[SCCC] ARRL Directors and Section Managers

Tue Jul 19 16:54:38 EDT 2005

Along this line I would very much like to see Southern Nevada be part of the SW 
Division instead of the PACIFIC Division based in the San Francisco area.
Hams in the Las Vegas area don't feel to have ties with the SF Bay Area. 
Instead we attend ARRL Conventions in the LAX, ORG, SDG, SB, and AZ sections. 
The distance from Las Vegas to L.A., San Diego, Anaheim, etc. is less than half 
the distance to the Bay Area.  With NV being the fastest growing state and with 
6,000 people moving to Las Vegas every month (some are bound to be hams) maybe 
it's time to have two sections in Nevada, SNV (Southern NV) as part of the SW 
Division and NNV (Northern Nevada) remaining part of the PACIFIC Division.
CU at the Riverside ARRL Convention..........
73, Alan, K7ACZ, ex K6ACZ

Dino Darling wrote:

> 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 
> 
> 
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> 
> 

-- 
__________________________________________________________________________ 

Alan Zack
Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired