WEST
CENTRAL
FLORIDA
SECTION
COMMITTEE

ARRL LETTER ARTICLE
April 30, 1999

 

 

 

The following article appeared in the April 30, 1999 ARRL Letter:

 
WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION PETITION FILED

A group calling itself the West Central Florida Section Committee has filed a valid petition with ARRL Headquarters to create a third section in the Sunshine State. The proposed West Central Florida Section would be created by carving ten counties out of the current Southern Florida Section.

Counties proposed for inclusion are Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota. The counties are home to more than 11,000 hams, nearly 3000 of them ARRL members.

The ARRL By-laws provide that a new section may be created from one or more existing sections. The most recent new ARRL section created was Northern New York in 1996. At present, there are 70 ARRL sections.

The initial petition, signed by at least ten full ARRL members, has been accepted for filing by League Headquarters. To be approved, however, the request still must overcome several procedural hurdles.

At this point, copies of the West Central Florida Section request are in the hands of Northern Florida Section Manager Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, Southern Florida Section Manager Kevin Bunin, K4PG, and Southeastern Division Director Frank Butler, W4RH, for their evaluation. Their review and a recommendation to accept or reject the request are due to ARRL Board Secretary and Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, by May 31.

Sumner will review the submittal, add his comments and recommendations in his role as Executive Vice President, and forward copies of the petition and related information on League membership to each member of the ARRL Executive Committee.

Following its review, the EC will send its recommendation to the full Board of Directors. The Board then will vote to accept or reject the petition. If accepted, the Board can authorize a mail vote of full members in the proposed new section. If a simple majority of eligible members voting approves the change, the ARRL Board then reviews the entire file and votes to approve or disapprove the requested change. That decision is final.

ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, says that even if the petition is approved at every step, it would not become effective until sometime next year.

West Central Florida Section Committee Chairman Paul Toth, K2SEC, says the proposal is aimed at improving ARRL representation and services for members living in the affected counties. If approved, the proposed 8320 square-mile section would be among the most densely populated. A plan to attract more people into Amateur Radio through education and outreach accompanied the committee's request.

The committee's Web site at http://www.qsl.net/wcfla contains the full text of the petition and additional information

 


Return to WCF SECTION COMMITTEE HOME PAGE