Florida Repeater Council members reject corruption.

The FRC has voted to censure and remove incumbent board members during an emergency members meeting.

St Petersburg, July 6, 2017

Summary:

The Florida Repeater Council, Inc. (FRC) membership has voted at an emergency meeting to censure and remove the board of directors and call for a rewriting of bylaws. The ongoing corruption of the board extends back over ten years and recently was exposed by members at the annual meeting in Orlando. During the Orlando meeting the Board voted to expel all members from the FRC and re-elect itself, in violation of the Articles of Incorporation and state law. Bylaw changes giving the president dictatorial like powers were approved and not disclosed until June 28, 2017.

The rebuke of these now former directors by the members and subsequent election of an interim board shows the radio amateurs of Florida have taken the first steps to correct this mismanagement and check the arrogance which permeated the FRC.​

Background on today's actions:

The background of mismanagement by the former board extends over the past decade. Over the past three year members have questioned the board of directors and made formal requests for information from the FRC. Each request for information was met with contempt and even reported to law enforcement as a means to intimidate the membership.

The FRC Reform caucus (http://frcreform.org) was started in 2015 by Bryan Fields W9CR, to shine a light on these matters. In support of these efforts, FRC members assigned proxies to Mr. Fields to be used during the annual members meeting in Orlando February 2017. During this meeting the board refused to recognize Mr. Fields supporters and claimed it was a closed non-members meeting, though it was announced as the annual members meeting. Board member James Deuel N0XIA, further tried to intimidate the assembled members by calling police over a supposed fire code issue a half hour after taking count.

At this Orlando meeting all members were removed from the FRC by the board in violation of the articles of incorporation. The proposed bylaw changes were not presented for review and a request by Mr. Fields to inspect them at the meeting was denied. These new bylaws were finally released on June 28, 2017. These changes gave the president dictatorial like powers and the board became a rubber stamp to presidential fiat.

An emergency members meeting was called July 6, 2017 by Director Mike Gonzalez N2FSU, to address these issues as he was shocked by the actions of the board. At this meeting the only directors who attended either online or in person were President Glenn (Mike) Fletcher NI4M and Secretary Dana Rodakis K4LK.

During the course of this the meeting the membership presented its charges against the directors and board. President Fletcher and Secretary Rodakis were called to explain the mismanagement and their conduct to the members. The only mitigating argument presented was one of "the board has eliminated membership, you are no longer members of the FRC".

Our members saw through this and voted to censure the board members, remove them from office and call a constitutional convention to rewrite the bylaws. A new board was voted in and tasked with auditing the FRC and correcting the mismanagement. Further it was resolved during this interim time no FRC funds would be spent without unanimous consent of the board and then only for legally required matters.​

Censured and removed directors:

Glenn (Mike) Fletcher NI4M, Dana Rodakis K4LK, Ralph Betts W4ORL, Norman Scholer K4GFD, Steve Lowman N4SGL, Douglas Steward KI4NAD, James Deuel N0XIA, Mark Filla N4DES, Joaquin Pidal KZ4TI, Barry Isbelle N2DB, Chuck Lavender W4CLL, & Frank Butler W4RH​

New FRC board members:

Chairman: Jon Pearl W4ABC
Directors: Ryan Owens KJ4SHL, Mike Gonzalez N2FSU, Lu Romero W4LT & Bryan Fields W9CR​

About the Florida Repeater Council:

The Florida Repeater Council, Inc. is the recognized coordination body for amateur radio repeaters in Florida. In addition the FRC is responsible for amateur band planing above 50 MHz. The FRC is a non-for-profit members organization and seeks to represent all users of amateur radio spectrum above 50 MHz in the state.​

Contact information:

For more information you may contact Chairman Jon Pearl W4ABC or Director Bryan Fields W9CR at 727-409-1194 as the main FRC website (http://florida-repeaters.org) has yet to be migrated.

Members are encouraged to join the FRC Facebook group for more information and updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FloridaRepeaters/​

 

Sounds rather petty, but thanks for airing your dirty laundry for us to enjoy!

 

Not petty if you are trying to coordinate a repeater and are stone walled for three years, and basically told to take a hike. By the way a former section manager for ARRL was one who was ousted..... Just sayin

 

Articles like this are a part of living in a democratic republic. This is not simply "airing out dirty laundry". This article is about direct action on behalf of the entire ham radio community. How can we be expected to police our selfs if those who we trust to be in charge are in reality after a power grab?

Good on the Florida Ham Radio Community for taking this action. This sets a real example for what I expect to see from the community. And remember, that's what we are: A community of radio and communication enthusiasts!

