|
You Decide
Who Is The Best Qualified Candidate
Why Are Hudson Members
Receiving Another W2GD Email?
Just over two weeks ago I shared with you my ideas on what I find problematic with ARRL governance. I
also offered a list of actions I would take if elected your Director. The information presented was carefully worded to be factual, unambiguous, and free of personal attacks. I believe this campaign should be about issues and one’s own qualifications to address
them, not about attacking other candidates.
Apparently my email to Hudson members touched a nerve with my opponent Ed Wilson, N2XDD. What I
thought to be a simple and straightforward "platform statement" became the centerpiece of an aggressively worded rebuttal issued by Mr. Wilson just days later. He has posted very similar information on his website.
In my opinion Mr. Wilson's September 27 response contains numerous misleading statements and falls
far short on fairness.
I informed the ARRL Ethics and Elections Committee of my displeasure with the content and tone
of the Wilson email. I'm concerned they have chosen to disagree with several of my objections. I'm still awaiting a complete response from them at this writing.
Reluctantly I'm sending you this follow-up message to provide clarity on several items in Mr. Wilson's
campaign communications. I appreciate you indulgence reading this somewhat lengthy message.
Candidates for Director attempt to educate voters on their qualifications by providing information
through the 300 word ballot statement and supplementary campaign communications.
Here are examples of what I view as misconceptions promoted by Mr. Wilson in his recent messaging.
N2XDD said (paraphrasing): "It takes more than being a top contester and DXpeditioner -
that alone does not make him qualified to sit on the board of directors."
W2GD response: My on-the-air skills and achievements are not relevant to being qualified
to serve, let alone the only accomplishments that qualify me to be your next Director. My business management experience and life-long Amateur Radio volunteerism spanning sixty years are an ample basis for your judgment of my worthiness to serve
as your Director.
N2XDD says (paraphrasing): Elections don't validate those who serve, we're all just volunteers.
W2GD response: In my view there is a tangible difference between being appointed to a leadership
position by the ARRL President versus standing election before thousands of Division members. To me that difference is self-evident.
N2XDD says: "I have been on the lookout for these rumored issues of transparency. I find
no substance behind this claim."
W2GD response: I find it incomprehensible Mr. Wilson is somehow unaware members regularly
express displeasure about not being kept informed on proposed ARRL governance changes. This is something that has been ongoing for years and needs to change. Members expect to have the opportunity to be heard and not learn about governance changes after
the fact.
N2XDD says (paraphrasing): "My only conclusion I come to is that he (W2GD)
wants to get donors to stop supporting ARRL, to stop supporting ARRL members like you and me".
W2GD response: This statement is totally false and in my view particularly
inflammatory. How Mr Wilson could ever conclude any candidate for ARRL office would say anything to discourage donor participation in the ARRL is a deliberate attempt to mislead. All members recognize donor support is vital to the ARRL's continued existence. But
to be clear, while I strongly support efforts by the League to seek out generous donor support at every opportunity, I also advocate the ARRL remain a membership centric organization as it has been for over 100 years, where our governance remains solidly in
the hands of the members and not transitioned to any form of donor control.
N2XDD says: “Allegations of secret committee meetings (outside regular Board and Committee
meetings) are non-sense. Allegations of items purposely hidden from members in board meeting minutes is also non-sense".
W2GD response:
These meetings, referred to as the 'shadow board' have been publicly confirmed by multiple ARRL officials. Just last month, New England Director AB1OC said while at NorthEast HamXpo, that such meetings happen and that they are necessary to get things done. Former
ARRL First VIce President K1TWF, a highly respected 23 year member of the ARRL Board, filed a Report to the Board in January, 2024. K1TWF's report documents these unreported and unrecorded "shadow board" meetings in detail and he explains exactly how they
are indeed harmful to ARRL governance. Confirmation by two high level ARRL Board members on the record is substance. These ad hoc meetings effectively often replace debate by
all Directors that should only occur in open Board meetings. On the related subject of Board meeting minutes, my opinion remains unchanged: the present meeting minutes provide only the basics of what was said, the detail leaves Members without a useful
recap of proceedings. Nothing goes deliberately unreported as Mr. Wilson implies but the details are very limited. The essence of debates and the opinions of individual Directors and Management are almost always lost in the editing and brevity. Take a moment
to read one or two on the ARRL website for yourself - my assessment will become self-evident.
N2XD says: "He [referring to W2GD] hides. I volunteer.”
W2GD responses:
This was an insulting and outlandish statement by Mr. Wilson, given my sixty years of volunteerism and service in Amateur Radio leadership positions. For clarity, my experience includes in part: Past Publisher/Editor of the [now ARRL]
National Contest Journal; former NNJ Section Manager, ORS appointee, several terms on the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee, member-at-large on the ARRL President's Study Committee for Codeless Licensing (1989), past President Cherryville Repeater Association,
and President Emeritus - Frankford Radio Club.
N2XDD says: I was made aware that my opponent co-signed a letter to major donors back in
January that made baseless claims and predictions including this alleged donor takeover."
