[SJDXA] Fwd: A Note to Members from ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR

[Steve Sullivan]

I have not commented on the censure issue because I have not seen or heard directly what caused the board to take that action against someone highly respected in our community.

However, I HAVE read the proposed changes to the bylaws. I have yet to see an answer to my question of why this change is necessary and what benefit there is to ME, a member that is represented by the Board. The Board is the entity that is MY voice at ARRL. Not the officers that are NOT elected by ME.  All I can see is an attempt to water down the members voice in the direction of ARRL. The officers have their job to do and that should not be interfering with the Boards governance. I, again, ask/urge the Board to reject these proposed changes. My quick comment without hearing any reason for the changes is “If it ain’t broke, why fix it”, as my wise grandfather would say. 

Reading the president’s letter, rather than calming any feelings on the subjects, makes me feel like there is some hidden agenda. MY reaction to the letter is that is an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.  Not one defined reason is offered for either the censure or the bylaws proposal. Just generalities that do nothing to alleviate the situation.

There was a saying out there at one time that said “WE are the ARRL”, with the WE being the members. I have been a life member for 40 years and this has been the first time I have questioned the direction the League is headed. Listen to the voices!  It is not just one person orchestrating “an organized misinformation campaign” (a comment that offends me and insults my intelligence), it is many MEMBERS that want to know what is going on in the organization that is SUPPOSEDLY OUR VOICE. 

Steve Sullivan KZ2I


Begin forwarded message:

> From: "ARRL Members Only Web site" <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
> Date: January 15, 2018 at 9:49:02 PM EST
> To: kz2i at aol.com
> Subject: A Note to Members from ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR
> 
> 01/15/2018
> In the last few weeks, the ARRL’s Board of Directors has been the
> subject of an organized misinformation campaign. It is being
> orchestrated by a group of hams, some of whom are well-intentioned but
> have been misled. This effort, which consists of a series of
> mischaracterizations, initially dealt with (1) the ARRL Board’s
> censure of an ARRL Director, and (2) some proposed revisions to ARRL’s
> Articles of Association and Bylaws that are likely to be considered at
> the upcoming ARRL Board meeting and which were circulated by a member of
> the Board. None of the proposed Article and Bylaw changes has yet been
> addressed by the Board of Directors. More recently, other equally
> erroneous and false statements have been made with respect to completely
> unrelated issues, in an effort to draw into question ARRL’s
> decision-making processes. The principal suggestion is that ARRL
> operates under some “cloak of secrecy.” The criticism is unfair and
> undeserved.
> 
> ARRL’s representative system of governance, which has worked
> exceptionally well in the advocacy and promotion of Amateur Radio and
> the interests of ARRL members for more than 100 years, is unchanged. And
> the legislative and other advocacy positions currently being pursued are
> critical to the long-term survivability of the Amateur Radio Service.
> 
> The ARRL Board does seek thoughtful, informed input on policy issues
> concerning Amateur Radio from its roughly 150,000 members. ARRL’s
> governance structure provides that regionally elected, volunteer
> directors will represent the interests of the members in their
> respective Divisions, working collectively and collegially within our
> Board to make policy and to advocate their constituents’ interests.
> ARRL’s Board members hold cabinet meetings and forums at hamfests and
> conventions, and they staff ARRL booths at hamfests and conventions in
> order to find out what interests and concerns you have as ARRL members.
> They take this feedback from you, and they come to Board meetings twice
> a year to make policy for the organization. They work together
> collegially to develop the best policy decisions. This structure
> presumes that the Board’s collective wisdom is far greater than that
> of any one Board member, and each Board member is obligated by our
> Articles and Bylaws to come to meetings with a good idea of what the
> members need and what is best for Amateur Radio as a whole.
> 
> As is the case with most large, national non-profit associations, ARRL
> Board meetings are not open to the public. It has always been that way,
> as a matter of necessity. That is because, at all such meetings,
> confidential issues such as spectrum protection, employee compensation,
> financial information, and FCC submissions are candidly discussed, and
> the members’ interests at those meetings are advocated by the
> Directors on a representative basis.
> 
> Unfortunately, it was necessary for the Board to take the highly unusual
> action of publicly censuring one of its members recently. The Board
> heard the allegations made by an ARRL member of what transpired at an
> Amateur Radio event; it heard reports from other amateurs who were
> there, and it heard all the information that the Director involved chose
> to present. Everyone had a chance to speak and to evaluate the
> presentations. The Board, in an 11 to 3 vote with one abstention, took
> action to protect the organization’s integrity based on the
> information presented. This process and procedure are what nonprofit
> associations have to be prepared to employ, and do employ, to maintain
> order within their organizations and to ensure that the interests of the
> affected Director are protected as well. This is not a procedure that
> any nonprofit organization would conduct publicly.
> 
> The ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of Members of the Board
> of Directors and Vice Directors has been drawn into question, probably
> as the result of the fact that the Board’s censure decision was based
> upon a violation of that policy by the Director involved. The Policy is
> intended to protect the democratic decision-making processes by which
> ARRL has operated effectively for so long, and to set forth principles
> to guide an organization’s decision making and the behavior of
> individual board members when acting on behalf of ARRL. When it was
> adopted by the Board a year ago, it was posted for ARRL members to read.
> The policy calls for honesty, integrity, transparency, confidentiality,
> and equity. The purpose of adopting such a statement formally is to
> provide employees, volunteers, and board members with guidelines for
> making ethical choices and to ensure that there is accountability for
> those choices.
> 
> When board members of a nonprofit adopt a code of ethics, they are
> expressing their commitment to ethical behavior. It is intended to
> protect the Board’s deliberations and to protect the staff from
> inappropriate actions by Board members. It seeks to preclude precisely
> the type of selective disclosures and unilateral and subjective
> characterizations of proposed Board actions that have happened recently.
> There is nothing at all insidious about the policy, which is subject to
> regular review and modification, as are all other ARRL organizational
> documents.
> 
> As to the criticism of the proposed Articles and Bylaws changes, the
> Board has not yet considered them. It may or may not adopt some or all
> of the changes recommended by its Executive Committee or by an
> individual Director. Any responsible Board of Directors regularly
> reviews, amends and updates its Articles and Bylaws. And ARRL member
> input is welcome on all such subjects. Indeed, the recommended Article
> and Bylaw changes were not considered to be Board confidential. The
> problem, however, is that it is not fair to members, or to the
> representative Directors who have yet to evaluate them collectively, to
> have the proposals mischaracterized or misrepresented.
> 
> ARRL Directors are volunteers. They are smart, dedicated radio amateurs
> who each devote thousands of hours per year of their own time to
> representing you as best they can.
> 
> To those who try to suggest that the Board has abandoned its obligation
> to the members in favor of the organization — you draw a distinction
> that doesn’t exist. The Board absolutely understands that the members
> are the organization. The members of ARRL are always best served by an
> informed Board that works together to make policy that is in the best
> interests of the organization. The divisive tactics that are being used
> now, commenced through disinformation and a lack of candor, are harmful
> not only to the organization, but to Amateur Radio operators everywhere,
> the good work of the ARRL staff, and the Service that we love so much.
> 
> Rick Roderick, K5UR, President
> 
> ARRL — the national association for Amateur Radio
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> ARRL Southern New Jersey Section
> Section Manager: Thomas J Arey, N2EI
> n2ei at arrl.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
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