Yearly Housekeeping
Just a reminder, member dues are due at or before the July 2019 meeting, when the new officers take office.  If you are a 1 year member, interested in serving in an appointed position, please let President-Elect Johnnie Knobloch know, at his callsign at ALERT-Alabama.org

If you are interested in joining with ALERT in our mission, feel free to reach out! We have members from all walks of life and many amateur radio groups – the more the merrier!

Introducing… 2019-2020 officers for ALERT!
Congrats! At the May 2019 meeting, the following officers were elected by acclamation. We have quite a diverse and strong array of skills within ALERT, serving the NWS and amateur radio’s link to the NWS!

• President: Johnnie Knobloch, KJ4OPX
  Johnnie is active in the amateur radio community, wearing quite a few hats! He’s currently serving as Jefferson County Emergency Coordinator for ARES, LDS Emergency Coordinator, and Vice President of the Central AL chapter of the National Weather Association.
  
  
• Vice President: Lauren Chambers, KN4UAQ
  Lauren is serving as VP for the remainder of the year, and brings to ALERT skills from her involvement with being a Major in Civil Air Patrol service. She is a Six Sigma White Belt (process improvement intro), has FEMA ICS100-400, IS700 and 800, Red Cross Shelter Operations certificate, Basic Life Support certification, and nonviolent crisis intervention training.
  
  
• Treasurer & Membership: Bill Rodgers, K4FSO
  Bill continues as treasurer into this term. Bill is also quite active in amateur radio by day, and IT Systems Engineer by night (or the other way around, depending on the week)! He’s one of the guys that set up amateur radio, allowing middle school students talk to astronauts on the International Space Station, among other projects. 
  
  
• Secretary: Justin Glass, N0ZO
  Justin continues as secretary into this term. Justin is a VE for Laurel VEC, administering free amateur radio license exams, with Central AL ARC. His mobile amateur radio setups are quite nice, and I’m starting to think of him as a master of remote control and IoT (Internet of Things).
  
  
• NWS Liaison: Russell Thomas, KV4S
  Russell continues as NWS Liaison and Station Trustee. Russell has brought us much greater digital amateur radio integration, such as bridging DMR, Echolink, AllStar, D-Star (XRF), in an effort to make it easier for areas not reachable via VHF/UHF to connect with ALERT and K4NWS (National Weather Service Birmingham). He is instrumental with experimenting with technologies that may aid ALERT in its mission to get ground-truth severe weather reports to NWS, as well as liaising with other regional Skywarn groups, as we work together to cover edge counties.

Duties for Officers:

• President
  Appoints the nominating committee of 2 members in March for next election.
  Presides/conducts all meetings.
  Votes only in case of tie at regular meetings.
  Secures meeting space for meetings.
  Appoints committees for specific tasks, be a member of committees.
  Appoints non-elected officers: Operations, Public Information, Training.
  
• Vice President
  In event that the President is unable to perform duties of office, the VP steps in to perform the duties in absence, and if necessary becomes President and holds office for the remainder of the term.
  
  
• Treasurer & Membership
  Receives all monies, and maintains accurate record of all receipts and expenditures.
  Reports activities and treasury status at each monthly meeting, including regular/emergency expenditures.
  Maintains member roster and collects dues, notifies members of dues becoming due.
  
  
• Secretary
  Maintains the official minutes of meetings of ALERT.
  Maintains copies of bylaws and keeps a record of all changes to the bylaws.
  In the event of the President and VP becoming unable to fulfill the office of President, the Secretary would hold the office for the remainder of the term or until a special election can be held to fill the vacancy
  
  
• NWS Liaison
  Serve as the official contact person between ALERT and the NWS for issues/changes in radio operations that need to be addressed by ALERT/NWS.
  Keeps and updates the official callout lists and schedule.
  Upon NWS request, issues call-outs to the NWS, coordinates the response/shifts.
  If needed, contact responders and remind them of scheduling.
  Provides NWS with a ‘callout tree’ of personnel who may initiate callouts, in the even the liaison officer is unavailable
  
• Operations (Appointed by President)
  Resolves any communications problems outside the NWS (repeater, link trouble). 
  This officer has charge over ALERT-owned computer and communication equipment, with leeway to modify, repair, augment or enhance ALERT’s capabilities as he sees fit.
  The Operations and NWS Liaison Officers shall work to keep the training officer informed of any new procedures and equipment, to keep members updated.
  
• Training (Appointed by President)
  Maintain and update the procedures manual for operations at the National Weather Service.
  Provide workshops at the NWS to all Operational Members of ALERT, intended to provide hands-on training in the operations of the K4NWS station Amateur Radio and computer equipment.
  As new equipment and technology is adopted, the training officer shall provide update briefings or trainings to members to keep them aware of the changes.
  
  
• Public Information (Appointed by President)
  Be a liaison between ALERT and news organizations.
  Currently, this includes web/social media engagements, as our involvement with the news is somewhat limited. Hamfests and contact with other radio clubs is often a part of the position.
  
• Board of Directors
  Appoints or continues the trustee of the K4NWS callsign. The board of directors reviews challenges to membership approval, member standing, discipline, constitutional amendments submitted to the board (to present to membership), hardship review for dues,  and conducts any other ALERT business not delegated otherwise in the bylaws.
  Meetings are held every June, September, December, March, or any time the President calls a special session.
  *Board meetings, except for executive session, are open to ALERT’s voting membership. The board is composed of President, Immediate Past President, Station Trustee, A two year term at-large member, a one year term at-large member, appointed by Presidents. Terms can be consecutive.