Changes Coming to the ARRL Executive Staff - Possible First Woman President

[Pete, WA2CWA]

From the ARRL Letter, dated 10/29/09:
"After serving two terms as ARRL President, Joel Harrison, W5ZN, has decided not to seek reelection when his current term expires January 16, 2010..."

[k4kyv]

:Paul Thompson, N6PC (ex-W6SRS), of San Diego, California, passed away Wednesday, October 21. He was 69. According to his cousin Michelle Harvey, Thompson was taking antennas off his roof on Monday, October 19, when he slipped and fell, sustaining fatal injuries.

There have been an awfully lot of stories like that of late.  Isn't he about the sixth one since Field Day in June?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

The current ARRL First Vice-President is Kay C. Craigie, N3KN. It's not uncommon for the First Vice-President to be nominated, along with possible other candidates,  for the position of ARRL President, when that seat is made available. The Directors then vote for the candidate of their choice.


The job description of the ARRL President:
From the ARRL BY-LAWS:
 31. The President shall preside over all meetings of the Board of Directors. He shall, subject to instructions from the Board of Directors, and with the assistance of the Executive Vice President, represent the League in its relationships with the public and the various governments, governmental agencies and officials with which the League may be concerned, and shall be the official spokesman of the Board of Directors in regard to all matters of League policy. Any vacancy occurring from time to time by death, resignation or incapacity of any member of the Executive Committee may be filled by appointment made by the President, for the balance of the original term of such member. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all Committees unless otherwise designated.

32. In the absence or disability of the President, the First Vice President shall preside at meetings of the Board of Directors and in general act in his stead. Should the First Vice President be also absent or unable to act, the additional Vice Presidents, not including the Executive Vice President, shall succeed in the order of their election.

It will be interesting to see how the Directors will handle this possible monumental change in ARRL structure, since, if she is elected President, she would be the first since the ARRL was formed. It might even be more interesting to see how the membership would respond to a woman President and/or how it might/might not effect possible new membership. It's also probably time for the ARRL Articles of Association and the By-Laws to be made gender neutral.

[W3SLK]

Yaaaawwwwnnnnn! 

[Jim, W5JO]

It will be interesting to see how the Directors will handle this possible monumental change in ARRL structure, since, if she is elected President, she would be the first since the ARRL was formed. It might even be more interesting to see how the membership would respond to a woman President and/or how it might/might not effect possible new membership. It's also probably time for the ARRL Articles of Association and the By-Laws to be made gender neutral.

Interesting yes.  Many women leaders fill positions of authority with a particular agenda, like wanting to make the By-laws gender neutral.  What will her direction be in re: the FCC, Regulation by bandwidth, etc.?  What is her position on long term growth of the organization? The current president sure caused a lot of fallout on the Regulation by Bandwidth thing.  A poll of members only then passing judgment. 

[W1UJR]

She used to be my rep for the ARRL Atlantic Division when I lived in Buffalo.
I dealt with her when my club was in the process of getting the WNY Section Convention.

I found her fair and even handed to deal with.
Not overly friendly, a little formal, but competent.
That was 10 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt.

She had an assistant director, whose name escapes me, now
he was a real hoot. A WW2 vet, trained on the BC-610, was a
great fellow to chat with, very friendly, very helpful, a true
FB gentleman ham. I miss chatting with him.


-Bruce

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Interesting yes.  Many women leaders fill positions of authority with a particular agenda, like wanting to make the By-laws gender neutral.  What will her direction be in re: the FCC, Regulation by bandwidth, etc.?  What is her position on long term growth of the organization? The current president sure caused a lot of fallout on the Regulation by Bandwidth thing.  A poll of members only then passing judgment. 

I would suspect that all leaders that fill a position, including the ARRL, come to the position with a particular agenda that's probably somewhat different then the current agenda. It's also long overdue that all organizations, unless it's gender specific organization, change to be more gender neutral in their By-Laws, Articles of Association, Rules of the Road, etc. The days of the "good old boy's radio club" are fading away fast. The ARRL needs to make these changes.

Actually, Regulation By Bandwidth activities spanned two ARRL Presidents. And, although the plan had some serious flaws in certain areas, I thought the overall concept was viable as we move further into the 21st century.

[Jim, W5JO]

Regulation by bandwidth makes as much sense as the PEP rule.  The PEP rule was adopted so many years back I can't remember.  So today I would bet less than 10% of the active hams can actually measure anywhere near the actual PEP much less explain how to do it.

Regulation by bandwidth would be the same, create a rule that few understand and even fewer can accomplish and make outlaws of the rest of us.  And Pete, no officer or elected official should have an agenda.  It is ludicrous to hold  any office in that fashion.  Once the agenda is filled they don't know what to do and we wind up with them looking for rules to change so they can say they are doing something to gain re-election. 

Just look at any state congress and, of course, our grand congress in Washington.

[K5UJ]

:Paul Thompson, N6PC (ex-W6SRS), of San Diego, California, passed away Wednesday, October 21. He was 69. According to his cousin Michelle Harvey, Thompson was taking antennas off his roof on Monday, October 19, when he slipped and fell, sustaining fatal injuries.

There have been an awfully lot of stories like that of late.  Isn't he about the sixth one since Field Day in June?

