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

[Fred Jensen]

Well done!  This is how representative democracy is supposed to work.

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 12/29/2017 7:14 PM, Robert Hess via Mldxcc wrote:
> 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
>
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