is in session.”
A centuries old truism often attributed to Mark Twain — it is
applicable to any elected organization with the power to alter the lives
and rights of others — public, private, or governmental — including
the ARRL Board of Directors.
While the Agenda for the Board Meeting is always published before a
Board meeting, the many motions to be considered by the Board have
rarely ever been published before a Board Meeting. The most recent and
notorious exception occurred before the January 2018 Board meeting when
the Executive Committee and Lisenco motions intended to juice the 2017
“Code of Conduct” were leaked to the general Membership. The
overwhelming Membership outrage resulting from the unintentional
disclosure was instrumental in the punitive proposals being withdrawn.
The 2017 Code of Conduct was itself overturned by a newly elected Board
in January 2019.
The Members’ voices were heard — and their wishes were
honored.
It is my belief, that of a small minority of Directors, and Vice
Director Lee Cooper’s, that the Members should be permitted to have
advance notice of the substantive matters to considered by the Board of
Directors at its meetings.
To that end, the West Gulf intends to publish to its website the
substantive motions scheduled to be considered at the January Board
meeting and subsequent meetings.
It is our intent to discuss each known January 2024 motion in a
separate email, although we will publish to the website each motion as
it becomes available.
At present, there are three known motions. The Agenda for the
January Board meeting and each of these three motions are available for
review and download at:
https://westgulfdivision.org/
The first motion we wish to discuss is the:
Motion To Honor Membership Contracts
In July 2023, the Board voted to raise the annual dues from $49 to $59
and to eliminate the delivery of a printed copy of QST or On The Air,
effective January 2024, unless a Member paid an extra $25/year.
The West Gulf Division, the Atlantic Division, the Southeastern
Division, and the Southwestern Divisions voted against both proposals,
but the two proposals passed by an 11-4 vote.
While a dues increase was long overdue and actually needed, the West
Gulf Division voted against it because it was tied to the termination of
the delivery of a printed copy of QST/On The Air unless a Member paid an
extra $25/year.
The four divisions argued it was a breach of the ARRL’s legal
contract with those Members — both annual memberships and 3-year
memberships — to terminate their promised printed copy of QST/On The
Air before their membership contracts expired. The membership
applications in use at the time promised, in writing, the delivery of
QST/On The Air magazines by “standard mail.”
Besides the risks attendant upon a breach of contract, Article 11 of
the ARRL Articles of Association prohibits the Board from terminating or
reducing the rights of any Member. The stripping of the delivery of
printed copies of QST/On The Air from unexpired Memberships constitutes
a reduction in the rights of the affected Member.
Both the Membership Application and Article 11 are promises — and the
League should stand on its promises. That is the reason we have filed
the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts.
The ARRL is a membership organization, and the opinions of the Members
are important.
I have been asked by each of the West Gulf Division Section Managers
— NTX SM Steve Smith (KG5VK), STX SM Stuart Wolfe (KF5NIX), WTX SM
Dale Durham (W5WI), and OK SM Mark Kleine (N5HZR) — to share that they
each support the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts.
If you believe the Motion has merit and it should pass, it would be
important for you to share your support for the Motion with the ARRL
President, Rick Roderick, and the other Directors. All of their email
addresses can be found on Page 15 of QST or at
http://www.arrl.org/divisions
please be respectful — we choose to disagree, but need not be
disrespectful.
John Robert Stratton
N5AUS
West Gulf Division Director
Lee H. Cooper
W5LHC
West Gulf Division Vice Director
——————————
ARRL West Gulf Division
Director: John Robert Stratton, N5AUS
n5aus@arrl.org
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