Introduction

Hello from Fort Collins, Colorado.

My name is Chris Howard. I hold amateur extra class radio license
w0ep. I have been a licensed radio amateur since 1981.

The purpose of this blog is to record some of my thoughts about the upcoming 2007 election in the Rocky Mountain Division of the ARRL. I am running for the position of Vice Director and I would appreciate your vote.

What Is It All About

The American Radio Relay League is the largest organization of amateur radio operators in the United States. It also is a focal point and resource for amateur radio operators, clubs and governing bodies from around the world.

The ARRL board of directors consists of 15 directors, one from each division. A vice director from each division participates on the board if the director cannot. The Rocky Mountain Division covers the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. (ARRL Articles of Association)

How it happened

In July the ARRL published a notice in QST magazine announcing the upcoming elections for the positions of Director and Vice Director from some of the ARRL Divisions. The term of office for these positions is three years.

I'm generally happy with the direction of the ARRL and I didn't want to waste the organization's time and money on an election if the current guys were going to continue in their offices. I sent email to both of them and learned that roles were changing and there would indeed be an election. I decided to run.

The Nominating Petition

I contacted the ARRL to get a packet of election information as directed in the QST note. The packet arrived promptly in the mail and I read through it. My first task was to get at least 10 signatures from ARRL members in this division who would nominate me to be on the ballot.

On the back side of the nominating petition was a questionaire that I had to fill out. It asked about my occupation, business contacts and other information that would be used to determine if I would be creating a conflict of interest should I eventually be elected.

My next step was to send out an email to the local ham radio club email reflector. I got more than 10 people responding that they would be willing to sign my nomination petition. These were people that I had talked to on the air locally on 2 meters and 70 centimeters and had met at the club meetings. Some of them I tracked down at home but most of them signed my petition at the next club meeting. Pretty quick I had enough signatures with a few extra just in case. I added my own and sent it off in the mail to the ARRL.

Acknowledgment Letter

Soon I received a letter of acknowledgment from the ARRL that my petition had been received and that I had a sufficient number of valid signatures to put me on the ballot. The next hurdle would be an examination of the my conflict of interest potential.

ARRL Email Letter

The weekly ARRL Letter email newsletter came out with a few paragraphs about the election and it listed me as a candidate. I'm in!