Friend of AM loses ARRL elex

[WA3VJB]

ARRL Delta Division Director Mickey Cox, K5MC, did not win re-election to another term according to results announced in recent weeks, and will leave the League's Board of Directors where he has served since 2009.

Cox campaigned on a platform of making the ARRL more receptive to the concerns of its subscribers, but acknowledges the difficulty he faced overcoming those who want to protect the status quo.

His Delta Division had previously been one of three that took part in an unusual direct survey of members in those areas.  The 2007 poll, also conducted by Directors in the Great Lakes and Atlantic Divisions, among its findings provided the first "official" indication of today's popularity of AM on HF.

According to that survey, nearly 20 percent of those responding listed AM as among their activities on the shortwave bands allocated to licensed radio hobbyists. The survey was never published in QST, the official magazine of the ARRL. Moreover, Cox indicated the previous Director of his region apparently did not share the findings with his constituents.

Once he was elected and took office, Cox was receptive to concerns about the lack of visibility for AM in the League's activities. In the time since then, several staffers in Newington have registered their support for and participation in the AM community, and Cox's advocacy was part of the increased presence of the mode in League activities, formal and informal.

He was also a proponent of opening the ARRL's closed-door board meetings to the general membership. Cox pushed for a "sunshine" provision for such meetings, partly in response to those who felt the League's Segregation by Bandwidth proposal failed to win adequate support among constituents, yet was proposed as a Petition to the FCC as the result of an internal agenda.

Cox had opposed the Petition, which, among other problems, could have created a confrontational environment for operators on AM because of fuzzy technical standards proposed to ensure compliance.

His idea to open the Board's meetings to the public was not warmly greeted inside Newington's administration, and it never reached the Board for a decision.

During his candidacy for re-election, Cox promised to continue that effort:

The ARRL Board needs to continue to explore ways to make itself more transparent to its members. My voting record clearly demonstrates my efforts in this regard and I will continue to pursue such efforts if reelected to the Board.

Mickey, thanks for trying, and here's hoping others will come up and continue trying to repair the problems you and others have identified inside the ARRL.

[Opcom]

Yes, thank you for your sincere and honest hard work, Mickey.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

ARRL Delta Division Director Mickey Cox, K5MC, did not win re-election to another term according to results announced in recent weeks, and will leave the League's Board of Directors where he has served since 2009.

It's obvious that his constituents in his Division didn't feel he was fully representing all the members.

Once he was elected and took office, Cox was receptive to concerns about the lack of visibility for AM in the League's activities. In the time since then, several staffers in Newington have registered their support for and participation in the AM community, and Cox's advocacy was part of the increased presence of the mode in League activities, formal and informal.

We've had  an AM presence at Newington well before Mickey took office. i.e. AM web page, vintage AM station, W1AW on AM, January QST vintage edition, staffers on AM running vintage stations

He was also a proponent of opening the ARRL's closed-door board meetings to the general membership. Cox pushed for a "sunshine" provision for such meetings, partly in response to those who felt the League's Segregation by Bandwidth proposal failed to win adequate support among constituents, yet was proposed as a Petition to the FCC as the result of an internal agenda.

Cox had opposed the Petition, which, among other problems, could have created a confrontational environment for operators on AM because of fuzzy technical standards proposed to ensure compliance.

Again, well before he even took office, so who cares; lots of amateurs opposed the proposal.

His idea to open the Board's meetings to the public was not warmly greeted inside Newington's administration, and it never reached the Board for a decision.

During his candidacy for re-election, Cox promised to continue that effort:

The ARRL Board needs to continue to explore ways to make itself more transparent to its members. My voting record clearly demonstrates my efforts in this regard and I will continue to pursue such efforts if reelected to the Board.

Silly idea (Board meetings open to the public) to start with; happy nothing came of it. However, I do agree that the Board, to some degree, should continue to be more transparent or open with its members.

[Jim, W5JO]

Pete your train of thought is exactly why so many people give the ARRL a hard time and refuse to join.  The only reason I am a member is some of the services they provide.  

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Pete your train of thought is exactly why so many people give the ARRL a hard time and refuse to join.  The only reason I am a member is some of the services they provide.  

