Thank you Randy for posting this. Thank you Dick Norton for representing us the ARRL members and for being open with us. Openness is what will give the ARRL credibility.
Dick, taking investment capital and using it for ongoing operations is a bad idea. For emergencies, sure, but not ongoing. When the stock market takes a dump, you lose the ability to keep the lights on.
Dick represents this accurately, in my opinion. We sit next to one another at the Board meetings. After 4 years on the Board, his comments are becoming more and more relevant to me. The "free ARRL membership" motion for young people that passed this meeting was an idea the Dick has raised a number of times.
Dick Norton's presentation was one of the most irresponsible talks I have ever heard from a Director of the ARRL. His misleading statements do NOT explain the truth of the financials or minutes. The league's financials and minutes are available to ever member and if one actually takes the time to read them, they will learn the truth. For him to use this platform to spread his dissatisfaction and bias opinions of the ARRL and in many of his statements, untruths, is shameful. If he actually believes what he said, he should resign from ARRL and move on. We as ARRL members deserve better! Members listening to him that don't actually have direct access to what goes on at the league are being misled into believing a false narrative from him. My suggestion to people watching his presentation is to take it with a grain of salt and know his personal agenda.
The 2023 Annual Report is not out yet. Yes, I read the annual report every year. The League is not "swimming in money". They have been operating in the red for years. Investments are down, donations are down, expenses have risen. If anyone compares each past year's performance, you see a clear picture that the league was in (and may still be) a downward spiral for a while. Fiscal responsibility required them to raise dues to help stop the hemorrhage of money. It will be interesting to see the 2023 report and if the changes made a positive impact. In order to see the truth, one must look at historical financials to see the big picture of where the League is headed.
Yes, I read all the annual reports and have so for years. The 2023 report has not yet come out. It will be interesting to see how it compares. And that's the real story. If one takes the time to read all the reports over the years, one soon sees the slow loss of revenue over the past few years. As a 501c3 the board is obligated to be fiscally responsible. Then when they take action, people complain. Can't have it both ways. The $42M Norton eluted to was more like 32M and what he failed to not mention is that most of that money is restricted and not even available for general expenses. Again, just look at the reports for details. Norton has a reputation of distorting the truth about the ARRL. Frankly if he's so dissatisfied, he should resign and allow someone who actually wants to do something positive for amateur radio take his place. Hams in his territory deserve better!@@stanley917
I can understand that but consider one thing. Cancelling membership doesn't hurt the ARRL, it hurts yourself and your fellow hams. ARRL is bigger than the board or directors because WE are the ARRL. With all the corporations out there wanting our bands, we need to stick together. Is the ARRL perfect? NO. If not the ARRL, then who?? Right now, it's our only hope of preserving what we have. There has always been strength in numbers. One thing I am sure of, if ARRL ever closes its doors, amateur radio is over. FCC will sell of our frequencies, and we are done. So, don't let upper mgmt failures be the cause to leave. We are bigger than they are.@@Yellwolf
Randy, thank you for sharing this video. After listening to Dick and his thoughts and feelings on ARRL, I feel my best action moving forward isn't to not renew or take up torch and pitchforks but to get to know who my section people are and work with them to move the ARRL to work better for me as an individual and hopefully also improve things for other ham operators in my section. I once heard someone say 'be the ham radio operator you wish others were for you'. I don't know if it applies here, but I like it anyway.
Mr Norton, if memory serves, blew the whistle back in 2017 --and he was correct in his analysis. So, I tend to trust his judgement now. That being said... This is exactly why I'm *not* an ARRL member. What this talk reveals is that the thing doesn't do what it says on the tin. ARRL bills itself as the pre-eminent lobbying organization for the Amateur radio community in the US -- that's their primary reason for existing. How on earth does one lobby the Federal government on behalf of the US Amateur community, if the organization doesn't even have an office in Washington, D.C.?? This doesn't pass the smell test, but it certainly *does* explain a whole lot about why the PRB-1 issue hasn't been addressed in over 20 years. But, let's face facts: ARRL is a marketing organization at this point -- they don't lobby, they don't lead from the front on the international stage. The entire Amateur community -- worldwide -- would benefit from a strong national organization in the US. However, it seems more to be the case that it's a Boomer nostalgia organization dedicated to lining the coffers, and not serving the dues-paying membership. Colour me surprised. I would disagree with Mr Norton on a couple points, however. He mentions in this talk about giving memberships to youth for free, and opines that, y'know...in his day, he made the sacrifice to devote a portion of his teenage job to pay for an ARRL membership. I would submit that, yes: in it's present state, with a bunch of graybeards calling themselves Elmer and inviting kids down to their basement to check out their kewlie-guy ham equipment, youth *aren't* going to join ARRL...even if it *is* free. There has to be a recognition on the part of the organization that that $#!+ doesn't fly in the modern world. On the other hand, there's folks like Josh at Ham Radio Crash Course that *are* drawing in a goodly number of younger people to Amateur radio. Perhaps if ARRL actually had their $#!+ together and made an investment in a web presence, spearheaded by people under the age of 70, that they might actually be able to tap into the same audience as HRCC or Ham Radio 2.0 or others. The assertion made that Amateur radio is primarity a retiree's pasttime is so far off the mark that it's ridiculous. Second, Mr Norton is asked directly what he believes members ought to do about the state of affairs at ARRL -- and we hear the same, tired, "change from within" chant. I'm here to call bull$#!+ on this notion. Perhaps at some point in the distant past, when the mindset changed from, "We're a not for profit organization," to "We're a Corporate entity," --that was the time for "change from within." At this late stage, it's plain that the damage has been done: ARRL is simply capitalizing on their past to pad the investment accounts, while not delivering for their members. So, we're *well* past the point of, "change from within," and we're well within the, "ARRL needs to be disbanded," realm. The emperor has no clothes.
I would imagine that Hiram Percy Maxim is not a happy camper about all of the controversies & shanigams. Hmmm... Even though the ARRL HQ of today is not his original home; perhaps he should haunt the place & run the bad (pro secrecy) board members & management out. Thank you Dick Norton for shining a bunch of Arizona sunshine on these problems! 73
The situation at the ARRL is why I quit being a Volunteer Counsel. Many questionable practices were observed that I could not support. Staff members are still pushing an agenda that is a "problem".
Dick thank you for your communication. My Division Director has done nothing and no one in my club has ever heard from him. As for my Section Manager crickets. Hudson Division NNJ Section.
I am a former ARRL member. The membership fee is not affordable for me, I put it down to the exchange rate. Very interesting talks at the Quartzfest. Thank you ZS6BK Bruce
