IMPORTANT MEETING - The January 19th Annual General Meeting is once again an important meeting for the Association and I hope every member will make the effort required to attend. Not only is it time to elect officers again, but there is yet another set of proposed Constitution and Bylaws changes to be discussed and voted upon.

ASSOCIATION OFFICERS - The new year brings the election of Association Officers. As I announced last year, I have served as President of this Association for too many years and it is time for some new blood. I will not accept nomination for the position again and a new President will be elected at the January meeting. Despite my attempts to identify someone who would like to take over the job, there have been no volunteers so the filling of the position will be totally determined at the General Meeting. If you want to have your say, you need to be there. If it is desired, I am available to serve as Treasurer and will volunteer to continue managing the Internet-based services. Jeff Hilmer has done an outstanding job as Treasurer during his term but also needs to shed some of his load.

CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS CHANGES - Another set of proposals to make changes to our Charter Documents was introduced at the October General Meeting. The proposals are somewhat complex and are described elsewhere in the Bulletin so I will not discuss them here except to again encourage every member to study the issues and participate in the decision. The proposals as submitted are covered by the enclosed Absentee Ballot, but remember that if any changes to the proposals are made at the duly noticed meeting, the Absentee Ballots may not be counted in determining the final outcome. Again, your attendance is important.

220SMA ON-LINE- Reminder, keep your email address up to date with the Association so you will receive the Membership Reflector distributions. Also remember that the 220SMA RFC is now available on-line at our Web page <http://www.220sma.org>. Look for the Forms link on the Home page.

COORDINATION BOARD ACTIVITY - There were no Coordination Board Reports published during the last quarter of 2001.

FINAL PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - Since this will be my last 220SMA President's Message I want to take this space to express my appreciation for the many members who have assisted and supported me during my tenure. I also want to thank those of you who did not agree with my positions but had the interest of the Association at heart and spoke your peace. I honestly believe that during my Presidency everyone who wanted to express their views was given an opportunity to be heard, and that we are all better for having the open but structured environment that I fostered. From the challenges of dealing with a splinter coordination group to molding a Coordination Board that is responsive and fully discloses its actions, I have tried to provide an environment where constructive change can occur.

I fully admit to failing in several areas too. It is because of these failures that I feel as strong as I do about the Association needing new leadership. In my opinion, an important aspect of the Association is the planning it should be doing in order to respond to the changing technical and social environments surrounding Amateur Radio as we enter the 21st Century. My efforts over several years to encourage the Coordination Boards to take the lead here were not successful, and I could not gain the necessary general membership support to make it happen there. Additionally, despite the improvement I believe has taken place in the conduct and reporting of the 222MHz Coordination Board (I hope this is still true), the critical area of coordination records has not seen the attention I feel is necessary. I'll be here to help, but it is now up to you as members to decide how important good record keeping is to the success of the organization.

Although some have suggested that I could have accomplished more if I were a member of the Coordination Board, having been around when we voted to disallow the President from serving on the Board, I still believe this is an important provision in the Bylaws. Maybe sometime in the future I will have time to serve on the Board and do my part there, but now is not the time.

My final comment is to remind you that in order to have a strong and meaningful organization we must all do our part. Some need to be leaders and some need to be followers, but there must be both. Please consider volunteering to be a leader for a while. The Association needs you now.

73 - JimF

Jim Fortney, K6IYK Jim@Fortney.com P.O. Box 3419, Camarillo, CA 93011-3419 805-491-3916