 

Holy Crap!!! Talking about POWER GOING TO THE HEADS of some "Club Officers" what happened @ the "FRC" really doesn't surprise me!!! You give some AUTHORITY to a FEW INDIVIDUALS EVEN HAMS and they become "DICTATORS"!!! Sorta like the ARRL OFFICIAL OBSERVER PROGRAM in earlier years out here in CA where they (meaning certain members of the O.Os locally) would HARASS ANYBODY "THEY DID NOT LIKE"!!! I'M SERIOUS, the aforementioned incident REALLY HAPPENED, AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE (5) O.Os WERE "FIRED FROM THEIR APPOINTMENTS BY THE "ARRL"!!! They got their "JUST DESSERTS!!!"

 

Corruption is like a cancer that's eating our society to death from within and exists at every level of our government and business. It's good to see some begin to fight back, in this case some hamateur radio operators. I would like to see the same thing happen (some sunshine) within the ARRL but that's a whole other story.

 

If the "pay for play" charges are true then the BOD needs to go.

 

Never doubt ones ability to abuse the minimal power they have to the maximum they can.

 

Any chance at all that, in the very beginning of all this, egos and arrogance was all that steered the FRC...and in the end...they pushed their egos and fever pitch of arrogance up against ones who genuinely knew and and respected the "laws of the land" and in the end...stuffed it up the collective noses of the entrenched? Lord knows, it won't be the first time this led to upheaval in the sunshine state.

Here's to hoping that those at the wheel can set the FRC on a steady course for the good of amateur radio and most importantly, public safety.

 

This is sad, but I doubt that it is an isolated case. I ran into something very similar a number of years ago, while attempting to make a change to a previously coordinated 2M repeater in Pennsylvania. I had to deal with two coordinating groups because of an overlap of coverage. The representative of one of the groups was offensive, arrogant, and acted like God. He would share no information and refused to back up technical objections with data. His excuse was that the technical data of the repeater I was reportedly going to interfere with was proprietary, i.e. secret! A member of the other coordinating group, told me that they had to obey the rules set out by the ARRL, under which they obtained their charter to operate.

Having been involved with broadcast frequency coordination for over 30 years at that point, I was dumbfounded. How anyone in their right mind could suggest that the technical parameters of an amateur radio repeater were secret or proprietary, was beyond my comprehension. Eventually I was able to work out a solution with the help of one of the members of my home coordinating group. But I swore then and there that I would never, ever, get involved with amateur radio repeater frequency coordination again. It was a horribly frustrating process, and it helped me to understand why hams avoid the coordination process all together.

I'm certain that there are coordination committees throughout the country doing a fantastic job. Unfortunately, this Florida stories sheds a bad light on all of them as well.

 

"Power" ? Another term, "Authority", seems to pop up fairly often as well in our hobby. Neither exist, except in some warped, childish, insecure minds. Seems there's no shortage of that in FloriDUH. ARES political fights and power struggles, DMR Separatist, pair squatters, EM/EOC wannabes, and a group who tried to sell themselves to the EM as a RACES organization. If that last one didn't make you shake your head, research what actually constitutes RACES.

The (former) FRC's job and positions were to provide a service to the hobby. They had no power or authority. They had, and accepted, a responsibility to the Amateur Radio community to provide that service, but conciously chose another path. Tip of the hat to those who stepped up to correct the situation.

If one is volunteering, or seeking a position in our hobby, the first test they should pass is one of their intent. If their intent is to serve, great.
If their intent is to get badges/ID cards, ARRL or other titles, power, authority, or the appearance of importance to sooth some self esteem problem or other issue, then as a community, let's call them out. They are an embarrassment to all of us, and damage the already questionable reputation we have in served agencies and other quarters.

 

The fights over the big fish in a little pond are always entertaining. It is also a bit interesting that this was posted by the very guy that led the FRC Reform Caucus and who; I'm sure by no action or desire of his own; is now part of the new leadership of the FRC. A bit of a victory lap, perhaps? DIrty politics or insider coup? Who knows, but definitely an entertaining read.

 

Or like ARRL denying the members in the S.E. Division the right to vote for their Director and the BOD in CT appointing one. I'll have to admit though that we were told(my interpretation) in QST that thats just the way it is, ARRL is a big corporation, not a radio club. Who knew?

 

Similar battles have occurred in countless ham radio clubs across the country and some are still going on. I have seen two clubs completely dissolved due to egos getting in the way of what is good for everyone. One even dissolved during a field day event over who was going to use club gear or their own!

 

Fantastic news! As a resident of Florida and a recent HAM, I am appalled by the action of the FRC board.