January 2010 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

Red Cross
by Joel Harrison 12 Jan '10

12 Jan '10

You should have received 7 emails with information pertaining to the Red Cross. My apologies for having to send it that way. To say the Lyris server pissed me off tonight is an understatement! Joel

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Red Cross MOU #1
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

For quite some time now the Executive Committee has been overseeing the negotiation of a new MOU with the American Red Cross. It has been a very long process, to say the least, and one in which the Executive Committee has been unable to reach agreement on a recommendation to the Board. Therefore, the current draft MOU is being sent to full Board, in a separate email, and a number of related historical documents will follow in additional emails (Sorry.have to do it that way to get through the Lyris server). You should review the MOU and the supporting documents and be prepared to discuss any concerns you have with, or support for, the MOU on Thursday evening during our informal gathering. I believe it is very important that you do so with the intent of reaching some conclusion in this matter during the board meeting, whatever that conclusion may be. In any event, the process has gone on long enough and it is time to decide our future with the American Red Cross. To begin your review, I believe it is important to set out a chronology of activity in this matter and with considerable assistance from Mr. Sumner the following is provided. Starting with the NERPC Report that was delivered to the Board in January 2007, the report discussed credentialing and noted that the Red Cross had begun requiring criminal background checks for its volunteers in 2006. The report observed: As already noted in this report, the NERPC thinks it is not within the ARRL's mission to run background checks. However, we recognize that that our partner organizations have legitimate reasons for wanting criminal background checks. We also recognize that this issue is not going away. The ARRL must clarify our principles and interests and articulate a policy on background checks so that we can negotiate MOUs with national-level served agencies on the basis of a reasoned position. This position should take into account the valid concerns of our volunteers about personal privacy and identity theft and the obligation to safeguard the ARRL from undue exposure to liability. This gave rise to the creation of the Ad Hoc Background Investigation Committee at Minute 18 of the January 2007 meeting. At the July 2007 meeting (Minute 30) the Board adopted the following policy with regard to background checks: "Ideally, Amateur Radio emergency communications volunteers participating in ARRL-sponsored programs should not be required by served agencies to undergo background investigations of any kind. However, it is generally acceptable for a served agency to require these volunteers to undergo a criminal background check, preferably performed by a law-enforcement entity. It is not reasonable for a served agency to require these volunteers to consent to credit checks, mode of living investigations, or investigative consumer reports. In negotiating or renegotiating memoranda of understanding that commit the League to provide volunteer emergency communications support, the League must be assured that these volunteers will not be required by the partner organization to consent to credit investigations, mode of living investigations, or investigative consumer reports." Minute 25 of the January 2008 meeting notes the following: 25. By request, Mr. Edgar presented the final report of the Ad Hoc Background Investigation Committee. He reported that there is no Statement of Understanding with the American Red Cross (ARC) at this time, since the previous SOU expired in September 2007. The Committee has communicated to ARC that there are still conflicts with the ARC's background investigation policy as compared to the published statements of its online background investigation contractor. President Harrison has written to ARC, but as yet there has been no response. The report itself is labeled "Board Confidential" and for that reason is not on the Web site. I am attaching a copy, because it provides a detailed description of the communications between the ARRL and the Red Cross up to that time. Note that it is mislabeled "July 2007" when in fact it was a report to the January 2008 meeting. There are a couple of things about this report that, with the benefit of hindsight, that are important to note. First, in May 2007 the Red Cross apparently proposed (as reported on page 2 of the ad hoc committee report) that the ARRL conduct its own background checks and certify to the Red Cross when a volunteer was cleared. We declined this option. Second, right after that paragraph the committee report notes the value to us of the relationship with the Red Cross, particularly with regard to credentialing. This is relevant in light of the current "what's in it for us" refrain we're hearing. The Red Cross response to a letter from Mr. Sumner, November 28, 2007, (attached to the committee report) is dated May 8, 2008 and is also attached. Mr. Sumner's reply is dated June 30, 2008 (attached). The next record of communication on file is detailed in Mr. Sumner's "Red Cross Update" memo to ODV dated September 5, 2008 (attached). At the October 18, 2008 EC meeting there was an extensive discussion that is recorded in the minutes as follows: 6. A review was begun of the partial draft of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ARRL and the American National Red Cross to replace the Statement of Understanding that expired in September 2007. After discussion, the following motion by Mr. Isely was adopted: "Moved that the Executive Committee appreciates the work done to this point by the Red Cross and ARRL staff on the draft MOU. By November 3 the Executive Committee shall review the draft, including text from ARRL staff to incorporate Board policy regarding background checks as adopted at Minute 30 of the July 2007 Board Meeting. Red Cross and ARRL staff are requested to continue work on Attachment D and to incorporate therein reference to the onsite credentialing of ARRL volunteers." After that EC meeting Mr. Sumner added the text containing the Board policy on background checks. After coordination with the EC he passed this draft to Red Cross via ARC's Keith Robertory. Mr. Sumner gave the EC an update on January 12, 2009. The draft that was cleared on the Red Cross side was sent to the EC on February 26, 2009. That version was cleaned up and formally presented to the EC in Mr. Sumner's memo of March 12, 2009 (exec-com:4164, attached). On April 2, 2009 I sent Mr. Mascelli the "Attached Letter from ARRL President Joel Harrison" conveying our revisions to the draft MOU. Mr. Mascelli responded on May 20 (attached). After the EC teleconference of July 7, Chris drafted a response for me to send that went out on September 15 (arrl-odv:18111, attached). Mr. Mascelli's most recent response is dated November 18 (the final attachment, MOU and Red Cross ARRL). Good luck in your deliberation regarding this matter. 73 Joel W5ZN

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Red Cross MOU #2
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

_____ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:joelh@centurytel.net] Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 1:18 PM To: exec-com Subject: MOU Red Cross and ARRL Attached, for your review, is the response from the Red Cross. >From the read that Dave and I have done, they have included our changes with the exception of paying for background checks not performed under the auspices, however they will accept them. I trust we are at the point now where the EC can recommend this to the board for approval. 73 Joel W5ZN

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Red Cross MOU #3
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is the third email pertaining to the Red Cross MOU. These attachments are additional documentation for your review of the Red Cross MOU matter. If for some reason this comes through the Lyris server before the first, please QRX until you have them both as the first contains the info these attachments pertain to. Joel

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Red Cross MOU #7
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is the seventh and LAST email pertaining to the Red Cross MOU. These attachments are additional documentation for your review of the Red Cross MOU matter. If for some reason this comes through the Lyris server before the others, please QRX until you have them both as the first contains the info these attachments pertain to. Joel _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 9:41 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18111] Latest Red Cross correspondence Joel has asked me to share the most recent letter he has sent to the Red Cross in the course of our negotiating a new MOU to replace the one that has expired. The approach was agreed by the Executive Committee and put into draft form, by Chris Imlay, with the draft subjected to additional review and revision by the EC. Once a response from the Red Cross has been received the EC may be ready to submit a recommendation to the Board. Dave Sumner, K1ZZ <<Red Cross Letter 9-15-09.pdf>> <<ARRL Red Cross MOU Final Draft-Imlay Final Edit.doc>>

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Red Cross MOU #6
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is the sixth email pertaining to the Red Cross MOU. These attachments are additional documentation for your review of the Red Cross MOU matter. If for some reason this comes through the Lyris server before the others, please QRX until you have them both as the first contains the info these attachments pertain to. Joel _____ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 11:14 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: FW: Attached Letter from ARRL President Joel Harrison At it's meeting on March 14, the Executive Committee reviewed a final draft of the Red Cross MOU. While the EC found the document acceptable, with the Red Cross having incorporated our recommended language regarding background checks, it still had concerns as to exactly how the Red Cross would implement the agreement given their volunteer application form still contained language that did not meet the commitment contained in the draft MOU document. So, prior to signing the MOU the EC instructed me to send a letter to the Red Cross outlining our concern and recommendation. That letter was sent this morning and is attached for your information. 73 Joel W5ZN _____ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 11:05 AM To: 'MascelliA(a)usa.redcross.org' Subject: Attached Letter from ARRL President Joel Harrison Please find attached a letter from ARRL President Joel Harrison regarding our draft Memorandum of Understanding. Regards, Joel Harrison President, ARRL

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Red Cross MOU #4
by Joel Harrison 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is the fourth email pertaining to the Red Cross MOU. These attachments are additional documentation for your review of the Red Cross MOU matter. If for some reason this comes through the Lyris server before the others, please QRX until you have them both as the first contains the info these attachments pertain to. Joel _____ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:joelh@centurytel.net] Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 1:13 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Red Cross Update - Confidential The following information is ARRL Board confidential and is not to be distributed to anyone other than ARRL Officers, Directors and Vice Directors. There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever to taking ARC to task in a public forum over the outstanding issues we have regarding background checks for amateur radio operators. There have already been at least two public situations that resulted in friction between our two organizations while working to resolve our outstanding concerns. Therefore, this information is not to be released publicly. You can simply state that we continue to openly and professionally discuss our outstanding concerns in an effort to reach an agreement on background checks. We absolutely want to continue to listen to our members concerns and opinions regarding this matter, but anything on our part that would generate ill will toward ARC is most definitely not productive and must be avoided. On June 30, 2008, as reported to you on arrl-odv on July 1, I wrote a letter to American Red Cross Vice President Armond Mascelli, addressing additional concerns about the background check requirement for amateur radio volunteers. In reply, Armond requested a telephone conference between the two of us to try to come to some agreement on the outstanding matters. We had that phone conversation on August 20. It was very cordial and lasted approximately 20 minutes. Armond is a very personable and professional individual on the phone and left me with the impression that ARC does have a serious desire to resolve our disagreements to the extent possible. Armond first assured me that they are taking this matter seriously, that at some point they hoped to have an internal organization taking care of background checks and that the process could move more quickly than it currently does. He agreed that the existing wording regarding mode of living checks was open ended but that ARC does not have the ability to go into and view those details. I explained that was not in itself the major concern, but the fact that the information has to be collected and then retained by a third party (or any party) is the major concern as there was no real justification of why such a requirement was needed for amateur radio volunteers. Armond acknowledged that while they are working to try to eliminate some of the concerns we have, a fact of life is that some of them won't go away and there will be limits to what they can do because we are just one small group among the 1.4 million ARC volunteers in addition to their paid staff. I told Armond we understood that, and realized there would be some requirement for our volunteers at varying levels of volunteerism. However, what we actually resolve those to be and agree upon will more than likely have an impact on the number of individuals that choose to volunteer for ARC service. They understand that, but are firm in their position that some form of background check will be required for amateur radio volunteers. The question now is how do we proceed and in what context. Armond has my recent letter and inquired how I prefer to proceed in their response to it. I suggested, and Armond agreed, that they review the letter, respond in writing to the extent they can address the outstanding concerns, and from that point any further discussion should be in-person with a small group of ARC representatives and ARRL representatives. It is my position that our representatives will include myself or my representative, Mr. Sumner or his representative and Mr. Imlay. We concluded our conversation by jointly noting and expressing our pleasure of the relationship that has developed between our Dennis Dura and ARC's Keith Robertory. This is a relationship that has already proven to be beneficial in our continuing relationship with ARC and especially during the recent (and continuing) hurricane threats to the U.S. Regarding renewal of a Statement of Understanding with the American Red Cross, Mr. Dura and Mr. Robertory will have a draft ready for review by the Executive Committee at our October 18 meeting in Chicago. This is very important to both organizations. Armond expressed concern over a rumor that ARRL would not renew an SOU with ARC if any type of background check was required. I assured him it was in the best interests of both organizations, given our long history of successful volunteerism, that he SOU be renewed and that the background check issue would not prevent that, although whatever the outcome of resolution of the background check issues is may impact the extent to which amateur radio operators volunteer to ARC. So, while we still have outstanding issues that we are working to resolve regarding the background check matter I was quite pleased with our conversation and I am convinced that ARC will work to resolve our concerns to the extent possible within the overall volunteer aspect of ARC and I'm very pleased that ARC is still at the table working to resolve those outstanding concerns. 73 Joel W5ZN

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[arrl-odv:18445] Red Cross MOU #5
by Harrison, Joel 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is the fifth email pertaining to the Red Cross MOU. These attachments are additional documentation for your review of the Red Cross MOU matter. If for some reason this comes through the Lyris server before the others, please QRX until you have them both as the first contains the info these attachments pertain to. Joel ________________________________ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 2:44 PM To: exec-com Subject: [exec-com:4164] Final Draft of Red Cross MOU Here is the final draft of the revised Memorandum of Understanding between The American National Red Cross and the ARRL. I have reviewed it carefully and believe that it fully addresses the concerns I have heard expressed about our relationship with the Red Cross and earlier drafts. Aside from the correction of a few typos and grammar, the only major change is the addition to Attachment D of language giving the Red Cross the responsibility of credentialing ARRL volunteers to whom they have assigned roles in a Disaster Relief Operation. This change resolves the first issue that General Counsel Imlay raised in his memo to the EC. Chris's second point has to do with the implementation of the MOU by the Red Cross. I think both parties must assume that the other party will act in good faith in implementing the MOU. If the other party does not, then either party may terminate the agreement by written notice at any time. With regard to Chris's third point, the language in the draft is taken verbatim from the policy statement adopted by the Board. I don't quarrel with Chris's observation that some of it is superfluous, but at this stage we cannot in good conscience ask that something be removed that we inserted in the first place, and to which the Red Cross has agreed. On page 3 you may trip over the statement that Attachment C may be modified or updated without a re-signing of the MOU. However, Attachment C is only a sample local agreement and does not contain anything that is binding on either national organization; amendments to the sample local agreement are unlikely to be a policy matter for either organization. I hope you will accept that our point of contact can be entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the sample local agreement is not modified to our detriment. I recommend that the Executive Committee authorize the circulation of this draft to the Board, with the recommendation that it be approved by mail vote. 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Chief Executive Officer <<ARRL Red Cross MOU Final Draft 090312.doc>>

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[arrl-odv:18444] 2010-01 Central Division Report
by dick＠pobox.com 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

11 JAN 2010 - 1706 CST Please find attached to this message my 2010 Central Division Report in PDF format. - Dick Isely, W9GIG

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[arrl-odv:18443] A&F Meeting Minutes
by Shelley, Barry, N1VXY 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

Chairman Fenstermaker of the Administration and Finance Committee has asked that I distribute the attached minutes from the Committee's last meeting on November 21, 2009. If there are any questions, please let us know. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc-The National Association for Amateur Radio(tm) 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> Phone: (860) 594-0212 E-mail: bshelley(a)arrl.org <mailto:bshelley@arrl.org>

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