Friday, January 12, 2018

Update: ARRL Revises Proposed Changes to Articles of Association and By-Laws



The ARRL Executive Committee is scaling back proposed changes to its Articles of Association and By-Laws after a release of their preliminary versions caused a firestorm among League members and affiliated clubs.

In a very informative posting on his division webpage, ARRL Central Division Director Kermit Carlson, W9XA, explains to the members of his division what his priorities are in regard to the proposed changes, along with the final - revised - versions of the actual motions. Based on these updated motions, it appears that proposals regarding membership revocation and disciplinary action against directors and officers will not be on the table. In addition, Carlson has posted the text of a motion he will introduce to amend the so-called "code of conduct" for directors to remove prohibitions on directors telling their members how they voted on various motions, as well as the statement that board members "must accept and publicly support Board decisions." Instead, the code would state that directors may not make public statements that "have the purpose or effect of undermining, discrediting or disparaging the decisions or actions of the Board."

All of this is posted on the ARRL Central Division webpage at <http://www.central.arrl.org/>.

We recommend that everyone read Mr. Carlson's excellent letter as well as the current texts of the motions that will be considered next weekend. Of course, final decisions on the wording of each motion will be up to the board members when they meet. Motions may be amended, adopted, deferred or defeated, and we won't know the final disposition of any of them until after the board meeting on January 19 and 20.

We thank Kermit for sharing this updated information with his members and, by extension, the entire amateur radio community. We also thank the Executive Committee for its responsiveness in making appropriate changes to address valid member concerns. This is representative democracy in action.