FYI. Dick has done a fantastic job, I will be supporting his endeavor 100%.

8 JUL 2009 - 2 CDT


Fellow ARRL Central Division Members:

I am now completing my third three year term as your Central Division
Director.  When I first ran for this job in 2000, if somebody had told me
I would be serving more than two terms, my response would have probably
been, "What designer drugs have you been taking?"  Well, 2009 is my ninth
year as your ARRL director... and here I am announcing my decision to run
for a fourth three year term.

Many of you are probably thinking, "Why is he doing this?"  My reasons are:

1. ARRL has made a lot of progress the past 10 or so years, but there still
   are some serious issues, listed below, that I believe I can help resolve,
   or at least see that more effective plans and policies for dealing with
   them are developed.

   A. After years of loss and stagnation, the number of Amateur Radio
      licensees and ARRL memberships appears to be slowly increasing.  The
      increase in the average age of U.S. Amateur Radio licensees appears
      to be leveling off - hopefully an indicator of coming decline.  We
      need to accelerate these processes.

   B. RF spectrum is a fixed resource and there are ever-increasing uses
      for it.  We will always have to politically defend our Amateur Radio
      frequency allocations here at home and at the International level.
      However, providing effective, well publicized, emergency communications
      is our most effective long-term defense.

   C. The financial costs of A and B above, plus our membership programs
      and service are constantly rising.  ARRL needs to increase revenues
      beyond what member dues and ARRL publications can reasonably provide.

2. I like discussing amateur radio issues with fellow hams.  I thoroughly
   enjoy working with my fellow ARRL directors and officers.  Yes, we
   sometimes have differences of opinion, but this just adds a bit of zest
   to the process of reaching a consensus.

Therefore, I will again be a candidate for reelection as your ARRL Central Division Director this fall.  I plan to file my nominating petition with
ARRL Secretary Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, at the board meeting later this month. 

I have been fortunate enough to not have any opposition since my first
election in 2000.  With your help, perhaps I will again be unopposed and
save the ARRL about $8000 in election costs. 

Please spread the word among your friends, at club meetings, hamfests,
the local bar, church, in club newsletters, or any other venue EXCEPT on amateur radio RF spectrum.  ARRL election rules forbid on-the-air election campaigning.

If you have any questions, please ask me.  If you have any suggestions,
please make them.

Please Note:

The email addresses used in this message come from correspondence you have
sent to me, or CC addresses in emails sent to me, in the past eight plus years.  They are not provided by ARRL.

If you do not want to receive any more Central Division election emails
from me, please let me know and I will remove your email address from my election campaign address list.

Thanks & 73 -

George R. (Dick) Isely, W9GIG
ARRL Central Division Director

736 Fellows Street
St. Charles, IL 60174

dick@...