Neil,
With all due respect, I don't think that a petition at change.org, in and of
itself, will do much good. It's just too easy for the people behind these
changes to dismiss a single petition, no matter how many names are on it.
(Especially if they claim, legitimately or not, that most of the people on it
aren't even League members)
Incidents like this need to be brought to light, and be kept in the light.
There are two things that can easily be done:
One is to continue keeping this in the eyes of the (amateur radio) public -- I
just put out my monthly club newsletter, and I've got two full pages devoted to
the subject. If members of my club (and other clubs around the country) aren't
aware of this, then they can't do the next part.
The second is to write or email or telephone our Division Directors and Vice
Directors, and TELL THEM (politely but firmly) what we think about these
proposed changes, and what we want them to do (as our voting representatives on
the Board) about it. And encourage others to do so. My emails to that effect
will be going out tonight.
And once WE have done that, we need to encourage OTHERS to do the same.
It's easy to blow off a single petition. It's a lot, lot harder to blow off a
couple of hundred emails and phone calls.
But if we DON'T tell them, and DON'T take any action, and DON'T encourage
others to do so, then we should have no complaint when the inevitable happens.
To that extent, yes, the petition is better than nothing... but not much better.
I'm doing and will continue to do my part. I can only encourage everyone else
to do the same.
73, ron W3WN
-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Johnson <neil.johnson@erudicon.com>
To: CQ-Contest <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Wed, Jan 3, 2018 2:13 pm
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NCCC Statement - ARRL's Action Involving N6AA and
Code of Conduct
If you are so inclined, Please consider signing the following petition at
change.org as well. Improve ARRL transparency and respect for present and
future membership.
<https://www.change.org/p/american-radio-relay-league-improve-arrl-transparency-and-respect-for-present-and-future-membership?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_page&utm_term=triggered>
Thanks. -Neil, N0SFH On Tue, Jan 2, 2018 at 8:40 PM, Jamie WW3S
<ww3s@zoominternet.net> wrote: > Also, its worth noting that Mr. Lisceno, N2YBB
seconded the motion to > censure Mr. Norton. Mr. Lisceno is the Hudson division
director and is up > for re-election this year. Maybe someone in ENY, NNJ, or
NLI should run > against him..... > > -----Original Message----- From: John
Dorr > Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2018 9:20 PM > To: CQ-Contest > Subject:
[CQ-Contest] NCCC Statement - ARRL's Action Involving N6AA and > Code of
Conduct > > As co-moderator of this list, I was recently asked by someone (not
a NCCC > member) to post the following statement in response to some of the
recent > actions/proposals by the ARRL Board of Directors. Perhaps you have
already > seen this email, but if not, I suggest you consider the thoughtful
comments > being offered by the NCCC below. > > Note that the intent is not to
spin up yet another endless CQ-Contest > thread (please!), but to be informed
and ensure you are communicating with > your Director on important matters
taking place at ARRL and with its > leadership/board. > > 73, John, K1AR > > >
> > NCCC members and friends, > > On November 22, of this year, Bob, N6TV,
notified us via the NCCC Reflector > of an article the ARRL had posted on a web
page entitled, “ARRL Board of > Directors Publicly Censures Southwestern
Division Director”. That > Southwestern Division Director was none other than
Dick Norton, N6AA, one > of the super stars of amateur radio contesting and
DXing. The same Dick > Norton who was elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame,
in 1995. The same > Dick Norton who is one of the very few hams to have
operated in all 40 CQ > zones. The same Dick Norton who is currently the
President of the Southern > California Contest Club. > > How could this be, I
asked myself, as did many of you. The subsequent > comments on the reflector
have been absolutely 100% supportive of N6AA and > 100% opposed to the ARRL’s
actions. For more than a month now, the > comments continue to dominate our
reflector. While at the NCCC Holiday > Dinner, I had many of those in
attendance chat with me about it as well as > the other NCCC Board members
present. > > The Board took a “wait and see” attitude prior to proceeding with
any > action. We wanted to make sure we knew the facts prior to taking action >
and several of our Board members have been seeking out those facts. > > As a
result, and having researched the facts, the Northern California > Contest Club
Board has issued a statement expressing our concern over the > ARRL’s actions
involving N6AA, as well as the specifics of the ARRL’s new > Code of Conduct. >
> Our letter, below, is going out tonight to the ARRL officers and board >
members: > > ------------------------------------------------------------ >
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >
To: ARRL Directors and Officers > > From: The Northern California Contest Club,
Inc. > > Date: December 25, 2017 > > Gentlemen, > > The Northern California
Contest Club is an ARRL affiliated organization > with approximately 300
members, most of whom are themselves League members. > We pride ourselves upon
having many of the most active hams in Northern > California and Western Nevada
among our ranks. These are hams who are > active not only on the air, but also
in ARRL matters. Over the 45 years of > our existence, our membership has
included many ARRL Pacific Division > Directors, Vice Directors, Section
Managers, Volunteer Counsels, Official > Observers, Emergency Coordinators and
a host of other League appointees. > > We are sending this letter to express
our concern about events unfolding at > League headquarters. Specifically, we
believe the ARRL Board has made a > serious error in its recent censure of
Southwestern Division Director Dick > Norton, and we are concerned with the
lack of transparency and the stifling > of communication we see possible under
the Board’s Code of Conduct (ARRL > Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of
Members of the Board of Directors > and Vice Directors). > > Many NCCC members
were in the audience for the ARRL forum at the 2017 > Visalia International DX
Convention, and we have seen the letters written > to the ARRL Board by Mark
Weiss, K6FG, and by Tim Duffy, K3LR, stating what > happened in that forum. The
events as described by Mr. Weiss and Mr. Duffy > are accurate. In our opinion,
Mr. Norton did nothing in the Forum to > deserve the censure. We respectfully
request that the Board rescind the > censure and issue a public apology to
Director Norton. > > As a related matter, we also have seen the letter Hudson
Division Director > Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, sent to members of his Division in
which he stated “… > there were individual witnesses who attended the forum in
Visalia who came > to us with a different story than those released by Mr.
Norton’s > supporters. … I will not discuss the specific reasons enumerated as
they > are of a personnel nature and not appropriate for discussion …”.
Director > Lisenco’s letter alarms us. Essentially, he is saying the Board
censured > Director Norton based upon secret facts (which obviously differ from
what > we, Mr. Weiss and Mr. Duffy observed) asserted by one or more
unidentified > witnesses. This lack of transparency does not put the ARRL Board
in a good > light. To the contrary, it suggests that there is an ulterior
motive or > something the Board is trying to hide, and is far more likely to
bring the > Board’s decisions into disrepute than anything Director Norton did
at the > forum. > > As for a code of conduct, we certainly understand why it is
appropriate for > the ARRL Board to have one. However, we believe that the
specific Code > adopted by the Board at its January, 2017, meeting is wrong for
our type of > membership organization. It inhibits the free and effective
exchange of > information between our elected Director and Vice Director and
the League > members residing in our Division. As proof of the Code’s “gag
order” > effect, we need look no farther than Director Norton’s censure and the
fact > that our elected representatives refused to discuss it with us in any >
detail for fear of violating the Code themselves. We urge you to please > amend
the current Code to provide for much more transparency of Board > actions and a
freer exchange of information (including how the Directors > voted) with League
members. > > Very truly yours, > > THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONTEST CLUB, INC. >
> Bob Hess, W1RH (President) > > Chris Tate, N6WM (Vice President) > > Ian
Parker, W6TCP (Secretary) > > Dick Wilson, K6LRN (Treasurer) > > Ron Castro,
N6IE (Director) > > Rich Cutler, WC6H (Director) > > Rusty Epps, W6OAT
(Director) > > ------------------------------------------------------------ >
------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >
Although we have yet to see anyone in our club express an opinion in favor > of
the ARRL’s actions involving N6AA, it is entirely possible, with an >
organization of our size, that we may have members applauding the ARRL. > While
our statement represents the opinions of the majority of our members, > we
encourage any member in favor of the ARRL’s actions involving Dick > Norton and
the new Code of Conduct, to contact the ARRL directly to express > their
opinion. > > We are forwarding our statement to many other clubs and encourage
our > members and friends to forward our statement to others in the Amateur
Radio > Community. > > Bob Hess > > W1RH > > President, Northern California
Contest Club > _______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest
mailing list > CQ-Contest@contesting.com >
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest > > > --- > This email
has been checked for viruses by AVG. > http://www.avg.com >
_______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest mailing list >
CQ-Contest@contesting.com >
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest > -- Neil Johnson
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