Shed some "train" light please.

[KX5JT]

I'm starting to think Pete is really just a "bot" program designed to respond with ARRL status quo protectionism!

Mickey was a great division director who really did want to help the masses of hams and members in his division.  I must of missed the elections in my 8 months that I let my membership lapse because I don't remember ever being given the opportunity to vote!

[Jim, W5JO]

Light at the end of the tunnel, or did your ticket miss a punch?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I'm starting to think Pete is really just a "bot" program designed to respond with ARRL status quo protectionism!

Mickey was a great division director who really did want to help the masses of hams and members in his division.  I must of missed the elections in my 8 months that I let my membership lapse because I don't remember ever being given the opportunity to vote!

Must be a member to vote.
From the ARRL:
"Ballots will be sent to all full members of the League in the Atlantic, Delta and Midwest Divisions who are of good standing as of September 10, 2011 (you must be a licensed radio amateur to be a full member). The ballots will be mailed not later than October 1, 2011 and, to be valid, must be received at ARRL HQ by noon Eastern Time on Friday, November 18, 2011."

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Light at the end of the tunnel, or did your ticket miss a punch?

You should be asking Mickey that.
From the ARRL:
"After all votes were tallied, Norris was declared the winner. He received 1313 votes to Cox’s 1153."

[WD8BIL]

You should be asking Mickey that.
From the ARRL:
"After all votes were tallied, Norris was declared the winner. He received 1313 votes to Cox’s 1153."

Easy to achieve with a "closed door" count!

[W3DBB]

.

[WA3VJB]

Reminiscent of some dirty politics in a Virginia ARRL election some years back.

Thanks for posting his message.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

You should be asking Mickey that.
From the ARRL:
"After all votes were tallied, Norris was declared the winner. He received 1313 votes to Cox’s 1153."

Easy to achieve with a "closed door" count!

You might to review the ARRL By-Laws amended 7/16/11, Elections, Items 18 through 24, and specifically, Item 20.

[K5WLF]

We had an election here in the NTX Section of West Gulf Divsion a while back that raised a few questions. The SM who was elected at that time has since resigned and one of his ASMs became SM. That person has made several unilateral reorganizational decisons, and is alienating many of the members. Some (myself included) have resigned their ARES positions due to this, and quite a few others are considering it. Personally, I will also not be renewing my ARRL membership when it expires this year.

It seems to me that ARRL has reached the state that so many organizations do where the bureaucracy exists mainly to perpetuate its own existence. This inevitably leads to a misuse of power in some cases.

I can't help but be reminded of Joseph Stalin's comment-- "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything". That should not be taken as any accusation of malfeasance, only as an observation.

It is regrettable that situations like this are occuring, because the ARRL is currently the only organization that is doing anything at all on the legislative level to try to maintain and better the conditions for our hobby. However, I believe that they need to have more transparency and be more responsive to the wishes of the membership.

The above are my personal feelings and opinions. I'm not trying to start a debate on this. Nor will I be drawn into one.

ldb
K5WLF

[Pete, WA2CWA]

We had an election here in the NTX Section of West Gulf Divsion a while back that raised a few questions. The SM who was elected at that time has since resigned and one of his ASMs became SM. That person has made several unilateral reorganizational decisons, and is alienating many of the members. Some (myself included) have resigned their ARES positions due to this, and quite a few others are considering it. Personally, I will also not be renewing my ARRL membership when it expires this year.

ldb
K5WLF

You either try to work with the new SM or you get out. It's that simple. If there's major discourse over the entire Section, dialogue with the Division Director and/or the ARRL Executive Committee would be in order.

[K5WLF]

You either try to work with the new SM or you get out. It's that simple.

That's exactly what I did. If I'm not a member, then it doesn't matter to me and it's one less thing to be pissed off about. Life's too short to fight meaningless battles. I may re-up someday if things change. In the meantime, I wish all the best to those who choose to continue the fight. I'm not giving up the hobby, just the membership.

[WB2CAU]

It seems to me that ARRL has reached the state that so many organizations do where the bureaucracy exists mainly to perpetuate its own existence. This inevitably leads to a misuse of power in some cases.

Absolutely.  I'm in total agreement.