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

[Robert Hess]

NCCC members and friends,


On November 22, of this year, Bob, N6TV, notified us via theNCCC Reflector of an article the ARRL had posted on a web page entitled, “ARRL Board of Directors Publicly CensuresSouthwestern Division Director”.  That Southwestern Division Director was noneother than Dick Norton, N6AA, one of the super stars of amateur radiocontesting and DXing.  The same DickNorton who was elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, in 1995.  The same Dick Norton who is one of the veryfew hams to have operated in all 40 CQ zones. The same Dick Norton who is currently the President of the SouthernCalifornia Contest Club.


How could this be, I asked myself, as did many of you.  The subsequent comments on the reflector havebeen absolutely 100% supportive of N6AA and 100% opposed to the ARRL’sactions.  For more than a month now, thecomments continue to dominate our reflector. While at the NCCC Holiday Dinner, I had many of those in attendance chatwith me about it as well as the other NCCC Board members present.


The Board took a “wait and see” attitude prior to proceedingwith any action.  We wanted to make surewe knew the facts prior to taking action and several of our Board members havebeen seeking out those facts.


As a result, and having researched the facts, the NorthernCalifornia Contest Club Board has issued a statement expressing our concernover the ARRL’s actions involving N6AA, as well as the specifics of the ARRL’snew Code of Conduct.  


Our letter, below, is going out tonight to the ARRL officersand board members:


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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 organizationwith approximately 300 members, most of whom are themselves League members. Wepride ourselves upon having many of the most active hams in Northern Californiaand Western Nevada among our ranks. These are hams who are active not only onthe air, but also in ARRL matters. Over the 45 years of our existence, ourmembership has included many ARRL Pacific Division Directors, Vice Directors,Section Managers, Volunteer Counsels, Official Observers, EmergencyCoordinators and a host of other League appointees. 


We are sending this letter to express our concern aboutevents unfolding at League headquarters. Specifically, we believe the ARRLBoard has made a serious error in its recent censure of Southwestern DivisionDirector Dick Norton, and we are concerned with the lack of transparency andthe 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 ofDirectors and Vice Directors).


Many NCCC members were in the audience for the ARRL forum atthe 2017 Visalia International DX Convention, and we have seen the letterswritten to the ARRL Board by Mark Weiss, K6FG, and by Tim Duffy, K3LR, stating whathappened in that forum. The events as described by Mr. Weiss and Mr. Duffy areaccurate. In our opinion, Mr. Norton did nothing in the Forum to deserve thecensure. We respectfully request that the Board rescind the censure and issue apublic apology to Director Norton.


As a related matter, we also have seen the letter HudsonDivision Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, sent to members of his Division in whichhe stated “… there were individual witnesses who attended the forum in Visaliawho came to us with a different story than those released by Mr. Norton’ssupporters. … I will not discuss the specific reasons enumerated as they are ofa personnel nature and not appropriate for discussion …”. Director Lisenco’sletter alarms us. Essentially, he is saying the Board censured Director Norton basedupon secret facts (which obviously differ from what we, Mr. Weiss and Mr. Duffyobserved) asserted by one or more unidentified witnesses. This lack oftransparency does not put the ARRL Board in a good light. To the contrary, itsuggests that there is an ulterior motive or something the Board is trying tohide, and is far more likely to bring the Board’s decisions into disrepute thananything Director Norton did at the forum. 


As for a code of conduct, we certainly understand why it isappropriate for the ARRL Board to have one. However, we believe that thespecific Code adopted by the Board at its January, 2017, meeting is wrong forour type of membership organization. It inhibits the free and effectiveexchange of information between our elected Director and Vice Director and the Leaguemembers residing in our Division. As proof of the Code’s “gag order” effect, weneed look no farther than Director Norton’s censure and the fact that ourelected representatives refused to discuss it with us in any detail for fear ofviolating the Code themselves. We urge you to please amend the current Code toprovide for much more transparency of Board actions and a freer exchange ofinformation (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)


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Although we have yet to see anyone in our club express anopinion 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 theARRL.  While our statement represents theopinions of the majority of our members, we encourage any member in favor ofthe ARRL’s actions involving Dick Norton and the new Code of Conduct, tocontact the ARRL directly to express their opinion.


We are forwarding our statement to many other clubs and encourage our members and friends to forward ourstatement to others in the Amateur Radio Community.



Bob HessW1RHPresident, Northern California Contest Club
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