[SCCC] Fwd: ARRL Code of Conduct and the Public Censure of N6AA
Jim Neiger
n6tj at sbcglobal.net
Sat Dec 2 13:42:45 EST 2017
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: ARRL Code of Conduct and the Public Censure of N6AA
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2017 18:04:52 -0800
From: Bob Wilson, N6TV <n6tv at arrl.net>
To: MLDXCC Reflector <mldxcc at contesting.com>, NCDXC Reflector
<chat at ncdxc.org>, NCDXF Board <ncdxf-bod at kkn.net>, NCCC Reflector
<nccc at contesting.com>
(Apologies for the repeat post to the NCCC Reflector. I want to make
sure everyone in the Pacific Division is made aware of serious problems
at the ARRL in light of their recent actions.)
*Please send replies directly to me*, or start a new thread on a single
reflector; please DO NOT REPLY ALL to multiple reflectors.
I am hereby suggesting that financial support of the ARRL by
individuals, by major advertisers such as Elecraft, HRO, and DX
Engineering, and by organizations such as Yasme be suspended or reduced
until the ARRL reverses course, rewrites or rescinds the new Code of
Conduct, and withdraws the completely unwarranted public censure of
Southwestern Division Director N6AA
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-of-directors-publicly-censures-southwestern-division-director> (which
they chose to publish just as he was leaving to operate the CQ WW CW at
A44A in Oman).
Many of you may not be aware of the other ARRL Directors and Vice
Directors that have had serious problems with the new ARRL leadership in
recent times.
Summary:
* Some time ago, West Gulf Director K5RAV upset ARRL CEO NY2RF, ARRL
President K5UR, Hudson Division Director N2YBB, and ARRL Counsel
W3KD, by revealing the existence of "behind the scenes compromises"
regarding the Amateur Radio Parity Act. No action was taken against
K5RAV, because at the time there was no rule prohibiting his
communications, but in response, the drafted the new and
emasculating "ARRL Director and Vice Director Code of Conduct
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ODV/ARRL%20Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf>,"
which N6AA was later censured for "violating" merely by shedding
light on its existence during the ARRL Forum at Visalia in April, 2017.
* Southeastern Division Director K4AC was declared "ineligible to run
for reelection" after many attempts to make the Board more
transparent. No clear explanation was given, other than they didn't
like what he put on his QRZ.COM <http://QRZ.COM> page (see Internet
Archive
<https://web.archive.org/web/20161221142026/https://www.qrz.com/db/K4AC>),
and a new director ran unopposed. K4AC responded by filing a legal
misconduct grievance against ARRL Legal Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD,
because he has no license to practice law in the State of
Connecticut. The grievance was denied.
* ARRL Atlantic Division Vice Director and volunteer counsel K3RF was
recently declared ineligible to run for Director by the ARRL Ethics
and Elections committee, because if elected, he would be forced to
publicly support the Amateur Radio Parity Act (because of the new
code), which is contrary to his legal client's best interests in a
pending antenna case. In other words, they are admitting that the
ARPA would be in conflict with the best interest of an amateur,
though they don't dare say that publicly, so instead they made it
impossible for K3RF to run for Director, with no public explanation
given.
More details, with links, below.
In sum, a LOT of ARRL members are now are very upset with The League
since NY2RF replaced K1ZZ, and this is not good for Amateur Radio.
N6XI, W6PH, WA6WZO and others have ceased financial support and removed
the ARRL as beneficiaries of their estates. More to follow.
Clearly the recent censure and other actions of the ARRL CEO and Board
have done far more harm to The League than anything that N6AA said or
did at Visalia. In my opinion, the new ARRL CEO NY2RF, the ARRL
President K5UR, Legal Counsel W3KD, and any director who voted in favor
of the new Code of Conduct or the censure of N6AA, need to be replaced
as soon as possible.
73,
Bob, N6TV
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: *Bob Wilson, N6TV* <n6tv at arrl.net <mailto:n6tv at arrl.net>>
Date: Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 10:33 PM
Subject: Re: [NCCC] ARRL BoD Censures Southwestern Division Director N6AA
To: NCCC Reflector <nccc at contesting.com <mailto:nccc at contesting.com>>
On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 4:12 PM, Bill Haddon <haddon.bill at gmail.com
<mailto:haddon.bill at gmail.com>> wrote:
The ARRL Ethics and Election Committee makes a yearly report, which,
last year, was prepared in mid December and formally issued in
January. Here is the reference to last year's (2016) report. It
contains the names of the E & E Committee members:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Committee%20Reports/2017/January/13%20E_E%20Annual%20Report%202016%20final.pdf
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Committee%20Reports/2017/January/13%20E_E%20Annual%20Report%202016%20final.pdf>
Good find Bill. A vague description of what led to the new Code of
Conduct is be found in that report. Specifically:
"The Committee spent considerable time discussing the material
contained in a press release from a Director while analyzing the
balance between our members need to know and the propriety of
protecting information during a negotiation process. We found our By
Laws and Guidelines both unclear and in conflict and urge a review
and possible rewrite of both for clarity.
