[PBARC] FW: Resignation of the ARES SEC effective 2 AM - Thursday 30 April 2009

[E Glenn Wolf Jr]

FYI -

 

73,

glenn

 

From: John Nordlund [mailto:jnordlund at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 02:43
To: aresraces at yahoo; Arkansas_Razorback_Net at yahoogroups.com; Georgia Seward;
Steve Porter; kg5ks at arrl.net; w5mdp at arrl.net; John Godfrey; n5jfd at arrl.net;
n5tfs at nea-rc.org; w5ars at hotmail.com; Glenn Wolf; JOE GIDDENS;
kb5ssw-1 at sbcglobal.net; hamsat1 at cox.net; bismith at uark.edu;
whamm407 at sbcglobal.net; w5lvb at arrl.net; KB5ILY - Travis W. Burton; CAUHF
GROUP
Subject: Resignation of the ARES SEC effective 2 AM - Thursday 30 April 2009

 

When I accepted the position of SEC for Arkansas ARES, I thought it would be
good to be able to work on advancing ham radio as an EmComm tool in the eyes
of served agencies all over the state.  Had things worked out that way it
would in fact have been a good thing.

Since them, I have been cussed at, ignored by most and lied to by some.  For
some reason it seams that the majority of the DEC in Arkansas don't think
ham radio should be involved with the hospitals.  Actions do speak loudest
here, so look around to see if your DEC has a standing effort to get a ham
operator lined up with the hospital.  The ones that are actually doing their
job will stand out.  

I do not understand this point of view considering that the hospital will be
at the center of any emergency in your community.  But my opinion does not
matter so much now.  Just consider this.. If hams refuse to work with the
hospitals for any reason now, should you be surprised when the hams don't
get called to work when there IS an emergency?  Have you been practicing the
skills the hospital will need during and emergency.  Will the hospital even
know who you are?  They won't have time to train you during an emergency.
This makes you a liability instead of an asset.

I will admit freely to mishandling some personality issues that came up.  I
don't do Political Correctness.  I often say exactly what I mean to say
which unfortunately offends some people.  Since the DEC in that situation
was not communicating to me what was planned, I was effectively blindsided,
and I did not handle the situation very well.    I could have done better if
I had a clue what was happening in that district.  But the DEC was not
talking to me.

Some people complained when I spoke simple truth about the EmComm mission
that I was "too negative" in my remarks.  Sometimes the truth IS a negative
thing, get over it.  

Latest is the flap over a proposed trip to Fayettville to discuss the CAUHF
WarnIM system with media outlets that are not getting storm spot information
for the public from any source in a timely manner.  The served entity was
requesting ham radio assistance to solve an information problem relating to
"the immediate safety of life and property" that the existing Skywarn group
was apparently unwilling to address.  

If I remember right the mission of ARES had something to do with Emergency
Communications.  

I was asked to attend to advise on the legal issues of ham radio involvement
with the media.  I was also asked to attempt to get any OEM contacts and
other groups to meet with the CAUHF reps while they were there.  Before I
could make any call to anyone, an email message was sent mentioning that I
would be riding up to attend the meeting.  The principles of the existing
Skywarn net seeing that email (that I did not write) immediately fired off a
complaint to J.M. Rowe the Section Manager.  No attempt to contact me was
ever made.  It was just another example of the DEC ignoring the SEC.   Some
people seem to be more interested in preserving their little empire than in
serving the public interest.

The final summation of that is that I am not able to promote the safety of
the public because certain people got all offended that they might not be
the only game in town anymore.  If this is what ARES is about then I can not
be a part of it.

I have pondered this move for a while now.  Only one person has tried to
talk me out of it.  From the people who might have changed my mind I got
silence.   Silence doesn't solve problems, it lets them grow.  So now they
can grow without me.  The ARES organization in Arkansas is broken.  In my
opinion, it is broken beyond fixing.  It will only amount to something when
the empire building, back stabbing, and power mongering is put out of the
picture.

Some people will try to read all amnner of things into what I have written
here.  There is no secret message.  I have said exactly what I intend to
say, and I know it will make me a very unpopular person with many in the
state.  Oh well, you didn't like me before so what did I lose? 

Some of you have supported the things I asked you to do.  Some of you have
made me believe for a time at least that what we were doing was important
and would make a difference in how ham radio was perceived by the served
agencies in Arkansas.

You know who you are, and I want to thank each one of you.  It means a lot
to me.  The one thing I have learned is who my real friends really are.

I will miss working with you as SEC to accomplish these goals.  I intend to
continue working for the hospital communication programs of ADH.  If you
want to help, contact me.  I will find you a place to be useful without
regard to your membership in ARES or lack thereof.  

I know some will point to that and say that I am anti-ARES now.  I might be,
I might not be.  What I have no time for is the pissing match over who will
be in charge.  The SERVED AGENCY is in charge.  They always have been.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is a
liar or an idiot.  Some of you need to go back and read the books again and
re-learn that concept. 

 I know what agency I represent, and from this point forward I will do so.
If ARES wants to be a part of the ADH and Hospital Communications program,
there is room.  For those ARES leaders who don't want to work with the
hospitals, fine,  we will proceed without you.

So, in closing, do not send NIMS certificates or ARES reports to me as I
will not be involved in handling any of those items.  All files I had in my
possession have been purged from my computers, and the drive space
reformatted.  Send all queries about SEC business to J.M. Rowe, as most of
you have been doing anyway.  It shouldn't change things for most of you very
much.


John Nordlund - AD5FU

Feel free to distribute this message to anyone that wants to see it.  Some
of them can use a good laugh.