Thanks, Dick. I remember from my SM days that section boundaries are not changed without member input. Doug may correct me here, but I believe the WCF section was created because of member input. Division boundary changes have not occurred since I’ve been a ham. Shouldn’t the members in affected divisions be polled prior to considering this proposal? In effect, this proposal is saying, “we are doing it for their own good” in terms of numbers and representation, but I wonder if they would agree? ’73 de JIM N2ZZ Director – Roanoke Division Serving ARRL members in the Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina sections ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio™ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Richard J. Norton Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2016 3:47 PM To: James F. Boehner MD Cc: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:24989] Re: ARRL Division Population Balance Restructuring Jim, Thank you for your interest. The cost would be a function of the implementation scheme. Let's start with the idea of getting it over at once. Option 1 - Fully Effective Starting January 1, 2017 1) Hold elections this summer as planned. This will cover SE, SW, WG, PAC, and RMT divisions, at likely no more cost than would be expected without the boundary changes. 2) Hold two concurrent additional elections for reconstituted Midwest and Delta divisions for an initial term of one year. After one year, they will revert to the regular 3-year election cycle. 3) Hold another two concurrent elections for Roanoke and Deep South with a two-year term. After the two-year term, they will also revert to the regular 3-year election cycle. The cost will depend on the number of nominees for the positions. I would be surprised if there will be any changes in nominees for the Deep South and Delta divisions. In fact, I'd support keeping the current directors in place until the next scheduled election, but include them to moderate possible claims of favoritism. Their current division boundaries encompass most of the proposed new divisions. Again, if there are single nominations for Roanoke and Midwest divisions, costs are minimal. Holding the special term elections at the same time as the scheduled election simplifies staff activities, and likely reduces cost. Election Costs Election costs are detailed here in 3 parts, printing, postage, and ballot-counting. Printing 0.10 each for 2 envelopes, a flyer, and a ballot. Postage 0..147 per piece, non-profit 5-digit standard mail Ballot counting $2500. Probably less if locals are assigned to E&E Committee. Total cost - Between zero and $13,700, depending on number of candidates. Take the mid-point, and the estimate is $7000. Note that there have been very few, if any, elections in the areas encompassing the divisions with the largest changes. Web-site and Magazine Changes The web-site and QST boilerplate will need to be updated to reflect the new boundaries. This should take a day or so, and staff continually works on both products continually. Very small financial impact expected. Other Options - Gradual Phase-in It would be possible to phase in the changes, with only those offices with elections scheduled impacted. The overall expected cost of doing it all at once is so low, that I recommend option 1, complete adoption for 2017. The $0 to $7000 expected costs are approximately the same as holding one committee meeting that could be accomplished over the Internet. Summary The membership deserves fair representation. We have the opportunity to further that aim. Please support the realignment. ...or propose something better. 73, Dick, N6AA On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 1:28 PM, James F. Boehner MD <jboehner01@yahoo.com> wrote: Dick, I know you have brought this up before, and your points are well taken. The numbers seem to justify the changes. Since my Division would be significantly impacted, I just have a few implementation questions. I am Director of the Roanoke Division and live in SC, and Bill N2COP is the Vice Director, and he lives in NC. Geographically, your proposal would be ideal for me, as I am currently in the most Southern part of my division. Under your proposal I would be in the middle. Bill, however, lives on the coast of NC, and would be on the far Eastern part of the new division. Under your proposal, the Roanoke Division would no longer have a Director or Vice Director. The new Deep South Division would not technically have them either, as it is a new Division (although Bill and I would be residing in it). So would this mean immediate elections in both the Roanoke and Deep South Divisions? In order to have true representation for the members, both would seem to be necessary. In fact, elections would need to be carried out in all divisions that are changed to ensure true representation on the board. I know all considering this proposal would be estimating their electability in the new Divisions. However, in the end, we must look forward to what is best for the ARRL Members. So, what would be the estimated cost of this proposal with the elections, staff time (and IT time)? ’73 de JIM N2ZZ Director – Roanoke Division Serving ARRL members in the Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina sections ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio™ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Richard J. Norton Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2016 12:25 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:24976] ARRL Division Population Balance Restructuring This memo presents a possible remedy to the present significant inequity in ARRL division sizes. We have one division with approximately five times the membership of the smallest. This memo proposes a realignment of division boundaries that if enacted, will result in balance, such that division populations are all within approximately 10% of the average. Why? 1) It is simply unfair that the votes of one member are worth 5 times the vote of another. 2) For a prospective director candidate in the smallest division, a mail campaign might cost $2500. For the largest division, this would run $12,500. This is simply not fair. 3) The 9 smallest divisions have a total population smaller than the largest 6, but command 50% more voting power. This is not equitable. Overview This presents a minimal redistricting. In most cases, small changes produce the desired result. No section boundaries are impacted, although it may make sense to change some of them. All divisions are contiguous. There may be a desire to change division names in some cases. Details The attached spreadsheet, on page 1, shows the current population breakdown. It is extracted from the latest ODV membership page. The additional column shows the percentage of average population in that division. The percentages range from 32% of average in the Dakota Division to 153% in the Southeastern Division. There are 170,528 members of all kinds. 10,272 are foreign, leaving 160,256 USA members. If these were split evenly, there would be 10,664 in each division. This analysis could have been done using only Full Members, but the result would be essentially the same. Division by Division Proposed Restructuring Atlantic Division - move all W2 sections to the Hudson Division. This involves SNJ, NNY, and WNY. Atlantic would go from 131% to 91%. Central Division - no changes. Remains at 106%. Dakota Division - basically combined with Midwest Division. Delta Division - adds AL, OK, and MO. releases TN. Goes from 72% to 108%. Great Lakes Division - Sheds KY to Roanoke. Goes from 121% to 105%. Hudson Division. adds WNY, NNY, and SNJ. Goes from 61% to 100%. Midwest Division - Adds ND, SD, and MN from Dakota, Adds CO from Rocky Mountain. Sheds MO to Delta. Goes from 68% to 106%. New England Division - no changes. Remains at 89%. Northwestern Division - Sheds MT and ID to Rocky Mountain. Goes from 118% to 99%. Pacific Division - Sheds PAC to Southwestern. Goes from 106% to 100%. Rocky Mountain Division - Sheds CO to Midwest. Gains ID and MT from Northwestern. Gains AZ from Southwestern. Goes from 71% to 97%. Southeastern Division - Sheds AL to Delta, and GA to a new division. Goes from 153% to 94%. Southwestern Division - Sheds AZ to Rocky Mountain. Adds PAC from Pacific. Goes from 129% to 94%. West Gulf - Sheds OK to Delta. Goes from 123% to 105%. The biggest changes come in Roanoke and a new division, which is called "Deep South" in the spreadsheet. Again, better names can be devised. Roanoke - sheds NC and SC to the new division. Adds KY from Great Lakes and TN from Delta. Goes from 124% to 110%. Deep South - new division which adds NC and SC from Roanoke. Adds GA from Southeastern. Ends at 101%. Event Coverage I hope others are comfortable with having an event covered by an adjacent director when it makes sense. For example, the Yuma Hamfest and Quartzfest Convention are both in the Colorado River portion of Arizona, and are frequented by a considerable number of California hams. I would have no problem covering these should the Rocky Mountain director desire it. Summary The last change in ARRL USA division boundaries appears to have taken place in the 1930's. The imbalance has reached an unjustifiable state. I receive no joy giving up the Arizona section, the largest in the Southwestern Division, but certainly need to set an example if others are to be convinced to accept this. I request that you consider this proposal, and make your views on it known to the rest of the board. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA