[SJDXA] MORE Major Changes to ARRL By Laws

Tue Dec 26 13:01:49 EST 2017

This email provides information about ARRL Bylaw changes proposed by Delta Division Director K5UZ and others.

I appreciate you making the time to review this information and then take whatever action you feel appropriate.

Note: these proposed ARRL Bylaw changes are different than those proposed by N2YBB

Disclaimer:  The opinions expressed within this document are solely my own and not that of the Frankford Radio Club.

Regards,

John W2GD

ARRL Life Member

________________________________
From: John Crovelli <w2gd at hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2017 6:37 PM
To: cwops at yahoogroups.com
Subject: MORE Proposed Revisions to ARRL Articles and Bylaws

Yesterday I received an email posted by Marty, N6VI regarding proposed revisions to the ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws.  These changes will also be considered at the January ARRL Annual Meeting. It is a much more comprehensive set of bylaw changes which are different than those proposed by N2YBB.

I've reviewed these proposals in more detail and below are both the original N6VI email and the product of my own review.   A link to the full Bylaw proposal document has been graciously provided by WA7LNM.  I have also shared this material with fellow members of the Frankford Radio Club.

I personally have many misgivings regarding these proposed bylaw changes and believe other ARRL Members will feel the same way after they've had an opportunity to review these materials.

To ensure these proposals get the widest possible preview and comment in the limited time still available (just 25 days remain before the January ARRL Board Meeting) your assistance in distributing this information to a much broader audience of ARRL Members and radio clubs is appreciated.

Regards,

John Crovelli, W2GD

ARRL Life Member

CWOPS Life Member

*************************************************

________________________________
From: John Crovelli <w2gd at hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2017 1:31 PM
To: gofrc at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [yccc] [SCCC] Revised ARRL Articles and Bylaws and Motions

Fellow FRCers:

There are events unfolding at the ARRL that deserve your attention and action.  When your holiday festivities quiet down please take a few moments to review these important materials.

Thank You and Merry Christmas.

John, W2GD

******************************************

Major revisions to the ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws will be considered at the ARRL Annual Meeting in Newington on January 19 and 20, 2018.  This is IN ADDITION TO the motions proposed by N2YBB that have been reported previously.

Below are my personal comments based upon a cursory review of the proposed changes to the ARRL governing documents.  There are many changes in the proposal to be considered next month at the ARRL Annual Meeting.  Some will dilute membership privileges, others change the basic governing structure of the ARRL which has stood the test of time over many decades.

Follow the link provided by WA7BNM to view the full text of the change document.

http://www.b4h.net/ARRL_2018_Jan_Redline_BOD.pdf

I want to direct your attention to a few of the changes that quickly caught my eye:

Articles of Association -

Article 11 - gives the ARRL BoD the NEW ability to expel a member as allowed within the Bylaws.

Article 12 - gives the ARRL BoD the NEW ability to expel a Director, Vice Director Officers, etc.  as allowed within the Bylaws.

Bylaws -

Bylaw 2 - For the first time the ARRL BoD will have the ability to vote to remove a League member.  Keep in mind if you are not a League member you cannot continue to serve as a Director.

Bylaw 9 - revokes the current right of a licensed spouse of an SK Life Member to continue the life membership. To me this is equivalent to breaking the contract with the original purchaser.  Surviving licensed spouses presently have the right to continue life membership.

Bylaw 41 - expands the duties of Ethics and Elections Committee.

Bylaw 47(a) NEW - gives the BoD the ability to remove a Director, Vice-Director or Officer.  Note: This appears to be in direct conflict with CT law which says a Director may only be removed by recall vote of his Division's members.  See:

https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2012/title-33/chapter-602/section-33-1088/ item (b)

Bylaw 47(b) NEW - gives the BoD the ability to impose reprimands and censure without prior notice and without affording the accused the right to be heard on the accusations.

Bylaw 48  NEW - imposes binding arbitration in resolution of disputes.  It would curtail current rights to bring suit.

Appendix B - Code of Conduct - completely replaces prior version without any significant changes - in my opinion this a poorly conceived policy statement that should be completely re-written more in line with those of other non profit organizations.

There are just 26 days remaining before the ARRL Board Meeting.  In my personal opinion as an ARRL Life Member (and not your FRC President), something must be done quickly to prevent the ARRL Board of Directors from adopting these changes without adequate review by the membership.

After reading the documents and considering the impact they may have upon you as a League Member and how the ARRL will likely be governed going forward, I urge you to communicate your thoughts on the proposed changes with your Division Director, all other ARRL Division Directors, the ARRL Officers, the ARRL CEO and other ARRL Members.

