Dave Heil wrote:

The ARRL's rules regarding candidacy for elected ARRL positions existed
decades before Carl's run.

They go all the way back to the very beginning of the League. They're
really very basic conflict-of-interest rules. Someone whose employment
is tied to parts of the radio industry that conflict with amateur
radio, or could conflict with amateur radio, are not allowed to hold
policy-making ARRL positions, such as Director and Vice-Director.

For example, someone working on a BPL system could not be a vice
director.

It's not about whether someone is a "professional" or not, but whether
the person's "pecuniary interest" could present a conflict.

The problem is in the interpretation of those rules. The committee
which decides such things decided there could be a
conflict-of-interest. The BoD agreed with the committee.

Some of us here in the Atlantic Division (where he lives), and
elsewhere, thought that Carl should be allowed to run. We did not see
the alleged conflict-of-interest. We expressed that opinion to the
commitee, the board, the officers, etc. but they did not change their
minds.

btw, director and vice director are division positions, not section
positions.

The matter is moot since Carl's mouth would
have precluded his being elected had he qualified for candidacy.

Possibly. But as an ARRL member in the Atlantic Division, I thought he
should have the chance to run. The fact that I disagree with him on
some issues might have been overshadowed by broad agreement on other
issues.

Maybe I would have voted for him, maybe not. Maybe he could have won,
maybe not, but at least I wanted the choice.

Carl's excellent work on interference-from-BPL speaks for itself.

Director terms are not for life. The board, committees and officers
change over time. There will be other elections.

73 de Jim, N2EY