of you may not know that we have frequencies allocated by T Mark 
> for our link system. If we do not use these frequencies by putting them 
> on the air by April we will lose them they go back to T Mark to be 
> reassigned. 

Yes, you brought this to my attention last week and I acknowledged it. 
I suspect we wouldn't lose the frequencies from T-MARC since linking 
frequencies aren't in high demand and I also think that we'd be able to 
get an extension (much like we did for the 444.950 repeater pair) or get 
a new assignment later if we can't get an extension. 

> If you are interested in getting this equipment running and working you 
> must let the new president know. 

The new President knows, the Board knows, the whole club knows. I'm not 
sure why you make it sound like the President, myself, or anyone else on 
the Board is deaf to what the membership wants. The meeting last night, 
which was very well attended, had lots of discussion about what the 
membership wants and I am pressing forward with that. 

> I hear a lot of you complaining that you don't understand what's going 
> on you must stand up and say something. 

>From whom? I sincerely wish to know since I have not been hearing these 
complaints and I would like to address any issues that members have. 

> Hopefully we can get this Association back together working as a team 
> right now there is no team too many people are being left out. 

The only people I'm aware of that have been "left out" have taken it 
upon themselves to not participate. From what I've seen our Board and 
regular meeting have been well attended and people have been open to 
discussing ideas. 

> *Some 
> people can not join Ares* because they're not liked and are a little 
> different when they get on radio. Others were just taken off because 
> leadership did not like them. 

The proper attitude is what it takes to be a successful member of ARES. 
I cannot, and will not, have members who think it's okay to threaten 
physical violence on my team. If I can't trust someone to keep a cool 
and level head about themselves then they are of no use to me. It has 
nothing to do with being liked or being different. 

> And others are being excluded because they 
> were attacked and the board is still not following the bylaws by keeping 
> that person on the board emails list. 

I'm not sure what you mean. AFAIK, Bob has control of the 
board at k3cal.org email redirector so if he's taken someone off that list 
I'm not aware of it. 

> Let's get this club under control 
> and bring it together as a team I know we all can work together. I think 
> the new administration has great ideas. They just need to learn how to 
> implement them with the Association support which I don't hear or see 
> right now. 

And from what I've seen participation is up, attendance is up, we've 
gotten input from the membership regarding changes to the bylaws that 
the Board has given the thumbs up on and the attendees at last night's 
meeting seemed to support. There are plans for speakers, show-and-tell, 
radio build projects, and more coming up and I'm listening for more 
suggestions. I think I've received enough ideas to cover the rest of 
this year and half of the next! 

So, looking positively towards the future, I think we're moving in the 
correct direction based upon the reactions of the members at last 
night's meeting and from other interactions I've had. Honestly, the 
best part of last night's meeting was the discussions we had where 
everyone (at least appeared) to be comfortable asking questions or 
providing input. 

I'll be asking for input on a couple of plans very soon (I'd be doing 
that now but...) so I hope you and all the other members will provide 
feedback so we can progress in a positive manner. Gross negativity only 
tears us apart as a community and there's been too much of that as of late. 

In closing, I invite all members to help grow our community in a 
positive manner instead of stooping to trying to dig up malice where 
none exists. 

73, 
Eric WG3K 
CARA Vice President 
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