Note:  The motions of N2YBB that were previously reported are a separate set of issues and are not contained within this revision of the governing documents.  You should consider also expressing your thoughts about the N2YBB motions as well the changes described above.

Do not assume your comments will be distributed to all parties at the ARRL automatically.  Take care to send CC copies to all intended recipients.

Respectfully,

John Crovelli, W2GD

ARRL Life Member

**********************************************

From: Bruce Horn <bhorn at hornucopia.com<mailto:bhorn at hornucopia.com>>

Date: Sun, Dec 24, 2017 at 6:20 AM
Subject: Re: [SCCC] Web Link to Revised ARRL Articles and Bylaws and Motion
To: Marty Woll <n6vi at socal.rr.com<mailto:n6vi at socal.rr.com>>
Cc: SCCC Reflector <sccc at contesting.com<mailto:sccc at contesting.com>>
Hi,
Thanks Marty for making this available. I've posted a PDF of the document at the following link:
http://www.b4h.net/ARRL_2018_Jan_Redline_BOD.pdf
73 de Bruce, WA7BNM

*****************************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Marty Woll <n6vi at socal.rr.com<mailto:n6vi at socal.rr.com>>
To: sccc <sccc at contesting.com<mailto:sccc at contesting.com>>
Sent: Sat, Dec 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Subject: [SCCC] Revised ARRL Articles and Bylaws and Motion

To my fellow SCCC members,.

A set of proposed Articles and Bylaws changes is being proposed by Director Norris (Delta Division), no doubt with substantial drafting by one or more attorneys on the “front row”.

Note in particular the following proposals:

A change to Bylaw 2 would allow the Board to revoke a membership. I wonder how this would sit with Life Members, who paid good and valuable consideration for their life memberships – isn’t that called a contract? I further wonder who among the general membership they might decide to go after?

Bylaw 11 would be changed to as a consequence of removal under the changed Bylaw 46.

Bylaw 41 would have an added provision that the Ethics & Elections Committee apply the Policy on Board Governance and Conduct.

Bylaw 47(a) would allow the Board to terminate the term of an officer, Director or Vice Director by terminating their ARRL membership (therefore rendering them ineligible to serve). This change appears to me to be inconsistent with Section 33-1088 of Connecticut State Law, which provides that, if a director is elected by a subset of the voting body (members, in the League’s case), only the members of that subset can remove him or her. (Of course, I’m not an attorney; it’s just that I can read and understand English.)

Bylaw 47(b) would allow a censure with no advance notice and no opportunity for the targeted individual to be heard.

Bylaw 48 would require the use of binding arbitration and prohibit legal action through the courts.

Less onerous but still likely to be seen negatively by members is the change proposed to Bylaw 9 to eliminate the transferability of a Silent Key’s Life Membership to a surviving spouse who is licensed and a current ARRL member.

If this is not the direction members want ARRL to go, then they had better let their respective directors know ASAP; the Board discussion voting takes place in just four weeks.

Those of you in the Southwestern Division probably know where our Director stands on these changes, but be sure your friends in other Divisions know about this and speak up.

73, Marty N6VI

________________________________
From: sjdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <sjdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of KI4KWR - Steve Molo <ki4kwr at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2017 11:33 AM
To: 'Steve Sullivan'; 'South Jersey DX Association'
Subject: Re: [SJDXA] Fwd: [CDXA] Fw: Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div. Director N2YBB

Guess now we have something to chew on tomorrow night….

From: sjdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:sjdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Steve Sullivan via SJDXA
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2017 11:30 AM
To: sjdxa at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [SJDXA] Fwd: [CDXA] Fw: Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div. Director N2YBB

Begin forwarded message:

From: <k4za at juno.com<mailto:k4za at juno.com>>
Date: December 26, 2017 at 11:01:36 AM EST
To: cdxa at mailman.qth.net<mailto:cdxa at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [CDXA] Fw: Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div. Director N2YBB

The FRC & other large radio clubs (w/members in to contesting & DXing)
are already fighting these changes. They will shift the focus away
from a member-supported/driven organization. NOT GOOD!

About the only thing left to do in the few days remaining to to notify
your Director that you do not support such changes.  For any Maxim
Society
members, it might be prudent to say donations will not be forth-coming
should the chanes pass, etc.
za

Note:  There is a separate effort underway to significantly revise the
ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws.  It appears to be lead by the
Delta Division Director.

More information about that proposal will be provided shortly.

John W2GD

From: John Crovelli <w2gd at hotmail.com<mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com>>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2017 11:27 AM
To: gofrc at yahoogroups.com<mailto:gofrc at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Fw: [yccc] Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div.
Director N2YBB

Forwarded without comment (for now).

