[MRIC] Information About the November 10 MRIC Meeting

Fri Nov 9 11:57:35 EST 2007

Brett,

I am sorry that you feel I was attempting to degrade you.  I was not.  
Yes, I know that you were "...appointed Chairman of MRIC..." by the 
Emergency Management Association, but I also seem to remember at the 
first MRIC Meeting held in February 2007 you saying that until we hold 
elections to elect a Chairman, that while you were appointed as 
Chairman, it was to be viewed as an Interim Position.  Yes, you are the 
Chairman however one looks at it.  That is not in question.  What is in 
question is the range of authority of any MRIC Chairman.

Please do not view this as an attempt on my part to have the last word.  
It is not.  It is merely a manner to share my thoughts and views on a 
topic of interest to MRIC with the MRIC members.

While I might disagree with you on various matters regarding RACES, I 
would never attempt any sort of personal degradation of you or your 
character in any type of forum be it public or private, simply because I 
do not know you well enough. 

I do believe that your spirit is in the right place when it comes to 
MRIC, and I also believe that you are doing your best to see that MRIC 
remains a viable dynamic group.

Regarding your initial e-mail response to me regarding my having someone 
be my proxy, I did not see where you acknowledged "your acceptance" of 
my having someone being allowed to vote for me after consulting with me 
on the matter.  Your response appeared to indicate that you were not 
going to allow this to occur, hence my e-mail to the MRIC members on 
this matter.

I do not see where I said anything to slander, libel, degrade or 
humiliate you in my e-mail to the MRIC members.  If I offended you, I am 
sorry as that was never my intent.  My intent was merely to state my 
position on a subject that we disagreed on to the MRIC members in case 
they found it worthwhile to vote on because you had not 
replied/responded to my private e-mail to you and the potential proxies 
after a period of almost 36 hours, and I wanted to ensure that the 
masses knew of my desire to be there and vote.

Regarding your suggestion that I send anybody from Harford County, while 
I tried to find a Harford County RACES "member" to attend, I was 
unsuccessful, hence my attempt to still be represented by a proxy.  
Rather than sending anyone as you suggested, I at least am trying to get 
someone who is familiar with and knows what is going on with MRIC so as 
not to waste the committee's time.

I do not believe my original request/notification was unreasonable, nor 
do I believe I that I wrote anything improper or untrue at any time.  
Yes, you may disagree with some of what I wrote, but that does not mean 
it is untrue or inaccurate.  It only means it is disagreeable from your 
perspective, just as what some of what you wrote was disagreeable to 
me.  I do understand your being uncomfortable with my having another RO 
serving as my proxy, but that does not necessarily mean that there is 
anything wrong with my desire to have another RO be my proxy since I 
will not be able to attend tomorrow's meeting.

73 & Submitted with all due respect to ALL MRIC Members,

Patrick L. Scolla, Ph.D., WB0EGR
Harford County RACES Officer
Harford County ARRL Emergency Coordinator