W2GD responds: Yes, I co-signed a letter to ARRL donors, but the content of the letter was
about the proposed changes to ARRL ByLaw 46 then under consideration by the Board. There was no mention at all of a predicted donor takeover in the letter. This is a clearly false statement by Mr. Wilson, which in my opinion was intended to impeach my character.
N2XDD says (paraprhased):
"REPESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY - this statement is a relic of days gone by. As far as I can tell, this was used in the years before (the ARRL) becoming a non-profit corporation."
W2GD responds:
This statement resided on the ARRL website as recently as March of this year and since removed. To me, Representative Democracy captures the essence of ARRL governance - Members elect Directors who pledge to represent and pursue constituent interests first
and the needs of the corporation second. The ARRL is registered in CT as a non-profit "membership" corporation. Under the statues for Membership non-profits, only Members have the authority to remove the leaders they elect. In way of comparison, non-membership
non-profits are most often governed by an appointed board and members on these Boards may be removed by other members of the Board upon which they serve. This distinction to me is important. Recently the ARRL board considered a proposed motion that
would have given the Board the authority to effectively remove a sitting Board member. The motion fortunately was withdrawn before a vote was taken.
N2XDD says (paraphrased for brevity): "My opponent has not thought through the concept of
OPEN BOARD MEETINGS. It would cost more money. ARRL has considered this many times. Live streaming would the destroy the ability of board members to debate, collaborate, and reach consensus openly."
W2GD's response: I have strongly advocated open meetings for many years. Open Board meetings
are the essence of transparency in governance. Members want the opportunity to listen to what their elected representative says in action (as well as that of ARRL Officers, Executive Management and Directors from other Divisions too). I believe the small extra
expense is more than justified to remove the perceived secrecy on the part of many members. We can agree to disagree on this point, but I believe the idea should be again given fair consideration.
N2XDD says (paraphrasing for brevity): my opponent is the administrator of a Facebook group
that is routinely used to attack ARRL governance, leadership employees, and even other members and he publicly denied he is in some way in charge of the group
W2GD's response: My opponent apparently listens to others and doesn't do his homework. It
is a matter of record I am a founding member of a group called MyARRLVoice.ORG. And it's also true that in recent years I've helped provide some oversight on a
Facebook public discussion group of the same name serving as a volunteer Admin. What Mr. Wilson conveniently doesn't to tell Members, these are separate and
unaffiliated entities. Distinguishing between them can be and is often a source of confusion. I'll give Mr. Wilson the benefit of the doubt, he may not know they are not one and the same, nor the full history of ARRL governance events in 2018 which
prompted their existence. I again ask your indulgence as I briefly explain each for context.
MyARRLVoice Dot ORG was founded on January 1, 2018 by W2GD, W6SZN (SK), N3JT, W6OAT, K3RF,
K1VR, K2WR, N6VI, N6TV and N6XI. You likely recognize many of these calls since a high number have held ARRL leadership positions. All of the MAV founders are life-long members and staunch supporters of the ARRL. We came together to advocate for greater transparency
in ARRL governance and to promote high quality stewardship. Our purpose and goals are perhaps best described on our website this way:
myARRLvoice.org is an independent grassroots group working on behalf of our fellow
Members of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), monitoring the activity of ARRL leadership and advocating changes when needed to ensure the organization’s effectiveness in matters of policy and governance, and to foster ethical and competent stewardship.
MyARRLVoice - the
Facebook public discussion group, also came to be in early 2018 and has grown to have 2,800 members. It was independently created by supporters (but not the founders) of MyARRLVoice.org for the purpose of providing a meeting
point for anyone interested in sharing ideas, suggestions, thoughts and opinions on ARRL governance. Message content on the group page is largely unmoderated and not rigorously fact checked - but a strong amount of self-policing between those participating
in discussions regularly occurs. To be clear, the views and opinions expressed on the unaffiliated Facebook public discussion group DO NOT represent the opinions or positions of
MyARRLVoice.org unless specially indicated. Content found on any open internet forum may not always pass the 'truthfulness' test and the traffic may at times seem chaotic, but it provides an opportunity for a wide cross-section of ARRL members to
express themselves in regard to ARRL events. The suggestions, thoughts and opinions expressed are owned solely by those who post and may be supportive, neutral, or uncomplimentary of ARRL programs, leadership, and management. Activity tends to increase when
significant or perhaps controversial events occur, like the dues increase, QST cutback, the proposed changes to ByLaw 46 last January, the ransomware incident and its aftermath beginning in May, and most recently the Director elections presently underway.
All are welcome to join the ARRL governance discussion on Facebook.
THANK YOU for your indulgence by reading this response to what I view as Mr. Wilson's largely unqualified
comments. I hope in the future my opponent will tone down the rhetoric and keep things issues-focused.
It remains up to Members of the Hudson Division to decide who is the best qualified candidate for
Director. I hope you'll exercise your right as an ARRL Member to vote and make W2GD your choice.
Regards,
John Crovelli, W2GD
|
