Minutes of the Meeting of CA World Service Office Board of Directors
May 06, 2010
I. Opening. Meeting called to order with the “we” version of the Serenity Prayer at 7:05pm by Chair, Tom P.
II. Tradition 5 read by Willie B.
III. WSM Conference Charter, (pp.50)–2. read by Richard L.
IV. Birthdays—Willie—1 years.
V. Roll call and Quorum Determined
A. Voting Members Present: Tom P. (WSOB Chair), Richard L. (WSOB Vice Chair ), Barry J.(WSOB Treasurer), Teresa N. (WSOB Secretary), Willie B. (WSO Trustee), Richard S. (WS Trustee ) via web-conference, Yvette L. (DOO), Elizabeth S. (Director at Large). A quorum is established.
B. Board Members Absent: Yvette H. (Director at Large), VI. Guests Present: none.
VII. Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes—
A. Motion made by Teresa N. to approve the minutes of the April 22, 2010 meeting. Seconded by Barry J. Passed with substantial unanimity, with amendments as discussed.
VIII. On-line Business—
A. A motion has been made by Willie and seconded Elizabeth. The motion reads: Motion: to rescind the failed motion to approve the spending request of 640.00 for the purchase of big books to be given away at the 2010 convention. Passed.
B. A motion has been made by Yvette L. and seconded by Willie. The motion reads: motion to approve the Check Request in the amount of $993.00 payable to ABC Print for CAWS 2011 for Registration. This is for registration flyer, post cards and magnets, to be included in the CAWS 2010 packets; the Spending Request has already been approved in the amount not to exceed $1,200.00. The printers are requesting payment now because it takes two weeks to complete the job, also this request comes well below the budgeted amount. Motion passed with substantial unanimity.
C. Elizabeth made motion to reopen the Bead Charm item off the table. Seconded by Richard D. The original motion reads: motion to approve Check Request in the amount of $700 for Memorabilia for CAWS 2010 made payable to Charm Factory, Inc. in which payment is requested by credit card due to it being an online purchase. Passed with substantial unanimity.
IX.Old Business
A. Referrals—We need to get going on these. Will focus on this after Convention.
B. WSOB Director Openings—Discussion ensued re: DRPD position. Yvette L. made motion that this board recommend to the WSBT that the suspension of the DRPD position be released. Seconded by Richard L. Richard S. speaks against the motion: this is a time to stabilize before focusing on new projects. Richard L. speaks in favor of the motion: we need more staff here to support the current staff. Willie speaks in favor: bringing this staff-person back on would help to stabilize, and enhance the duties and responsibilities of the current staff. Barry speaks in favor: this position is necessary—our current staff is already overworked, and we have our first international convention coming up which will be labor-intensive. Yvette speaks in favor: the staff is overworked and an additional staff-person is needed—maybe we could have a different position rather than a development position for now. Willie: we still need to address the DRPD position—the Conference voted in a 2-person director staff—to create another position, we would need to bring to the Conference the reason we think that a 2-director structure is not viable and explain why we are going in this direction. Richard S.: It is not appropriate for us to consider redesigning the DRPD position—if we need help in the office, we should just say that we need another position in the office. Yvette: a staff of three is not adequate. Each of the current staff is completely overwhelmed, having taken on additional duties outside of their
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own. The office previously had 2 Directors, an assistant to the Director, a customer-service/AR/AP person, a shipping person and a bookkeeper. Currently, we have only one Director, one customer service staff-person and one shipping/receiving staff-person. Barry: I think that we do need to ask the WSBT to lift the suspension of the DRPD. We don’t have to hire a DRPD right now, but we would like that to be an available option when the time does arise. Willie: the DRPD is in the budget, but other positions are not. Bringing back the DRPD would relieve the DOO. Richard: the DRPD position was created to accommodate the previous DOO who, prior to her medical condition, was handling all of these responsibilities. I think we need to keep this in mind. Teresa: from what I understood, this position was developed because we wanted to take this organization/fellowship in a different direction and we wanted someone who could be focused on outreach. Richard L. called for the vote. Passed with one opposition noted. Willie will bring to the WSBT.
C. CA.ORG in Spanish — HelpDesk—Awaiting webservant position fulfillment.
D. Bank Consolidation of Accounts Status—All taken care of.
E. Office Lease-outstanding –no report.
F. IT person—Discussion ensued regarding filling the position. We need to strive to find the best possible candidate.
G. Webservant—Richard made an announcement and forwarded to be sent to all the groups.
H. Mail Street/Network Solution— Yvette is ready and will get with Richard S.
I. Translations-glossary template (see translation policies). Being worked on with support of members of the fellowship.
J. Communication Flow-chart—Willie: working on the flow-chart.
K. Publication issues
1.Books—printing of book in French—Tom spoke with Patty and got more information.
2.Pamphlets—Tom working with LCF to complete projects.