BrettHam at aol.com wrote:
> Pat,
>
> I was appointed Chairman of MRIC by the Emergency  Management Association, 
> not Interim Chairman. Please let us not start with the  personal degradation 
> again.
>  
> I have noted that George Remhof will be voting for you, but it is not  
> appropriate for another jurisdiction to vote for you. This whole issue can be  
> averted if you just send someone, anyone, from Harford county to vote for you. I  
> am not interested in entering into an online debate, because past experience 
> has  proven fruitless.
>  
> For those that are interested, here was my response to Pat earlier, and I  
> have nothing more to say on this issue, unless a member present at the meeting  
> makes a motion:
>  
> Gentlemen,
>
> I am not comfortable letting an RO from one  jurisdiction cast more than one 
> vote. This has nothing to do with any of you  personally, but I think there 
> may be the appearance of inequality by others. I  would hate to start a trend 
> where ROs stop coming to the meeting and give their  voting rights away to 
> another RO. I know that is not what you are doing, but if  I allow this, I will 
> have to allow that, and I think it would seriously  jeopardize my ability to 
> ensure other members that we are all  equals.
>
> It is not unusual for a committee of member organizations  (as MRIC is a 
> committee of jurisdictions) to restrict voting rights to someone  from a member 
> organization (i.e. each jurisdiction sends a representative to  vote), and not 
> allow written proxy votes or giving your voting rights to another  member 
> organization (i.e. jurisdiction) to cast. So I think we will stick to the  de facto 
> rule that the RO must send a substitute from their jurisdiction to  vote, or 
> not be counted.
>
> I hope you will not take this personally,  and can see the importance of 
> keeping the requirement, and the impression, of  fair play. Of course you may 
> bring this up at a meeting for a vote, but I would  prefer we not have to spend 
> precious meeting time on this, but instead focus on  our objectives. Thank you.
>
> Brett Hammond
> Chairman,  MRIC
>
>
> In a message dated 11/9/2007 10:00:43 A.M. Eastern Standard  Time, 
> wb0egr at comcast.net writes:
> My Fellow RACES Officers:
>
> I would  like to let my fellow ROs know that I will not be able to attend 
> the MRIC  Meeting on Nov 10, 2007 because of some dental surgery I’ll be 
> having done  later today. However, I do wish to participate in the 
> meeting and in order  to do so, I asked two of our fellow members if they 
> would by my proxy (one  primary and one alternate). If George Remhof, 
> KB3LJB, attends as planned,  then he will be my proxy and cast any votes 
> for Harford County after he  contacts me via cell phone to brief me on 
> the matter and obtain my vote. If  George is unable to make it, then Dan 
> Blassberg, KB8YPY, will become my  proxy and after he contacts me via 
> cell phone to brief me on the matter and  obtain my vote.
>
> Earlier in the week I sent Brett Hammond, K3TAL, the  Interim Chairman 
> for MRIC, an e-mail notifying him of my inability to attend  the Nov 10 
> meeting and my intent to have a proxy represent me. Brett replied  to my 
> e-mail stating that he was uncomfortable with this and while he does  not 
> mistrust me, he was not willing to allow another RO to cast a vote for  
> another jurisdiction’s RO on the grounds that it might appear as some  
> sort of inequality to other jurisdictions. He then elaborated that if he  
> were to allow this, then he would have to allow that, and that he  
> believed it would lead to his ability to ensure to the other members  
> that we are all equals.
>
> I reminded Brett that while, yes, he is the  Interim Chairman of MRIC, 
> and he is not the MRIC rule maker. We, the  Maryland RACES Officers are 
> the rule makers by our voting on various items.  I also stated to Brett 
> that the more jurisdictions that can cast a vote on a  particular matter, 
> the more legitimate the outcome will be.
>
> I also  proposed to Brett that since he personally is uncomfortable with 
> allowing  another RO to cast my vote after consulting with me via 
> telephone, then the  matter should be voted upon by the MRIC members. I 
> have yet to receive a  response from Brett on this.
>
> So, to you my fellow RACES Officers I am  providing you with notice that 
> I intend to have George Remhof, KB3LJB, cast  votes for me, the Harford 
> County RO, after consulting with me via telephone,  and if George is 
> unable to make it, then Dan Blasberg, KB8YPY, will be the  one who will 
> cast votes for Harford County after consulting with my via  telephone. I 
> also wish to state that I in no way will attempt to influence  their vote 
> for their jurisdiction.
>
> If any of my fellow ROs are  uncomfortable with this, then I suggest 
> someone make a motion at the  beginning of the Nov 10 MRIC meeting to put 
> this to a vote, and include  Harford County in this vote.
>
> 73,
>
> Pat Scolla, WB0EGR
> Harford  County RACES Officer
> Harford County ARRL  EC
>
>
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