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Re: [CQ-Contest] NCCC Statement - ARRL's Action Involving N6AA and Code

To: Contest List <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NCCC Statement - ARRL's Action Involving N6AA and Code of Conduct
From: Mike Ritz <w7vo@comcast.net>
Reply-to: Mike Ritz <w7vo@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2018 16:54:00 -0800 (PST)
List-post: <mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>
I agree with the transparency issues in the petition, but what's this idea of 
the "peer review" for all technical articles and books? I have hung around 
e-Ham forums to know that everybody is an expert at everything, and no two 
opinions on the best way to do anything are the same. I assume that somebody 
who goes through the trouble to write a technical article for QST probably 
knows what they are doing.  That said, somebody calling themselves an expert 
will disagree with whatever is written. 


Doesn't the ARRL have a technical editor to sort out the open resistors from 
the ones that are within tolerance? 


73;

Mike

W7VO

> On January 3, 2018 at 11:04 AM Neil Johnson wrote:
> 
> 
>     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.
> 
> 
>     Thanks.
> 
>     -Neil, N0SFH
> 
>     On Tue, Jan 2, 2018 at 8:40 PM, Jamie WW3S 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 mailto:CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> >         http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> > 
> > 
> >         ---
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> >         _______________________________________________
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> > 
> >     > 
> 
>     --
>     Neil Johnson
>     _______________________________________________
>     CQ-Contest mailing list
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> 
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