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Lisenco memo claiming legal activity inquiry warrants need to "clean house"
From: Mike Lisenco N2YBB CONFIDENTIAL TO THE ARRL BOARD - DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS ONLY! - CONFIDENTIAL TO THE BOARD - DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS ONLY! [confidentiality invalidated by Code of Conduct] To the OD, After 37 years of service to the ARRL, Chris Imlay is leaving his position as General Counsel. Chris is not leaving willingly. Instead, in my opinion, he is leaving because of a terrible abuse of authority by Dick Norton, which is the straw that broke the camel's back. Last week, Mr. Norton demanded from President Roderick, C.E.O. Gallagher, and C.F.O Shelly, Mr. Imlay's timesheets for the last two years. There can only be one reason for such an invasive solicitation. That is, to personally attack Mr. Imlay, something Mr. Norton has done in the past. What makes this request even more egregious is that included in the time sheets are details of his discussions with the E&E Committee about the Famiglio decision and the Norton ethics recommendations. Mr. Imlay requested that these notes be redacted, but his request was not granted. Should you think that Mr. Norton's inquisition is financial in nature, understand that Mr. Imlay, through his love for the ARRL and Amateur Radio, charges the League a mere $100/hour, substantially less than he charges his clients, far below the typical rate of most attorneys, and far below the $700/hour Day Pitney charges the ARRL for their work. (Think about that as we are now forced to use Day Pitney as our General Counsel until we find a replacement.) Mr. Norton, from what I understand, also made these demands of the Chair of the Administration and Finance committee, threatening him with escalating the issue - ostensibly a threat to sue. Frankly, I am tired of these constant threats to sue the League and the individual members of the Board. For the past two years we've had to constantly deal with the personal agendas of a few Directors and Vice-Directors to the point that we are hogtied and incapable of doing the business of the Board. This is wrong. It is destructive. And if it continues on this path, not only will we have lost a General Counsel, but we will lose our C.E.O. (that's a fact, not supposition), and quite possibly other executive staff, officers, and Directors as well. The micromanaging must stop! Just because a Director has the right to ask for and receive certain information DOESN'T MAKE IT ETHICAL, MORAL, OR JUSTIFIABLE! Mr. Norton has been on the attack for years. We should have done something when he decided to take on Mary Hobart, who eventually left the ARRL earlier than she should have. He has targeted Directors and Officers (myself included) with vicious emails, and with combativeness and belligerence in committee and Board meetings. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! Warnings don't mean anything to Mr. Norton, particularly when they are private. At the July Board meeting he was warned after he sent some emails. He is currently being cited by the E&E for a profound violation of the Code of Conduct, a code the Board instituted to end the very behavior Mr. Norton is accused of. It is an issue that shortly will be taken up in an Emergency Meeting of the Board. And now our General Counsel is being pushed out because he is tired of being on the receiving end of Mr. Norton's animus with little to no support from the Board. Let me remind you that Chris has been the shield the Board has used to guard us against the forces that produced the recent lawsuits or threats of lawsuits. And now he's been hung out to dry. Mr. Imlay is one of the top telecommunications lawyers in Washington whose sole practice is F.C.C. law. And he is known and respected in both houses of Congress. For those misguided few of you who might be happy to see him go, your victory is Pyrrhic. And don't think for a minute that we are unaware of the backroom dealings and secretive phone calls to Directors pushing your destructive agenda. In a recent letter to the Board a Director decried the lack of collegiality on the Board. I agree with that 1,000%. We cannot work to accomplish anything as long as we exist in a toxic environment, and the targeting of Mr. Imlay is the proof of that toxicity. I've prided myself on the ability to help create consensus on the Board. I believe that the majority of you, the members of the Board, feel that you have the same ability, too. Together let's put an end to this poisoned atmosphere. Let's work together to clean house, get back to the business of creating policy, and stop getting involved in personnel issues that are supposed to be the sole domain of management. "We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _______________________________________________ |
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