John, W2GD

From: w1gd at aol.com<mailto:w1gd at aol.com> <w1gd at aol.com<mailto:w1gd at aol.com>>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2017 10:41 AM
To: w2gd at hotmail.com<mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: [yccc] Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div.
Director N2YBB

You may want to share this with the FRC Membership. This is being
proposed by the Hudson Division Director.

Merry Christmas,
Gerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Gerry Hull <gerry at yccc.org<mailto:gerry at yccc.org>>
To: yccc <yccc at groups.io<mailto:yccc at groups.io>>
Sent: Fri, Dec 22, 2017 9:08 am
Subject: [yccc] Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div.
Director N2YBB

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Bob Wilson, N6TV" <n6tv at arrl.net<mailto:n6tv at arrl.net>>
Date: Dec 21, 2017 9:17 PM
Subject: Major Change to ARRL By Laws proposed by Hudson Div. Director
N2YBB
To: "NCCC Reflector" <nccc at contesting.com<mailto:nccc at contesting.com>>, "NCCC BoD Plus"
<nccc-bod-plus at nccc.cc<mailto:nccc-bod-plus at nccc.cc>>, "MLDXCC Reflector" <mldxcc at contesting.com<mailto:mldxcc at contesting.com>>,
"NCDXC
Reflector" <chat at ncdxc.org<mailto:chat at ncdxc.org>>, "Jim Tiemstra" <k6jat at arrl.net<mailto:k6jat at arrl.net>>
Cc:

"ARRL is a representative democracy — its members control its policies
through the power of the ballot."
Source: http://www.arrl.org/organization-structure

This all could change quickly.

ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, the same Director who
negotiated the flawed Amateur Radio Parity Act, is now proposing a major
change to the longstanding voting rules of the ARRL Board of Directors.

Instead of 15 Directors having sole voting privileges, one per ARRL
Division, he is proposing to give additional voting privileges to the
ARRL
President (K5UR) and the three (3) ARRL Vice Presidents (K0GW, N5ZGT,
K0QB), none of whom are elected directly by the membership.

Effectively, the Dakota Division (ND, SD, and MN) would get 15.8% of the
voting power (3 out of 19 votes) even though they represent less than 3%
of the ARRL membership. It also means that even if all five Directors up
for election this summer are replaced, instead of a potential 8 to 7
majority in favor of more BoD openness, they would now represent an 8 to
11 *minority*.

To review, these five directors (including N2YBB) all supported the
revised Amateur Radio Parity Act, they all voted in favor of the flawed
Code of Conduct, and they all voted in favor of the censuring of N6AA.

I've published N2YBB's proposed changes to the ARRL By-Laws as a single
PDF file here:

https://bit.ly/N2YBBmotions

*I hereby urge our Director, W6RGG, and all ARRL Directors, to vote
AGAINST this proposal. * It's an obvious move to put more power into the
hands of those who already have it, instead of into the hands the ARRL
membership where it belongs.

Feel free to forward these messages.

73,
Bob, N6TV

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Here are some proposed changes to the ARRL Articles of Association and
By-Laws that have been submitted by the Hudson Division Director. Note
that
he has given permission to talk to anyone about it as shown in the note
now
at the top.

---------------------------------------------------
From: Mike Lisenco <n2ybb at arrl.org<mailto:n2ybb at arrl.org>>
As far as I know you can talk about it to anyone. Also, why would you
think
the cover text is confidential. I also have no problem attaching my name
especially since I wrote the damn thing.

Mike
-----------------------------------------------------

The Secretary has received the attached seven changes to the Articles of
Association and By-Laws than Director Lisenco will be making at the
January
board meeting. They have been received and circulated more than 30-days
before the January 19th meeting.

Mike has asked that we include his brief statement (below) as part of
this
notification.

I am introducing a number of amendments to the Articles of Association
and
the By-Laws that are designed to grant voting privileges to the President
and the three Vice-Presidents. They would have voting equality with the
Directors on all matters with one notable exception. They would not be
able to vote in elections for the officer positions.

I believe that this is long overdue. We look to elect from the Board
those
who we feel would be the best leaders of the Board, yet we take their
vote
away as the price of admission. That diminishes their authority and their
ability to lead. It also makes the potential officer talent pool smaller
as, perhaps, the best person for the job won’t run for an officer
position
because they lose their vote.

It doesn’t make sense to me to continue this practice. Let’s get away
from
the “that’s how we always have done it” mentality.

It make sense that we allow the officers the right to vote. Yes, it does
change the political landscape but I think it’s for the better and it
will
make the Board stronger.

I’d be interested in what you think on the matter. We have over a month
to
come to a consensus.

Thank you.

73 de Mike N2YBB
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