ARRL Executive Committee Establishes Ad Hoc Committee on Communications

Meeting right after Dayton Hamvention® at the University of Dayton on May 20, the ARRL Board’s Executive Committee (EC) adopted a motion to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Communications with ARRL Members. The panel would review ARRL communications with members and members’ perceptions to “consider areas needing enhancement, [and] ways in which such communications might be enhanced,” and it would “propose concrete changes in communication processes and methods by which improvements may be accomplished,” according to the resolution. ARRL Vice President Greg Widin, K0GW, will chair the committee.

In his remarks to the EC, President Rick Roderick, K5UR, said he’s been receiving positive feedback from members. He also reported receiving numerous questions regarding the Amateur Radio Parity Act. He stressed that ARRL needs to assure members that it has not given up on the initiative, which was put on hold earlier this year. At the same meeting, ARRL Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, updated the EC on efforts to reassess the Amateur Radio Parity Act. He said the Board’s Legislative Committee is working on a plan of action to go before the full Board at its July meeting.

President Roderick, who chaired the EC meeting, said he remains concerned that Technician licensees, who make up more than half of the US Amateur Radio population, only comprise some 16% of ARRL members.

In his report, Washington Counsel David Siddall, K3ZJ, commented on several pending FCC issues. Regarding the ARRL’s Technician enhancement petition filed in 2018, Siddall advised the EC that if ARRL wished to amend the proposal, it should do so before the FCC drafts a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).

The EC referred to the Administration and Finance (A&F) Committee for its consideration of a suggested graduated ARRL Life Membership dues reduction after an individual has reached a certain age. The EC asked the A&F Committee for recommendations to the full Board in January 2020.

The Executive Committee expressed its thanks and extended its compliments to the ARRL staff and volunteers for “their outstanding work at the just-completed National Convention as part of Dayton Hamvention 2019.”

The minutes of the May 20 Executive Committee meeting have been posted on the ARRL website.

Source:ARRL