I write articles for a living, most are posted on the internet and people can post comments, either agreeing or disagreeing with me. I have learned over the years that those who post comments anonymously are not well informed, are just trying to create problems, or are just plain ignorant.

As far as the new bylaws are concerned here is my perspective:

1) This club will cease to exist in the very near future unless some major changes are made.

2) Reducing the size of the BOD and having this “club” run in a more businesslike manner is one good start

3) Having been a board member for just a few years, I have dreaded going to the BOD meetings, they drone on and on, each committee has to give a report, which we have already received in writing, and then there is always a debate about anything the club might want to do. The current board is made up of way too many people, I serve on a number of broads for non-profits and for-profit organizations and NONE of them has a Board that is more than 7 members total.

4) The current board members want the club to continue to succeed, but there are a few “no matter what is proposed they will find a problem with it”, there are few “this is the way we have always done it so why change”, and then there are those who are willing to listen to everything and anything and discuss it.

5) IF we are serious about survival then we MUST change our ways—if we just want to continue on to be a “club of hams” and a hobby organization then  you need to be prepared to lose your repeaters, your club station, you meeting place, and everything else that we currently do because we cannot support that on our dues. Most repeater organizations in the State charge $100 to $150 per year for membership, they don’t have meetings, they don’t get together more than once a year but they do run first class repeater systems. Get real folks, the dues for this club don’t even pay to keep the lights on.

6) Maybe the new bylaws are not perfect—to me they need a lot of work—BUT I believe that the real issue that should be voted on is this: Are we going to continue as we are and fail, or are we going to investigate, and change what we do and continue to serve our community? Ham Radio is a privilege given to us by the Federal Government because we SERVE others, not because we are a club.

7) I will not serve as a board member of this club again, however, I will support this club as I have done for a few years, and I will serve under the leadership of the club and the Director of Telecommunications. You just do not HAVE a CLUE of what we do that benefits the club in so many ways. How many of you really know what we do beyond keeping your repeaters up and running so you can run your nets, and provide communications to the community and chat with each other? How many of you know about the weather stations, the ELT sensing devices, the AIS (look it up) sensors? How many of you know how much work we do within the community with UCSB, SARS, local volunteer organizations,  other non-profits? How many of you even know that we rebuilt the Regan Ranch Secret Service command post with equipment we found that was original and so good that when the agents recently visited the Ranch they felt they were back in the command center just as it had been?

8) How many of you really know that a non-profit with the worlds Amateur and Club in the name has a VERY hard time raising funds? How many of you know how much funding we have raised in the last 3 years some of which has kept the club alive—if we had not raised the money this club would have been OUT OF BUSINESS 3 years ago.

So—I have a lot more, but I am really upset that some of the BOD’s seem to take so much pride in being able to say they are a board member that they are not looking at the bigger picture. A board member of what? I club with declining membership ?  A club that might not exist next year? If you are one of these people, get over it. Ham Radio is MUCH more than a hobby, it is the gateway to opportunity, to serving our community and if we are not around we cannot do any of that.   I ask all of you to put aside your egos and focus on what is, for now, the most important decision that we can make for the future of our club. Is it business as usual until we fail or is it time for some REAL changes to reinvigorate who we are and what we do. The choice is up to you.

Ham Radio lead me to my profession, it has provided bridges into other worlds for me. I don’t want to see SBARC just disappear—I want it to be reborn, with renewed energy and a renewed commitment from all of us to make the changes that need to be made to keep it alive.

Andy W6AMS