I get on roofs as little as possible.  I have one guy anchor on my garage roof I sometimes have to tend to.  An inverted L wire goes over the house and is held up by a chimney mount pvc pipe.  All my other work is on the ground with antennas dropping down via pulleys and a tilt over mast now.  Never had a tower.  This isn't entirely due to poverty    I also happen to be a big chicken about height.   I have discovered the best insurance against a fall (okay one of the best) is to exercise the legs and stay limber.  Sitting around all the time then suddenly trying roof/tower gymnastics is a way to disaster.  It was okay when we were 25; at 50 - 75 it is a whole different deal.

Rob
K5UJ

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Regulation by bandwidth would be the same, create a rule that few understand and even fewer can accomplish and make outlaws of the rest of us.  And Pete, no officer or elected official should have an agenda.  It is ludicrous to hold  any office in that fashion.  Once the agenda is filled they don't know what to do and we wind up with them looking for rules to change so they can say they are doing something to gain re-election. 

Plans, agenda, initiatives, ideas, etc. are all the same to me. Siting in the President's seat, and having none of these, is as useful as a log laying by the side of the road. Several past Presidents had some great initiatives when they came to office. Jim Haynie's, "The Big Project" is one that always stands out in my mind.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2000/12/07/3/
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/27/2/

As far as re-election, the President, Vice-Presidents, and other senior staffers are elected by the 15 Directors on the board. It isn't a membership election although that might not be a bad thing. By-Laws would have to be changed to make that happen.

[Jim, W5JO]

Plans, agenda, initiatives, ideas, etc. are all the same to me. Siting in the President's seat, and having none of these, is as useful as a log laying by the side of the road. Several past Presidents had some great initiatives when they came to office. Jim Haynie's, "The Big Project" is one that always stands out in my mind.

Seems as if you missed what I am saying Pete.  The plans, agenda, initiatives, ideas, etc. of the current leadership seem mis-directed.  What I am concerned about is either the current path or straying futher from sound judgement and promotion of the hobby.

Spectrum defense is an example of good decision making.  Bandwidth regulation is very poor.  There is also a lot of condemnation of the Emcomm initiative.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Seems as if you missed what I am saying Pete.  The plans, agenda, initiatives, ideas, etc. of the current leadership seem mis-directed.  What I am concerned about is either the current path or straying futher from sound judgement and promotion of the hobby.

Spectrum defense is an example of good decision making.  Bandwidth regulation is very poor.  There is also a lot of condemnation of the Emcomm initiative.

What do you believe is being mis-directed by the current "leadership"? I believe all the senior executive staff are responsible to the 15 Board of Directors. All initiatives, plans, proposals, etc. generally have to be voted upon by the Board before anything moves forward. What in their current plan is straying from sound judgment and promotion of the hobby? The original bandwidth regulation initiative proposed back in 2002/2003, is now dead. The Emcomm initiative has received a lot of support both from domestic agencies and hams and also international support. Having read some of the condemnations from various hams on the Encomm initiatives, I seriously question the sanity of some of those people voicing their displeasure.

I wonder if you attended the webinar back on 10/28/09, presented by ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson N1ND, discussing the issues behind, and the reasoning for, the ARRL’s recent report, The Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues. Excellent meeting; lasted about 90 minutes; and I believe, there were 902 check-ins.

Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, grandpa's way of playing radio is pretty much gone. The domestic and international pressures against the entire ham community are with us on a daily basis. Hams that resist or condemn changes should probably go find themselves another hobby.

[Jim, W5JO]

Pete, I listened and became bored quickly since the only thing they talked about the first hour was some Emcomm problem.  There is much more to amateur radio than that.  Their tepid support of AM is an example of what is frustrating about the ARRL.

I pay dues and want some representation for my money.  My only reason for continuing my membership is spectrum defense.  Someday they may be interested in protecting the MF/HF bands. 

Are all 15 directors interestned in  digital and regulation by bandwidth or only a minority that seems to be in control.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Pete, I listened and became bored quickly since the only thing they talked about the first hour was some Emcomm problem.  There is much more to amateur radio than that.  

Since the webinar targeted the issues behind, and the reasoning for, the ARRL’s recent report, "The Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues", the discussion had to revolve somewhat around ham radio operators wanting to, or participating in, various types of Emcomm activities and some of the vagueness in the FCC rules.

Their tepid support of AM is an example of what is frustrating about the ARRL.I pay dues and want some representation for my money.  My only reason for continuing my membership is spectrum defense.  Someday they may be interested in protecting the MF/HF bands.

AM is a mode. It's no different then SSB, CW, or any other mode. Why should the ARRL support the AM mode any differently then it does any other mode? I also don't believe the CW only, SSB only, VHF only, EME only, etc. type operators get any "special" support from the ARRL. Heck, none of them even have their own web page up on the ARRL site.
You said: "Someday they may be interested in protecting the MF/HF bands" You probably haven't been keeping up to date on past and future WARC activities, and activities at the IARU level.

Are all 15 directors interestned in  digital and regulation by bandwidth or only a minority that seems to be in control.

All Directors have only one vote so it's hard to believe  a minority of Directors are in control. Of course, some Directors may have better discussion skills for getting their specific points out on the table and accepted.

[ka3zlr]

That would be Certain Amateurs wanting to participate in Emmcomp Activities... other than it's always seems to be driven to the forefront of the Issues...every time I turn around.

Let's Talk about Subbands and the little use for them...and how we can work together and pressure the powers to act on them...KaaMaon...


73
Jack.