The referenced director was from the West Gulf Division, David
Woolweaver, K5RAV, and what he published was this modest statement, here
<http://arrlok.blogspot.com/2016/04/west-gulf-division-newsletter-april.html>,
in April of 2016:
"H.R. 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, has passed the House
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Rep Greg Walden-R
Oregon, W7EQI, is the Chairman of the Subcommittee. It now waits
for a hearing before the full House Energy and Commerce Committee.
*There have been two behind the scenes compromises to the text of
the bill made by the ARRL's Washington group made up of ARRL's Chief
Counsel Chris **Imlay, W3KD, and Mike Lisenco, Hudson Division
Director, N2YBB.*"
(emphasis mine)
Apparently the Board was upset by the revelation of the "behind the
scenes negotiation" with the HOAs, which they wanted to keep secret.
That lead directly to the new Code of Conduct, demanded by NY2RF and
N2YBB, and written by Chris Imlay (I presume).
Another vague description in the E&E report:
"Certain specific campaign statements and actions by a candidate for
Director were challenged by an ARRL member and reviewed by the
Committee. The E&E Committee members found that the alleged actions
and statements were in violation of League election standards. A
request for the removal of the statements was extended to the
candidate as well as an advisory to refrain from those certain
specific actions. The advisories were defiantly not heeded and the
candidate was declared disqualified. The former candidate then
requested a review by the full Board of Directors and the Board
exercised their option to decline the request. An applicable
document is attached to this report."
This director was Don Rehman, K4AC, runnning for reelection in the
Southeastern division. The E&E declared him "disqualified," which means
the other candidate (apparently preferred by the board and president)
ran unopposed and replaced him. Details of what statements they wanted
removed was never explained.
See https://arrlse.org/ for K4AC's side of the story. Keep scrolling
down to follow the timeline. K4AC kept making motions to make the ARRL
board more transparent, and to change the E&E committee from being
hand-picked by the ARRL President (K5UR), to being elected by the
board. Apparently those in power didn't like that.
After being disqualified to run, K4AC filed a legal grievance with the
judicial grievance counsel of Litchfield, Connecticut, questioning ARRL
Counsel Chris Imlay's right to serve as ARRL Legal Counsel and negotiate
with the HOAs, when he has no license to practice law in the state of
Connecticut. The curt reply from the grievance counsel is at the bottom
of the E&E report (briefly, "request for legal misconduct finding denied").
More recently, another director candidate K3RF, an ARRL volunteer
counsel representing a client on an antenna case, was disqualified from
running for Director, because, if elected, he would have had to comply
with the new ARRL code, which means he would have had to publicly
support the Amateur Radio Parity Act, even though he and his client
strongly object to the wording, and see it as adverse to their case. In
sum, if elected, his forced statements of support would be in conflict
with his client's wishes to erect an antenna. The E&E board solved that
sticky issue by declaring that he was ineligible to run, because if
elected, he would have a conflict of interest! In other words, it's an
admission that antenna cases are adversely affected by the Amateur Radio
Parity Act, contrary to ARRL public statements. They declared W3TOM the
new director, with no explanation given:
http://www.arrl.org/news/director-vice-director-elections-set-in-three-arrl-divisions
<http://www.arrl.org/news/director-vice-director-elections-set-in-three-arrl-divisions>
For the other side of that story, see:
http://epa-arrl.org/k3rfs-petition-to-run-for-the-directors-position-in-the-upcoming-election-for-arrl-atlantic-division-denied/
<http://epa-arrl.org/k3rfs-petition-to-run-for-the-directors-position-in-the-upcoming-election-for-arrl-atlantic-division-denied/>
In sum, the new ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF (no relation to NCCC
member N6RA), and the ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, have been
dismantling the ARRL BoD bit by bit, replacing Directors they disagree
with whenever the opportunity arises, making it more and more like a
hand-picked board of a for-profit corporation than a "non-stock
membership association", the legal definition of the ARRL.
I predict that their next move will be to find some excuse to completely
remove N6AA as Southwestern Division director.
Stay tuned.
In the mean time, there are five directors up for re-election next
summer. They all need to be replaced with candidates better able to
represent the wishes of the membership than the wishes of K5UR and
NY2RF, especially ARPA "negotiator" and Hudson Division director N2YBB.
73,
Bob, N6TV
More information about the SCCC
mailing list