[SCCC] ARRL Directors and Section Managers

[Dino Darling]

As this e-mail is being typed, our Southwestern Division Director, Dick 
Norton (N6AA) is in Windsor, CT sitting in a Board of Directors meeting for 
the ARRL.  I thought this would be a PERFECT time to clear up a few 
misconceptions I've heard recently from some in the Southern California 
Amateur community.

These misconceptions relate specifically to the responsibilities of the 
"Director" and the "Section Manager".  Before I get into these 
"responsibilities", a brief history is in order...

We have been spoiled (blessed) with having two very active SWD Directors 
living right her in Southern CA for the past 20+ years.  They are, Fried 
Heyn (WA6WZO) and Art Goddard (W6XD).  These two Directors have been very 
active with visiting clubs in the area, swap meets, Field Day sites, 
conventions, etc.  We all know them and have had access to them when 
needed.  The Division also included Arizona, but they were not as fortunate 
as we were.  Sure, Fried and Art visited them regularly, but we had the 
easy access!  That is to say, we saw much more of them!

Having been on the Board of the Western Amateur Radio Association on and 
off for the past 8 years, I had the honor of meeting both Fired and Art 
when they came to our club meetings.  I was a little bothered that in that 
time I had never even MET the Orange Section Manager, that is, until Carl 
Gardenias (WU6D) took office.

In 2003, I toyed with the thought of running for LAX Section Manager (I 
live in LA County).  I decided against it as I was not quite ready for such 
a position.  I eagerly watched Carl as he took on the responsibility of 
Section Manager, being appointed by Joe Brown who has left the area, to 
serve out the rest of Joe's term.  Carl called a few meetings and made it 
to a few of our club functions, which I had the privilege of attending.  A 
year later, when Joe's term ended, Carl submitted his own application for 
Section Manager and took office on April 1st, 2005.  As I said, I watched 
Carl and asked a LOT of questions, for reasons you will learn next!  So 
that does it for the history lesson; let's get into what I learned and the 
"misconceptions" I'm speaking about.

I decided to run for LAX Section Manager in 2005 and began my 
homework.  What I learned is what prompted me to write this article.

What I learned is that our DIRECTOR (N6AA), represents us on POLICY matters 
pertaining the ARRL.  These are the BIG issues that the ARRL Board of 
Directors vote on which directs how the organization will be run, and how 
we will be represented to the World.  The ARRL Staff carries out their 
duties as directed by the Board of Directors and these policy matters.  You 
can read more about it in EVERY issue of QST, and here...
http://www.arrl.org/divisions/

Our SECTION MANAGER is our contact and representative TO the ARRL in 
matters pertaining to club activities, disaster communications, traffic 
handling, technical issues, public relations, etc.  Our SECTION MANAGER 
reports to the ARRL's Field Organization Staff (the very staff who is 
directed by the BoD).  They do NOT work for the Division Director 
directly.  You can read more about these duties in EVERY issue of QST, and 
here...
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/org/sm.html

A close analogy would be equating our DIRECTOR to our State Senators, and 
our SECTION MANAGER to our District Congressman.  Where California has only 
2 Senators, who represent us on POLICY matters pertaining to all of the 
USA; we have many Congressmen who represent specific districts and is our 
point of contact to the US Government.  Our ARRL Division has one DIRECTOR, 
and many SECTION MANAGERS.

My misconception for years was that Fried and Art was our point of contact 
when it came to our club.  I was wrong!  It was an easy mistake to make as 
I didn't read what it said in EVERY issue of QST.  This information has 
also been on the ARRL website for years too.  Add to that, I saw Fried and 
Art all the time!  They were everywhere!

Beside learning what the responsibilities are of our Director and Section 
Manager, I also learned that I was not alone with this misconception.  I 
spent a good part of my time, while visiting clubs, field day sites, and in 
the radio store, pointing out the responsibilities and duties of our 
elected officials as stated in QST.

I can tell you that as your SWD Director, Dick Norton is working hard on 
your behalf to help shape the ARRL and their influence to ham radio.  If 
you have concerns about spectrum allocations, BPL, band planning, FCC 
relations, and other policy matters, Dick is your contact!  You may not 
hear from him like you did from Fried and Art, but believe me when I say 
that he is fulfilling the duties he was elected to perform, and with YOUR 
best interest at heart!  If you want representation for your clubs, their 
activities, interference issues, disaster communications and training, 
message handling, and technical help, look no further than your elected 
Section Manager!

The Division Director and the Section Manager have two completely different 
responsibilities and report to two different entities at ARRL HQ.  Again, 
the Section Manager does NOT report to the Division Director (but they do 
work together!).

I started this article, pointing out that this problem exists here in 
Southern California, where as I stated, we have been 
spoiled.  Historically, Arizona's main point of contact has always been 
their Section Manager; it's who they had easy access to!  In Texas, the 
Section Managers are more well known then their own Division Director!  One 
could even argue that the fine folks in the San Diego and Santa Barbara 
sections are also void of this misconception, but I can't be sure.

Every August, the Western Amateur Radio Association holds, at it's regular 
monthly meeting, an Annual ARRL Symposium.  This is where the Division 
Director and the Section Manager are invited to share information about 
what the ARRL is doing in relation to POLICY matters (Division Director) 
and Member/Club related issues (Section Manager).  We got this idea from 
the Downey Amateur Radio Club and I invite you to do the same thing!  I 
have said it many times in the past, "Love them or hate them, the ARRL 
represents the entire Amateur community, members and non-members alike, to 
the world!  If you want a voice, you need to join!"

Here is some news from the ARRL website...

"ARRL Board of Directors in session (Jul 15, 2005) -- : The ARRL Board of 
Directors is meeting Friday and Saturday, July 15-16, to consider various 
agenda items. Among them are recommendations that could result in a 
petition calling on the FCC to regulate the use of amateur spectrum by 
emission bandwidth rather than by emission mode. The ARRL Executive 
Committee reached consensus on a set of regulation-by-bandwidth proposals 
April 9, the League has solicited input from members and modified the 
proposals in response and the Board now must decide to adopt them, adopt 
them in modified form, decline to adopt them or postpone the agenda item 
pending further study. The Board also will hear reports from League 
officers and committees, and it's expected to name the recipients of 
various ARRL-sponsored awards, including the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial 
Award, which honors a radio amateur under age 21 who has contributed to 
Amateur Radio and to the community. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP 
(center in photo), is chairing the Board's second meeting of 2005 in 
Windsor, Connecticut. He's flanked by ARRL First Vice President Joel 
Harrison, W5ZN (left), and CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ."

This is YOUR Director, taking on policy issues at the Board level!  Thanks 
Dick for all your hard work!

I want to thank each of you for taking the time to read this article.  I 
wish you all good DX and quiet airwaves!  73!

Dino Darling - K6RIX


(club newsletter Editors are invited to use this article for publication)

Dino...k6rix at earthlink.net