[CQ-Contest] NCCC Statement - ARRL's Action Involving N6AA and Code of Conduct

W0MU Mike Fatchett w0mu at w0mu.com
Wed Jan 3 21:16:04 EST 2018 

Can anyone tell me what Dick actually said that sent the ARRL into this 
tail spin or point me to some web sites etc.  Thanks!

W0MU


On 1/3/2018 1:16 PM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
> It all helps.  There is no need to discourage any type exchange or 
> statement.  I agree that the more people chime in to their director, 
> the better.  If that petition gets a significant number of signatures 
> the ARRL board better pay attention.
>
> W0MU
>
>
> On 1/3/2018 12:32 PM, Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
>> 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 at erudicon.com>
>> To: CQ-Contest <cq-contest at 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 at 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 
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>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest > -- Neil 
>> Johnson _______________________________________________ CQ-Contest 
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