Big changes ahead for ARRL board

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
The results are finally in. No, I’m not talking about the national mid-term election results. As I’m writing this, some of those votes are still being counted. I’m talking about this year’s ARRL board elections. ARRL members have spoken, and they have elected four new faces to the board in what was the most hotly-contested election in a long time.
Three of the five incumbents, plus an incumbent vice director running for the Northwest Division director position, were defeated by candidates calling for more transparency and for changes in the way that the ARRL operates.
Here are the results:
Central Division Director
•   Kermit Carlson, W9XA 1,898
•   Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L 1,755
Hudson Division Director
•   Ria Jairam, N2RJ 1,292
•   Mike Lisenco, N2YBB 1,239
New England Division Director
•   Fred Hopengarten, K1VR 1,432
•   Tom Frenaye, K1KI 1,383
Northwestern Division Director
•   Mike Ritz, W7VO 1,589
•   Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ 1,308
•   Horace Hamby, N7DRW 495
Roanoke Division Director
•   George Hippisley, W2RU 1,891
•   Dr. James Boehner, N2ZZ 1,365
In the only two contested vice director elections, Mark Tharp, KB7HDX defeated Daniel Stevens, KL7WM and Delvin Bunton, NS7U in the Northwest Division and in the Roanoke Division, William Morine, N2COP defeated John Humphry, W4IM. All newly elected officials will take office at noon on January 1, 2019.
I was kind of surprised here that Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L, failed to win in the Central Division. She has certainly made many contributions to amateur radio, both in the DX/contest community and on Ham Nation. Apparently, though, she made some statements that she was forced to retract, and that probably hurt her campaign, and as some pointed out to me, Kermit Carlson, W9XA, was well thought of in the Central Division and in the VHF/UHF community.
Overall, though, I’m very pleased with the results. Although some of the margins of victory were small—K1VR won by only 49 votes and N2RJ won by 53 votes—I think it’s pretty clear that the members want change. Now, it’s up to the board, including its newest members to effect that change. As always, I’m ready to help in any way that I can.
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When he’s not keeping up with ARRL politics, Dan blogs about amateur radio, writes exam study guides (www.kb6nu.com/study-guides), and operates CW on the HF bands, and lately some digital modes as well. Look for him on 30m, 40m, and 80m. Please email him your thoughts about the ARRL at cwgeek@kb6nu.com.