Jay,  Thank you for bringing this matter to everyone’sattention.  Like you, I’ve heard rumors,and discussed privately the impact of such a decision.  But it has not been acknowledged, even onthis forum.  It’s hard to believe thatthere could be a vote on an issue of such magnitude without lots of seriousdiscussion, and far more than what could occur in an hour or two inside theactual board meeting. Your six questions are right on point.  My only disagreement with you is that theseare questions for the board to reflect on and answer.  Members do not interact directly with a CEO,and most have never met even one of the past CEOs.  But they are impacted by the strategies andgoals of the organization, which are set by the board but carried out by staffunder the direction of the CEO.  Thosewill have lasting impact on each and every member, even if most members have noopinion on the question of whether to retain or release the CEO. While transparency is important, there is no good way topoll the membership on such an important matter.  But there should be vigorous discussion amongthe board and officers about the impact on members, because they will feel itin many large and small ways. Your questions about the effect of any change involvemanagement and vision.  The strategiesand goals of an organization ideally are put into practice by someone who hasthe vision of what those mean, and the ability to manage a staff to achievethose goals.  All of us understand thechallenges of regulatory and technological changes to the hobby, and theequally important challenge of the ageing of membership and the need to attractnew members to the hobby and to the organization.  The Board has approved many changes, more areproposed.  What will happen if the persontasked with those changes is removed?  Willthe Board then change its priorities as well as its CEO?  And how long will it take to again move theorganization forward?  I hope this could be just the start of an important discussion.   Tom Delaney W8WTD On Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 07:24:58 PM EST, jbellows@skypoint.com <jbellows@skypoint.com> wrote: We are five weeks out from the January meeting of the Board. I keep hearing rumors of an effort by a group of Directors to replace the ARRL CEO and perhaps others at the January meeting. Considering that transparency and the need to gather input from members has been the theme of several Directors for the past year or so, it is surprising there does not appear to be any public discussion of such an effort. If any Directors are planning to support a change in headquarters leadership, perhaps they would be willing to let the rest of the Board know by posting on odv their reasons, plans and the efforts they have made to discuss and secure input from members on how ARRL would benefit from such a change, to enable the Board members an opportunity to fully consider the advisability and impact of such a change. If any Director has discussed and sought input from members regarding such a change, perhaps they should share with the Board if they discussed the following with a  cross-section of members in open forums such as club meetings, hamffest talks or Division cabinet meetings and the members responses to these questions: - How would a change in Headquarters leadership benefit ARRL and its members? - What consideration has been given as to how another change would impact the stability and morale of ARRL staff? Keep in mind if there is a change ARRL will have 5 CEO’s in 3 years or 6 CEO’s if an interim CEO is appointed while searching for a new “permanent’ CEO. - If there is a change in Headquarters leadership what thought has been given as to the skills, experience and ability of any potential “Interim or Acting CEO? - What is the expected time frame to find a new CEO? Keep in mind it has taken a year just to replace the ARRL Emergency Management Manager. - If there has been discussion of an interim CEO, does that individual have experience managing an organization the size of ARRL? - How would the change impact ARRL’s pending or ongoing ARRL initiatives? If any Director considering a change in HQ leadership can’t provide feedback to the Board because he or she hasn’t discussed the potential change and sought broad input from members, perhaps transparency remains a handy slogan not a reality. Up to now requests for broader discussion beyond sub-groups within the Board have been met with stony silence.  If this persists it will be necessary to ask what happened to the promise of more transparency in broader and more public forums. There are several other Issues that are likely topics of discussion at the January Board Meeting that I will leave to a subsequent ODV. 73, Jay, KØQB _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

Jay, I haven't the time to go prowling the internet to keep up with all the rumors, accusations, ego stroking, etc. But I do spend a lot of time visiting with Midwest division members at various venues and club meetings as well as publishing a monthly newsletter. I get plenty of feedback on issues of concern e.g. the Win-link, symbol rate, data bandwidth, Tech license enhancement, ARES, and VM programs in particular. But no-one in the Midwest Division has ever said anything negative about our CEO's performance. In fact it has been quite the opposite - many positive comments have come unsolicited to me from division members. Now, for the record, I had two directors call me on this subject. One outlined some information (which I had not heard before and therefor I was quite skeptical of it's veracity) and asked my opinion on the matter. The other director called and informed me of certain motions that would be made at the board meeting and further that "it didn't matter what I thought because they had the votes already". Such "bully tactics" don't set with me. In the board meeting (and ODV reflector) we assemble a room full of some the brightest minds with a wealth of experience in a wide range of occupations and all are passionate about amateur radio. So let's dedicate ourselves to collegiality and openly solve the issues facing amateur radio and leave the "back room deals and politicking" out of the process. We'll get more accomplished for the betterment of amateur radio and ARRL. Back to Net (to borrow a quote), Rod Blocksome, K0DAS On Wed, Dec 4, 2019 at 6:24 PM <jbellows@skypoint.com> wrote:

We are five weeks out from the January meeting of the Board. I keep hearing rumors of an effort by a group of Directors to replace the ARRL CEO and perhaps others at the January meeting. Considering that transparency and the need to gather input from members has been the theme of several Directors for the past year or so, it is surprising there does not appear to be any public discussion of such an effort. If any Directors are planning to support a change in headquarters leadership, perhaps they would be willing to let the rest of the Board know by posting on odv their reasons, plans and the efforts they have made to discuss and secure input from members on how ARRL would benefit from such a change, to enable the Board members an opportunity to fully consider the advisability and impact of such a change.

If any Director has discussed and sought input from members regarding such a change, perhaps they should share with the Board if they discussed the following with a cross-section of members in open forums such as club meetings, hamffest talks or Division cabinet meetings and the members responses to these questions:

1. How would a change in Headquarters leadership benefit ARRL and its members? 2. What consideration has been given as to how another change would impact the stability and morale of ARRL staff? Keep in mind if there is a change ARRL will have 5 CEO’s in 3 years or 6 CEO’s if an interim CEO is appointed while searching for a new “permanent’ CEO. 3. If there is a change in Headquarters leadership what thought has been given as to the skills, experience and ability of any potential “Interim or Acting CEO? 4. What is the expected time frame to find a new CEO? Keep in mind it has taken a year just to replace the ARRL Emergency Management Manager. 5. If there has been discussion of an interim CEO, does that individual have experience managing an organization the size of ARRL? 6. How would the change impact ARRL’s pending or ongoing ARRL initiatives?

If any Director considering a change in HQ leadership can’t provide feedback to the Board because he or she hasn’t discussed the potential change and sought broad input from members, perhaps transparency remains a handy slogan not a reality.

Up to now requests for broader discussion beyond sub-groups within the Board have been met with stony silence. If this persists it will be necessary to ask what happened to the promise of more transparency in broader and more public forums.

There are several other Issues that are likely topics of discussion at the January Board Meeting that I will leave to a subsequent ODV.

73,

Jay, KØQB _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv