Campaign Statement

Commitment to Amateur Radio

As an ARRL Life Member, my 46-years of commitment to amateur radio service includes not only my contributions to the ARRL Board of Directors since 2000, but also a variety of other amateur radio organizations as well. I co-founded the South Texas Amateur Repeater Society in 1982, and it remains one of the largest amateur groups in South Texas . I am also a Life Member of the Texas VHF-FM Society, where I serve as a Liaison to Mexico to secure Mexican repeater listings for the directory. I hold honorary life memberships in Mexican FMRE and ARARM. I am an ARRL VE and contribute locally as a NCS for the Valley Digital Communications Net and as an APRS HF/VHF Gateway.

Civic and Professional Interest

My outside interests include my association with the Texas Dental Association where I currently serve as a Vice President. In the past, I have been a member of the TDA Council of Legislative Action and the Texas Dental Political Action Committee. I am now a Legislative Action Chairman for the American Dental Association in Washington D.C.

I also serve as the President of Dentists Who Care, a non-profit corporation staffed by volunteers, that has provided care to over 15,000 indigent children and delivered over $2,000,000 in free dental services.

Where is Amateur Radio going?

Since joining the ARRL Board, my appointments have included Board Liaison to the Public Relations Committee, membership on the Strategic Planning Committee and membership on the Ad Hoc Committee on Grassroots Lobbying. The Grassroots Lobbying Committee has been given the responsibility of creating Political Action Networks in the ARRL Divisions.

Director Coy Day has appointed me to be the Congressional Action Chairman in the West Gulf Division. Along with the Section Managers, he and I are in the process of organizing the West Gulf Division Political Action Network. I have worked with Membership Services to establish the availability of multi-media programs for distribution to clubs to aid in the recruitment and retention of members.

I made the suggestion to list the ARRL in the Combined Federal Campaign brochure. Federal employees can designate the ARRL ( CFC #9872 ) as the recipient of their charitable donations. In the first year of the program, the ARRL collected over $10,000. This amount should increase yearly and add to the ARRL's revenue stream.

Issues Facing the ARRL

There are several problems facing the ARRL today. Among them are recruitment and retention, financial issues relating to membership numbers, Covenants Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R's), Spectrum Preservation and Broad Band over Power Line (BPL). BPL is the most immediate menace and is, at best, an immature technology that has attracted the unprecedented support of the FCC. The FCC seems to be intent on pushing BPL despite the overwhelming evidence that the technology will not deliver as advertised and, worse, it is a proven spectrum polluter of monumental proportions.

Confronting BPL

What can we amateur radio operators do to prevent BPL from destroying the radio spectrum that we utilize? The answer is to become politically active. Venturing into politics is a new concept for many amateurs, but I assure you, others have paved the way and political action is an effective way to inform and influence legislators.

If you are concerned about the BPL menace, restrictive antenna ordinances and spectrum protection, we must become politically active. If you want a strong voice in Washington, we must have a strong Political Action Network. I need your support to build the Network and I need your vote to continue the task.

My Goal

Many believe as I do that Amateur Radio needs to cultivate supporters in Congress. If the amateur radio is to survive, we must have a strong political voice. I am working to establish that voice.

With your support, we can build a team to carry our message to Washington, D.C. and throughout the West Gulf Division by developing a strong Grassroots Political Action Network. I need your vote to make this dream a reality.

Please vote for me, Dr. David Woolweaver, K5RAV for Vice Director West Gulf Division of the ARRL.

Thanks and 73,

Dr. David Woolweaver, K5RAV