Justice for League Members
Donation protected
[Donations can also be mailed to Doug Rehman, 34646 Rust Road, Eustis, FL 32736—if you would like to remain anonymous, put that address as both the return address and the addressee and use a USPS money order.]
The state of ARRL Board governance is far worse than anyone on the outside of the Board could imagine—a secret society run by people willing to do anything to maintain their grasp on power. They have proven this in the Southeastern Division by cancelling the election and anointing one of their own.
Please join with us in the fight to restore ethics, integrity, membership ownership, and the rule of law to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) by donating. Funds will be used for litigation against the ARRL Board and advertising this cause.
Some History...
Current ARRL Southeastern Division Director Doug Rehman, K4AC, defeated the previous Director, Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, in 2013. Doug ran on a campaign of reforming ARRL Board Governance and took office on 1/1/2014. He immediately began working to make League governance more transparent.
As the end of Doug's first term is coming to an end, he filed a nominating petition to run for reelection. The Ethics and Election Committee (E&E) reviewed the petition and declared him eligible. Sarratt likewise submitted a petition and was also declared eligible, setting the stage for an election.
The E&E Committee has three Directors that are appointed by the President:
Dale Williams, WA8EFK, Great Lakes Division (Chair)
Kent Olson, KA0LDG, Dakota Division
Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, Midwest Division
Doug set up a Facebook campaign page, a campaign website, and updated his QRZ.com page. The Facebook and QRZ pages have Doug's campaign statements, including characterizations of the majority of the Directors as institutionalized power elites. One of the Facebook posts was titled, "The First Lie You Are Told By Fellow Directors".
The Board Family Begins to Act Like the Manson Family...
The Board elites like to use the term "Board Family" to describe the Officers, Directors, and Vice Directors. They are fond of repeating, "It's ok to disagree behind closed doors, but once the decision is made, everyone must get behind the decision and sell it to the members." Doug and a small group of other Directors and Vice Directors believe that a bad decision is a bad decision and the members deserve to know why it is a bad decision.
The power elites were furious that anyone would dare to disagree with them, much less campaign on it. They were also unhappy that Doug had defeated Sarratt as he was one of them. They had even protected Sarratt in 2012 when Sarratt, serving as the Chairman for the E&E, made a telephone call to a member in the Delta Division to discuss the election taking place. Sarratt disliked the incumbent Delta Division Director Mickey Cox.
While it is disputed what was said in that conversation, the fact that Sarratt made a call to a member in a Division where the committee he chaired was overseeing that election is an untenable breach of ethics. Sarratt was allowed to step down from the E&E Committee and the incident was covered up so that the Board Family could protect itself.
The power elites concocted a plan to dispense with the election in the Southeastern Division and go straight to coronation of Sarratt.
In the late evening of 9/20/2016, Doug was sent an email by the E&E telling him that the committee had decided to find him ineligible for reelection and declare Sarratt elected—this was the first he had heard of any issue with his candidacy. Three days later, they finally issued a report filled with misinformation, purposeful distortions, significant omissions, and illogical conclusions.
Freedom of Speech is dead...
The only issues that the E&E Committee had presented to Doug prior to their disqualification email was their demand that a few sentences be removed from his campaign sites and a demand that a few sentences be removed from his 300-word candidate statement to be mailed with the ballots.
The statement that they found "disturbing" online was, "I have already been told that members of the Board have been communicating privately with members in the Southeastern Division to lobby our members to replace me. The purveyors of backroom politics on the Board would like nothing better than to have a different Southeastern Division Director in January—someone that will conspire with them to maintain their self-serving grasp on power rather than someone that has been fighting it at every turn and fighting to revitalize the League." Apparently Doug's statement hit too close to home for them.
The statement they demanded be removed from the 300-word candidate statement was, "This election is a referendum on ARRL Board governance including ethics, transparency, accountability, and vision for the future. Send a clear message to the power elites on the Board that you don’t want back room politics and business as usual, that you want a Director who works for you, not them, and that you’re concerned about the League’s and amateur radio’s future—please vote for me, mail your ballot today, and get other members to do the same!"