3.Newsgram— Yvette L. would like to include in the supplemental mailing but the supplemental mailing is held up, waiting on redacted minutes from last Conference. Yvette will send to the Trustees to get out to the groups.
X. Break 8:20pm
XI. Meeting called back to order at 8:35pm
XII.Office Director Reports
A. DOO Report – Yvette L. submitted verbal & written report.
1. Office phones are down—been trouble-shooting with AT&T for past two weeks. He issue seems to be that we are too far from AT&T’s signal. Seems that we will need a T1. In the meantime, we have placed an order for another DSL.
2. Received 10 SR-14’s which have been mailed to the Conference Chair. May 7 is the 120-day point. The Conference Chair will determine whether or not to accept a late SR-14.
3. Yvette has called potential applicants to see about cost of staffing another person in the office and found that, if through a temp agency, we would have to pay over $18/hr for the duties we need assistance with. For a straight hire, salary requirements seem to range from 37.5-40K. Elizabeth: We should do whatever it takes to get the help the office needs now. Maybe we should hire a temporary part-time person.
4. Yvette made motion to purchase an office cell phone with unlimited minutes. Seconded by Teresa. Yvette speaks in favor: whenever the DOO needs to leave the office for whatever reason, the staff has no way to contact the director. Also, we need it for a back-up when the phone lines go down. Barry and Richard L. speak in favor—this is also necessary for times when the DOO is traveling for the office. Richard S. speaks against the motion: we have been talking about saving money and we do not need to be getting into a contract. This motion ties in a contract by asking for unlimited because you can’t get unlimited without a contract. Teresa speaks in favor: you can get unlimited without a contract with several companies such as Sprint for under $100/month. Willie speaks in favor of the motion, with a friendly amendment: to bundle a data card with the phone for no more than
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$150/mo. Accepted. Vote passed with substantial unanimity. 5th Concept Statement from Richard S: I believe this is a frivolous expense that is a burden to the Fellowship.
5. Yvette made motion to approve the Check Request in the amount of $150.00 for LCF made payable to Jeanette Johnson for flyers to be included in CAWS 2010 registration packets for Medication submissions. Seconded b y Richard S. Passed Unanimously.
6.Yvette made motion to approve the program for CAWS 2010. Seconded by Richard S. Passed unanimously.
7. Yvette made motion to approve the Spending and Check Request in the amount of $122.70 payable to Prism for t-shirts for CAWS 2010 Fun-Run. Seconded by Richard S. Passed unanimously.
8. Yvette made motion to approve the Spending and Check Request in the amount of $240.00 payable to First Student for CAWS 2010 H&I bus for PI Committee. Seconded by Teresa. Discussion ensued. Richard S.: does this include insurance? Tom: it’s the same bus company we are using for everything else, we are just adding this route to our others, and it has been approved by Kim and the Committee. Yvette L. will follow up with Quinn on the insurance question. Passed with substantial unanimity, one abstention noted.
9. Yvette made motion to approve Spending Request in the amount of $1,598.00 for box lunches and dinner payable to Bunzel’s Catering and Domino’s pizza for 200 persons for H&I. Seconded by Teresa. Passed unanimously.
10. Yvette made motion to approve the Check Request in the amount of $975.00 payable to Milwaukee Boat Lines for CAWS 2010 Special Events. Seconded by Teresa. Passed unanimously.
11. Yvette made motion to approve Spending and Check Request in the amount of $134.11 payable to Canopies Events for Special Events for canopies for the play. Seconded by Teresa. Passed unanimously.
12. Yvette made motion to approve Check Request in the amount of $348.90 payable to Evan Anderson for airfare, spending already approved. Seconded by Teresa. Passed with substantial unanimity, one abstention noted.
13. Yvette made motion to approve the Spending and Check Request in the amount of $350.00 for Stu Estebo for one week timeshare donation for Auction. Seconded by Elizabeth. Elizabeth speaks in favor of the motion: this item will bring in well over the $350.00 cost to us. Willie: do we have enough information? How certain is this? Tom: we do need more information—we have had an incident where an item donated turned out not to be legit. Willie: we also need to be very specific on the details. The motion is tabled pending further information.
14. Yvette made motion to approve Spending Request only in the amount of $1,175.00 payable to Heritage Printers for the printing of the CAWS 2010 programs. Seconded by Richard S. Passed with substantial unanimity, one opposition noted.
XIII. Break 9:30pm
XIV. Meeting called back to order at 9:40pm XV.Director Reports
A. Chair—Tom P. submitted written and verbal report.
1. Tom took the spending request for the time share off the table. (Motion to approve the Spending and Check Request in the amount of $350.00 for Stu Estebo for one week timeshare donation for Auction.) Passed.
1. General-
a. Administered and coordinated WSO activities.
b. Supervised office personnel; coordinated with DOO general office tasking.
c. Chaired all WSOB meetings.
d. Set agendas for each meeting.
