I own shares, worth non-trivial (to me!) amounts, in a number of corporations. Although I am thus one of the owners, I am not permitted to attend the meetings of the corporations' boards. I can, if I wish, attend shareholder meetings -- analogous to our ARRL public forums -- where I can ask questions of the board and management. I once asked my brother-in-law, who is a big-kahuna investment banker, how common it is for stockholders to be permitted to attend corporate board meetings. His reply in a shocked tone of voice was, "It's unheard of." The fact that the Board shouldn't do things we don't want the members to find out about isn't the same as saying that the Board should do everything in the presence of the members. Although the board meetings of my local radio club are open to member observers, that club is a little outfit with a few thousand bucks in the bank. The ARRL is a multi-million-dollar corporation, and in the conduct of our Board meetings, we have to act like it. 73 - Kay N3KN