Although Doug believed it was his Constitutional Right to make those statements, he removed the online statement and rewrote his 300-word statement. (Note: as of 10/7/2016, Doug has restored the Facebook post back to its original form so that visitors can see it as it was originally published.)
Doug's disqualification was an illegal act by the E&E Committee. Neither the ARRL Articles of Incorporation, the ARRL Bylaws, or Connecticut statutes provide for disqualifying a candidate from an election once they have been found to meet the specified requirements. (Remember that Doug had already been found eligible and this was announced to the membership.)
The landmark Connecticut Supreme Court decision on freedom of speech for the leadership of a member corporation states, “The practical effect of the defendant's action would be to preclude those who are sharply critical of the leadership from running for an elective office, thereby insulating the leadership from all but the most tame and ineffectual criticism.” Kelsey v. Connecticut State Employees Assn., 179 Conn. 606 - Conn: Supreme Court 1980
Further E&E has previously recognized that freedom of speech is required. The January 2013 E&E Report states, “When people oppose each other as candidates in an election, they can be expected to say unflattering things about each other. This, by itself, is not cause for E&E involvement.”
Doug appealed the disqualification decision of the E&E to the full Board. With an email vote of 11 Directors refusing to hear the appeal, the decision appeared to be finalized. After he pointed out that the Board was not allowed to conduct such votes without live discussion, a surreptitious 10/6/2016 Special Meeting of the Board was scheduled and no notification was made to the membership. (See E-mail Voting – A Practical Approach to a Difficult Trap)
On 10/6/2016, the ARRL Board of Directors held the meeting to disenfranchise the members of its largest Division. A verbal vote was taken on a resolution to confirm the E&E decisions and declare Sarratt elected for the term beginning 1/1/2017. The vote was twelve for and four against.
The three honorable Directors that joined with Doug in voting no are:
Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, Atlantic Division
Dick Norton, N6AA, Southwestern Division
David Woolweaver, K5RAV, West Gulf Division
Please donate now to help start the process of taking back the League from the power elites that are corrupting it! Thanks & 73
The state of ARRL Board governance is far worse than anyone on the outside of the Board could imagine—a secret society run by people willing to do anything to maintain their grasp on power. They have proven this in the Southeastern Division by cancelling the election and anointing one of their own.
Please join with us in the fight to restore ethics, integrity, membership ownership, and the rule of law to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) by donating. Funds will be used for litigation against the ARRL Board and advertising this cause.
Some History...
Current ARRL Southeastern Division Director Doug Rehman, K4AC, defeated the previous Director, Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, in 2013. Doug ran on a campaign of reforming ARRL Board Governance and took office on 1/1/2014. He immediately began working to make League governance more transparent.
As the end of Doug's first term is coming to an end, he filed a nominating petition to run for reelection. The Ethics and Election Committee (E&E) reviewed the petition and declared him eligible. Sarratt likewise submitted a petition and was also declared eligible, setting the stage for an election.
The E&E Committee has three Directors that are appointed by the President:
Dale Williams, WA8EFK, Great Lakes Division (Chair)
Kent Olson, KA0LDG, Dakota Division
Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, Midwest Division
Doug set up a Facebook campaign page, a campaign website, and updated his QRZ.com page. The Facebook and QRZ pages have Doug's campaign statements, including characterizations of the majority of the Directors as institutionalized power elites. One of the Facebook posts was titled, "The First Lie You Are Told By Fellow Directors".
The Board Family Begins to Act Like the Manson Family...
The Board elites like to use the term "Board Family" to describe the Officers, Directors, and Vice Directors. They are fond of repeating, "It's ok to disagree behind closed doors, but once the decision is made, everyone must get behind the decision and sell it to the members." Doug and a small group of other Directors and Vice Directors believe that a bad decision is a bad decision and the members deserve to know why it is a bad decision.
