Aug 27, 1997 – Day 1 – Conference Summary of Motions

Minutes Completed & Revised 4-98

1997 Cocaine Anonymous

World Service Conference Minutes

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Day One, Wednesday, August 27, 1997

1. Session called to order by Amy Beech, Vice Chairperson/Parliamentarian, at 1:30 p.m.
2. Amy Beech will be the Acting Chairperson until a new Chair is elected.
3. Serenity Prayer
4. How It Works read by Brigid Buretta from Wisconsin.
5. Twelve Traditions read by Ralph Holland, from Portland.
6. The Twelve Concepts read by David Kulik, from New York.
7. Roll Call
8. 124 Votes present, quorum is 83.
9. MOTION: to accept Alaska as out newest area as a part of the Pacific North Region. (motion made by Andy White, PN Regional Trustee)
10. Motion carried
11. 126 Votes present, quorum is 84
12. Election of Conference Officers due to the resignation of our Chair.
13. Letter of resignation from Tom Tabet read into the transcript.
14. NOMINATION: Amy Beech by Charles Lewis
15. NOMINATION: Leon Mason by Kevin Murphy
16. NOMINATION: Jay Finesilver by Ellen Sargent
17. MOTION: to close Nominations, by David Kulik, New York
18. Motion carries.
19. Deneen Grant, Conference Secretary becomes the Acting Chair
20. Nominees give qualifications
21. New Chairperson will be Amy Beech for a 2 year term
22. NOMINATIONS for Vice Chair/Parliamentarian:
23. NOMINATION: Spencer Barton by Scott Stokes;
24. NOMINATION: Jay Finesilver by Dominic Marchesan, Florida;
25. NOMINATION: Sharon Smith by Dwayne Boston, DECLINED;
26. NOMINATION: Heidi Jonathan, by Jim Chadowski;
27. NOMINATION: Ralph Holland, by Lynn Gibbons;
28. NOMINATION: Leon Mason by Jay Guzofsky;
29. NOMINATION: Chris Phillips, by Robert Greene DECLINED;
30. MOTION: to close Nominations by Jeff Schachter
31. Motion carries.
32. Nominees give qualifications
33. Leon Mason Nomination is determined out of order by the Chair as he is no longer present
34. The newly elected Vice Chair/Parliamentarian is Spencer Barton for a 2 year term
35. Conference theme announced by Karen Sullivan, from Arizona.
36. Theme this year is “Carrying the Message in the Spirit of Love”
37. Trustee Reports: John Henson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

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38. The Board unanimously decided not to fill the positions of Non-Addict Trustee and Trustee at Large for this conference. The positions are not being eliminated; they are just not being filled at this time.
39. The World Service Board of Trustees unanimously decided that the C.A. logo should not be placed the on C.A.W.S. Convention Memorabilia.
40. Sharon Smith, Trustee at Large. The Trustee Election Committee will ratify slates later in the session.
41. Chris Phillips and Sharon Smith have been working on written internal guidelines for service job descriptions. Would like to present this to the conference next year.
42. Chris Phillips, Trustee at Large, The Trustees have noticed a pattern evolving in the use of workplace assets to perform service duties for groups, districts, areas and CAWSO events. While the Trustees believe that no group or individual is free to do as they choose, we would like to remind each and every member of our Traditions 2, 7 and 8, and remind you, one and all, to be aware of what is a very subtle threat which may expose us to disunity and threaten our common welfare.
43. Francis Benedict, non-addict Trustee: After three years of service to the fellowship of CA my spirituality has been greatly enhanced and I have realized a great commitment to people in recovery.
44. Susan Turnbull, WSO Board Trustee: I am the liaison between the Board of Trustees and the World Service Office Board. This year I have worked on an order of accountability between both boards.
45. Meredith Amos, World Service Trustee: working on searching the trustee meeting minutes for the last five years for motions or directives to help the future trustees.
46. Charles Lewis, Atlantic North Regional Trustee: Canadian meetings are thriving in French and English. A web-site in French has been added. England and British Isles are going through growing pains.
47. Steve Amelotte, South West Regional Trustee: The region has shown a desire to investigate making CA more attractive to the newcomer, and more attractive to the people with time, so we can grow. We are doing different things, planning workshops and reaching out to them to get them back into service.
48. Scott Stokes, Midwest Regional Trustee: I am moving from the Public Information Committee this year to the Convention Committee, to help plan the 1999 WSC convention in Milwaukee.
49. Joe Stephens, Pacific South Regional Trustee: The World Service Convention it may be awarded to a host city, but it belongs to you. You make it or break it. I hope everyone comes to Irvine for the Serenity by the Sea Convention 1998.
50. Andy White, Pacific North Regional Trustee: I am expecting some growth in my region this year. I am serving on the Structures and Bylaws committee this year.
51. Jay Guzofsky, In reference to the CA logo not being place on CAWS convention memorabilia, How is this going to affect the memorabilia that has already been planned for World Convention 98?
52. John Henson responds, It does not affect that. Wherever it is possible to remove the logo from the memorabilia, it is requested. If it is an undue hardship, undue expense, then it doesn’t make sense.

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53. Jay Guzofsky, Is this decision binding?
54. John Henson, it can come to the floor as new business, but it was a unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees.
55. Jeff Schachter, Could you explain the reasoning behind the non-renewal of the Trustee at Large and Non Addict Trustee positions
56. Chris Phillips: We do not currently have any major plans for the Board. It would appear the TAL should be a position that we can pick up when needed and put down when we don’t.
57. Francis Benedict will address the Non Addict Trustee position: this position should be for a person who has professional experience to lend to the fellowship. I may have contributed spirituality, but we really need professionals in the areas of finance and legal matters and until someone comes along with those qualifications it will not be filled.
58. Lionel Key, What was the reason for the Board’s decision not to use the CA logo for CAWS convention memorabilia.
59. John Henson: the board feels as though it trivializes our name and who we are. Disunify those who participate in the WS Convention by being forced to break their anonymity or not. It dilutes our primary purpose. It weakens our potential to challenge any unauthorized use of the logo including the block letters placing them in the public domain could affiliate us in a negative way, based on the actions of a member and placing us in potential public controversy.
60. John Henson: we had elections for the WSBT Officers: Sharon Smith will be our new Board of Trustees Chairperson. Charles Lewis will be the Vice Chairperson and Steve Amelotte will be the Corresponding Secretary.
61. Scott Stevenson: In addition to the reports given to be given later by WSO Board members, these items are highlights:
62. The board, as a whole, considered and passed numerous policies during the year, including changes in compensatory time off policy, response to possible copyright violations, changes in establishment of job descriptions for the staff, response to various inquiries from individuals on the World Wide Web and an updated cash management policy.
63. KD Zager: Introduction of office staff, followed by description of the work done there.
64. Highlights: increase in sales of chips and literature and books. Have been very assertive in our distribution to the federal prison system.
65. Starter kits in the last 12 months have gone to Nova Scotia, West Africa, Malaysia, Equador, Sweden, Nigeria Saskatchewan, Canada, Germany, Colombia, British Columbia, New Brunswick as well as many places in the US.
66. We are saving about $12,000 a year on the new 800 number system put in place with the help of David Kulick from New York. The number is listed in thousands of publications around the world.
67. We are working on a third print of the CA storybook. Literature racks will be available for sale through the WSO.
68. Internet Stuff: ca.org is our Internet domain. A member of the fellowship donated the servicing of the site. WSO email address is: cawso@ca.org; Public

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Information is: pubinfo@ca.org and the web masters address is: webmaster@ca.org

69. Ed Godfrey: Passed out financial statements. Changes that have been made, due to the banking institution: new one offers more technology and financial reporting.

70. Budget reporting will be proposed in Finance Committee report. The expenses are on the board.
71. The bottom line is that sales were down. Our actual was about $30,000 below what was budgeted for.
72. Book sales were a saving grace. We budgeted $15,416, for book sales and our actual sales were $45,645. It’s about a 250% increase. The reason is that Hazelden has been buying the books.
73. The 7^th Tradition budgeted $25,000 and realized $25,097. Convention related entries are different. We budgeted $240,750 for operating expense and realized $275,000 actual. The soft cover book is the biggest seller.
74. Recess for Dinner
75. Count is taken to verify that a quorum is in place.
76. Sharon Smith, TAL: the slate approval for the trustee nominating committee
77. Atlantic North: Amy Beech
78. Ratified
79. Atlantic South: Keith Fryer, Walter Johnson, Mike Webb, Susan Doch
80. Ratified
81. Midwest: Jennifer Cole, Spencer Barton, Jim Bagnola
82. Ratified
83. Southwest: Jay Finesilver, Randall O’Brien
84. Ratified
85. Pacific South: Lee King, Leon Mason, Carrie Calderon
86. Ratified
87. Pacific North: Robert Greene, Heidi Jonathan
88. Ratified
89. WSO Slate: Scott Stevenson, Ed Gofrey
90. Ratified
91. Conference Committee Preliminary Reports
92. Conference Committee: Randall O’Brien: Last year 50 people participated in the questionnaire/survey of the conference. The sobriety ranged from 9 months to fifteen years. The things liked least: loud music, location, wasted time, slow pace, trustees getting reserved seating, not enough computers, orientation, 12 step meetings that didn’t happen stolen items and roll call took too long. Things liked the most: the people, the service, warm welcome, Tom as Chair and Amy as Parliamentarian, committee work. Unity was the most frequently asked for theme. Issues: more people on some committees than on others.
93. Public Information: Kevin Murphy: Translation of the website into French. Audio and visual PSA’s have been translated too.

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94. Convention Committee: Bill Acree: The WS Convention Committee promotes enthusiasm and unity, and financially supports the World Service’s effort to carry the message. The Committee provides the Host City with support.
95. Convention 1997: Jay Finesilver: Prepared a pass it on report.
96. Convention 1998: Laurie: Irvine will host the 98 convention.
97. Convention 1999: Milwaukee: In the final hotel process and permission given to raffle off a Harley Davidson. (At this time Deneen left the Conference Floor and Jay Finesilver took over taking the minutes.)
98. Literature Chips and Format: Heidi Jonathan: 7 pieces of literature being evaluated this conference: 4^th step guide; 12 traditions; a group inventory; help line guidelines; anonymity; youth in recovery; being of service.
99. H&I: Lawrence Jackson: Stated that the sole purpose of H&I is to carry the message of CA to those in Hospitals and Institutions.
100. Structures & Bylaws: Louis R.: Boundary expansion issues and referrals from trustees being addressed.
101. Finance Committee: Peter Grant: No losses permitted on committee budgets.
102. Unity Committee: Kim Marie: Want to start unity pamphlet process again. Needs support.
103. Speaker meeting of trustee out-going: Chris Phillips
104. Session end for the day.