Delaware County ARES Members, please see the below blog post from Bob Famiglio, K3RF and Bob Wilson, W3BIG, the Section Manager for Eastern Pennsylvania:

After serving for some 10 years or so after first being elected as your Vice Director, I am disappointed to report that as of 5 PM today, I have been informed that I will be declared ineligible to continue to hold office as your Atlantic division director under the new massive ethics bylaw voted into being last July by a vote of 10 to 5 directors on our ARRL board. I wish to make clear I am not resigning, I am being removed without my consent by the application of the new code of conduct rules passed in July of 2025.

This should come as no surprise to members following the ongoing struggle within our Board to impose compliance with the majority’s sense of what ethical responsibilities each member of the board must exhibit. By passage of the new bylaws, the rules now limit or prohibit a director’s ability to advise his division of matter involving important board decisions without advance permission. Per these rules it now appears that anything of any importance is to be for the boards’ eyes only. Our league is not in competition with other businesses – we have traditionally been supportive of all other amateur radio endeavors. That history has evolved now.

Over the last several years, League followers have seen the struggle of what members have labeled as the transparency party verses the confidentiality party as a shorthand for the governance divide which has plagued the ARRL.

The majority of our Directors, sometimes referred to as the Shadow Board by commentators and League followers, has decided that the governance of our League is not something the members need to concern themselves with. Our League was founded as a representative democracy – which until recently was clearly stated on the League’s website – wherein the members of a given division elect those directors to represent their interest primarily in our membership based non-profit institution.

Our League members’ values should be paramount. Elected directors’ primary duty is to the members. Directors obligation to the members never has been and cannot be inconsistent to their statutory duty to members. Unfortunately, now the majority of the board’s directors have chosen to prioritize a director’s obligation to a corporate entity in degradation of a director’s obligations to the League’s members.

Before the vote to enact a sweeping, ambiguous ethics code incorporating over 100 pages of requirements by reference, I was provided with only 12 minutes to question our corporate lawyer on what I was told was her approval of and assistance in drafting the changes. That turned out be misinformation according to answers she provided me. The lawyer admitted she was not asked to opine on the legality of the new bylaws, but only whether it was legal to pass the bylaws. While it was permissible to pass the new bylaws, they are still contrary to the state statutes defining a director cannot be removed except by the members of his division.

I was also pleasantly surprised when the corporate lawyer admitted that a director’s duty was, at least, 50% owed to the best interest of the members, not 100% to the corporation as argued by the appointed ethics rules committee of directors orchestrating the officious intermeddling resulting in the new Bylaw 18 and Bylaw(s) 42/46.

The sweeping changes created by the passage of the new bylaws permits these bylaws to be weaponize to remove directors who are in the minority on any issue. You will notice that most directors voting, when role call voting is allowed, is typically a 10 to 5 majority vote in favor of restricting information from members as confidential unless released in writing by the President or CEO. Confidentiality is sometimes necessary, but usually most things which ARRL does is not. Absent special circumstances, basic information and policy decision details and plans for the future should be available to our members. Of, by and for the radio amateur was founder Maxim’s motto.

Based upon the promises and obligations I have made to you, I regret I cannot in good conscience sign the new director’s oath of confidentiality that is now demanded by the new bylaws. My interpretation of the new rules and required confidentiality agreement and that of other lawyers I have consulted, contradicts with my obligations under Connecticut law to you. I recommend members read the entirety of the different, contradictory promises a director must agree to and decide for yourself whether they are in the best interest of members.

For a comprehensive and scholarly legal analysis of these issues, search for the white paper reviews drafted by a past director and a past chairman of the Ethics and Election Committee, attorney Fred Hopengarten, K1VR. They had been circulated widely. They point out the absurdity of the new rules. Other nationally recognized non-profit lawyers who are League members agree as well.

Our past 1st Vice President, also an attorney, Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, drafted an eloquent critic of the downward turn in League politics as his final report to the board January 2024. Mike’s report is worth reading and foretells of the issues we face now. It is not available at our League website but also made it out into the wild.

I regret that I cannot execute a statement which I know to be ill-advised, violative of my obligations to you and contrary to my duties under the applicable law governing a membership based corporation.

I urge you to support our Vice Director Marty Newingham AG3I who likely will assume the position of Director now. He has my confidence and I know he has your best interest in mind. It has been a true honor to represent you all as your Atlantic division director. I continue my support of Amateur Radio- always.

73, and I will see you on the radio.

Bob Famiglio, K3RF


Bob Wilson, W3BIG, EPA Section Manager

Good afternoon ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section Members,

This will be my final post as EPA Section Manager. The leadership of the ARRL has deteriorated in such a fashion that I can no longer remain a part of the Field Service Division in good faith. My heart is no longer in it. I will resign as your section manager today.

As many of you may already know, our Atlantic Division Director, Bob Famiglio, K3RF, has been forced off the ARRL Board of Directors because he refused to sign a newly required document (ARRL By-law 46) that, in essence, is a loyalty oath that demands both obedience and secrecy.  That such a requirement was made necessary is testament to the fragile leadership of both ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, and two-thirds of the Board of Directors.