The power elites were furious that anyone would dare to disagree with them, much less campaign on it. They were also unhappy that Doug had defeated Sarratt as he was one of them. They had even protected Sarratt in 2012 when Sarratt, serving as the Chairman for the E&E, made a telephone call to a member in the Delta Division to discuss the election taking place. Sarratt disliked the incumbent Delta Division Director Mickey Cox.
While it is disputed what was said in that conversation, the fact that Sarratt made a call to a member in a Division where the committee he chaired was overseeing that election is an untenable breach of ethics. Sarratt was allowed to step down from the E&E Committee and the incident was covered up so that the Board Family could protect itself.
The power elites concocted a plan to dispense with the election in the Southeastern Division and go straight to coronation of Sarratt.
In the late evening of 9/20/2016, Doug was sent an email by the E&E telling him that the committee had decided to find him ineligible for reelection and declare Sarratt elected—this was the first he had heard of any issue with his candidacy. Three days later, they finally issued a report filled with misinformation, purposeful distortions, significant omissions, and illogical conclusions.
Freedom of Speech is dead...
The only issues that the E&E Committee had presented to Doug prior to their disqualification email was their demand that a few sentences be removed from his campaign sites and a demand that a few sentences be removed from his 300-word candidate statement to be mailed with the ballots.
The statement that they found "disturbing" online was, "I have already been told that members of the Board have been communicating privately with members in the Southeastern Division to lobby our members to replace me. The purveyors of backroom politics on the Board would like nothing better than to have a different Southeastern Division Director in January—someone that will conspire with them to maintain their self-serving grasp on power rather than someone that has been fighting it at every turn and fighting to revitalize the League." Apparently Doug's statement hit too close to home for them.
The statement they demanded be removed from the 300-word candidate statement was, "This election is a referendum on ARRL Board governance including ethics, transparency, accountability, and vision for the future. Send a clear message to the power elites on the Board that you don’t want back room politics and business as usual, that you want a Director who works for you, not them, and that you’re concerned about the League’s and amateur radio’s future—please vote for me, mail your ballot today, and get other members to do the same!"
Although Doug believed it was his Constitutional Right to make those statements, he removed the online statement and rewrote his 300-word statement. (Note: as of 10/7/2016, Doug has restored the Facebook post back to its original form so that visitors can see it as it was originally published.)
Doug's disqualification was an illegal act by the E&E Committee. Neither the ARRL Articles of Incorporation, the ARRL Bylaws, or Connecticut statutes provide for disqualifying a candidate from an election once they have been found to meet the specified requirements. (Remember that Doug had already been found eligible and this was announced to the membership.)
The landmark Connecticut Supreme Court decision on freedom of speech for the leadership of a member corporation states, “The practical effect of the defendant's action would be to preclude those who are sharply critical of the leadership from running for an elective office, thereby insulating the leadership from all but the most tame and ineffectual criticism.” Kelsey v. Connecticut State Employees Assn., 179 Conn. 606 - Conn: Supreme Court 1980
Further E&E has previously recognized that freedom of speech is required. The January 2013 E&E Report states, “When people oppose each other as candidates in an election, they can be expected to say unflattering things about each other. This, by itself, is not cause for E&E involvement.”
Doug appealed the disqualification decision of the E&E to the full Board. With an email vote of 11 Directors refusing to hear the appeal, the decision appeared to be finalized. After he pointed out that the Board was not allowed to conduct such votes without live discussion, a surreptitious 10/6/2016 Special Meeting of the Board was scheduled and no notification was made to the membership. (See E-mail Voting – A Practical Approach to a Difficult Trap)
On 10/6/2016, the ARRL Board of Directors held the meeting to disenfranchise the members of its largest Division. A verbal vote was taken on a resolution to confirm the E&E decisions and declare Sarratt elected for the term beginning 1/1/2017. The vote was twelve for and four against.
The three honorable Directors that joined with Doug in voting no are:
Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, Atlantic Division
Dick Norton, N6AA, Southwestern Division
David Woolweaver, K5RAV, West Gulf Division
Please donate now to help start the process of taking back the League from the power elites that are corrupting it! Thanks & 73
Organizer
Doug Rehman
Organizer
Eustis, FL