I have known and worked closely with Bob Famiglio for more than 25 years. He is one of the most dedicated and tireless individuals I have ever met. He has been a proponent and supporter of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, volunteer counsel for the ARRL, representing countless hams who have had issues with antennas, RF noise complaints and a myriad of other concerns too numerous to detail here. He has served on the ARRL Board of Directors with distinction for many years and advanced the standing and stature of all amateur radio operators throughout the United States. He has served as both a Vice Director for the Atlantic Division as well as the Section Manager for the Eastern Pennsylvania Section.

Bob Famiglio has served on the ARRL BOD in many capacities in a professional and cohesive manner. But, due to Famiglio’s belief that he serves his constituents in the Atlantic Division and not a CEO, he was identified as an outlier. CEO David Minster convinced the BOD to rubberstamp his plan to require a loyalty oath that requires confidentiality and fealty. This “recertification statement” enables Minster and the BOD to act without transparency because he believes members do not need to know what leadership is up to.

The ARRL’s leadership under Minster has come at an expense to the ARRL, in both membership and credibility. Since Minster was hired by the ARRL and the board has obediently enacted his agenda, membership numbers have plummeted alarmingly to a level near 130,000 out of more than 750,000 licensed amateurs. Do the math. That means the ARRL now counts among its members only 17 percent of radio amateurs in the United States. Those are pathetic numbers. Minster will argue the decline in membership is due to the inactivity of Technician class licensees or to attrition of aging baby-boomers. That is not what I hear at hamfests and club meetings. Most amateurs with whom I speak cite a disconnect between ARRL leadership and membership. Our members are both disappointed in and angry with the League’s leadership. I have heard such complaints at nearly every hamfest I have attended.

As paid membership was tanking, Minster enriched himself at our expense. Since being hired as CEO, his annual salary has increased by more than $100,000 to over $350,000. His salary has just increased again, and it will be even more challenging to determine his compensation package now that board members have been required to sign the new bylaw recertification statement. This salary grab occurred while the ARRL is hemorrhaging money. The picture of Nero fiddling while Rome burns immediately comes to mind.

It’s important to understand that this is not about one individual. It is about ethical principles. Bob Famiglio was removed from the ARRL Board of Directors because he is a principled man of integrity who never lost sight of whom he represents – you. In a recent ARRL Letter to members, Minster defended the ouster by stating that Famiglio “voluntarily” decided to leave the BOD by refusing to sign the new recertification statement. You know this is bull. We are Pennsylvanians, after all. Many of us have farming in our blood and we know fertilizer when we smell it. Bob Famiglio, who also serves as a volunteer firefighter and regularly risks his life to save people and property, has never voluntarily backed away from any challenge.

Famiglio’s resistance to coercion is based on his ethical behavior and his desire to do what is right. Ask yourself why an amateur radio organization finds it necessary to operate in such a manner that requires confidentiality.  And also ask yourself why CEO Minster has focused more on attracting well-heeled donors to support the ARRL rather than recruiting new members. There are no good answers to these questions.

I am not going to ask you to read any more about the ills of the ARRL. You know what is happening in Newington and you know it is not good for our members in the EPA and throughout the nation. It is the driving reason behind the ARRL’s decline. Many in the amateur radio community feel it no longer represents them. David Minster is consolidating power at headquarters and reducing it at the local level. It is primarily because he does not believe in a member-driven ARRL. It appears you are not as important as the large donors he desires.

To be candid, if an individual such as Bob Famiglio, whose integrity, dedication and intelligence are unparalleled, is not qualified to serve the ARRL, then neither am I.

My final act as EPA Section Manager is to thank you all sincerely for your friendship, your dedication and the generosity you have shown me as I visited hamfests, Field Days and club meetings. It has been an honor to get to know you. I am humbled by the incredibly good nature you have shown and the fascinating things you have done to advance the art and science of amateur radio. And, to our tireless volunteers on our ARES teams, you are the heart and soul of the Amateur Radio Service.  You have my undying loyalty and respect. Stay safe out there!

Just a few notes: First of all, many thanks to both Bob Famiglio and Bob Wilson for their years of services to both ARES and ARRL. I completely agree with and support their decision and would have done the same.  Another note is that Jay King, W2AFE will be continuing in his current role as Section Emergency Coordinator for EPA.

As Emergency Coordinator for the ARES group in Delaware County, I and the rest of the group are someone isolated from the ARRL, for better or worse. We do report our volunteer hours to them for use in grants and follow their guidelines for events such as Field Day and Simulated Emergency Tests.  I don't think this will change much if anything in the short term.  However, there always is a possibility that this might change in the future.  Just keep in mind that I appreciate and am proud of what we all do to volunteer to serve our neighbors here in Delaware County. 

Thanks to all of you for everything that you do!

Chris Kelleher, W3CTK