2. Specific-
a. Maintained close contact with DOO and office staff
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b. Attended weekly meetings in office on Wednesday mornings
c. Reviewed e-mail communications between DOO and convention committees d. Participated in CAWSC 2010 reg committee conference call April 30, 2010 e. Continued review of preliminary drafts of CAWSC 2012 budget f. Provided comments to 2012 steering committee
g. Assisted DOO in preparing 2011-2012 CAWSO budget
h. Assisted DOO in evaluating 2010-2011 budget for proposed modifications at 2010 conference
i. Administered extensive on-line activity over the last two weeks primarily relating to 2010 and 2011 convention spending and check requests
j. Daily communications with DOO concerning phone line status and options
B. Vice Chair—Richard L.—no report.
C. Treasurer—Barry J. submitted written report.
1. Richard S.: can we have current balance? Barry: $38,883.35 (not reconciled until bank statements some in—will have reconciled for next meeing.)
D. Secretary—Teresa N. submitted written report (minutes).
E. Director at Large—Yvette H. –no report—absent.
F. Director at Large—Elizabeth S. submitted verbal report.
1. Participated in the translations ad-hoc committee.
XVI. Trustee Reports
A. WSO Trustee—Willie B. submitted wrien and verbal report.
1.WSBT Quarterly meeting will be on the 24th of May at the site of the CAWS Convention. All reports are due by the 15th.
2. Would like to bring a referral to change the length of the term of the WSOT from 2 years to 4 years, just as the rest of the Trustees. Teresa: The reason that the WSOT has a term of two years is because that person is first, before a Trustee, a Director of this Board, and all of the positions on this Board are two year terms. Elizabeth: This is a different position than the WST and the Regional Trustees. There is more work required. Some may not be able to take on more than two years. However, I also feel that two years was also just enough time for me to feel like I was beginning to get the hang of things.
B. TAL (acting WS Trustee)–Richard S.—submitted written and verbal report.
1.Was traveling on vacation during the last meeting. During my travels I remained in communication with Kim S., the WSBT Secretary to ensure I could be available if need be.
2. Steve S. the World Convention 2012 Resort Liaison has posted on the 2012 internet group that he was working with the hotel manager to try and schedule a meeting at the beginning of the month—have not heard nor seen any other updates. Per he WSOB Chair’s request, all communications will go through the WSOB Chair, Tom P. I am still negotiating the contract, but Tom will be the liaison/communicator.
3. Conference: there is no signed contract in place for 2012. The committee has discussed opening this up for venue suggestions at the next meeting.
XVII. 10:00pm Elizabeth made motion to continue the meeting past the normal ending time. Seconded by Barry. Passed.
XVIII.Committee Reports
A. Finance: Tom & Barry— prepared two items for SR-14: revised budget for 2010-11 and proposed for 2011-12. Barry made motion to approve the proposed budget and amended budget. Motion made by Willie to separate the two. Seconded; passed. Motion 1: Motion to approve the amended 2011-2012 Convention with the addition of $3600 for expenses for full WSOB participation at the 2011 Convention. Seconded by Richard S. Motion to approve the proposed 2011-2012 budget with the addition of $7560.00 for expenses for full board participation at the 2012 Convention. Seconded by Elizabeth. Willie speaks in favor but expressed concern with the motion to include the cost of the WSOB to go to 2012 with the possibility that we might not make any
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money on that Convention. Richard S. speaks in favor of the motion: we need to include what it is that we want/plan to do, this can always be revisited at a later time if need be. Elizabeth speaks in favor of the motion: we should put this in and let the Finance Committee decide and bring to the Conference floor. Barry speaks in favor: we already agreed that this would be included because we feel that it is important for this board to attend the Convention. Passed unanimously.
B. Structure & Bylaws: Teresa— nothing new.
C. Convention: Yvette H./Teresa—nothing new.
D. Conference: Yvette L., Richard S.—preparing for SR-14.
E. Unity: Yvette H.— absent.
F. Literature, Chips & Formats: Tom—nothing.
G. Hospitals & Institutions: Willie— nothing.
H. Public Information: Richard L. —nothing.
I. I.T.: Richard S.—reviewed a website for Holland—the suggested changes had not been made so there is no approval as of yet. Sweden’s website was reviewed and linked. Arkansas had an emergency de-linking due to the website no longer being CA based.
J. Archives: Willie—working with Patrick.
XIX. CAWS 2010, Milwaukee
A. Already discussed.
XX. CAWS 2011, Arizona— A. Nothing new.
XXI. CAWS 2012, UK—
A. No new information on the contract.
B. Teresa made motion to approve the CAWS 2012 Theme. Seconded by Barry. Elizabeth moved to table until we have a visual. Seconded by Willie.
XXII. CAWS 2013—we have SR-14 submission from Florida C.A. Area. XXIII.CAWS 2014—we have SR-14 submission from C.A. Pacific South Region.
XXIV. New Business—
A. Letter from member—Tom will communicate with Bob C. Willie expressed that he is still in support of the WSOB’s original decision to not approve the AA book as it is not approved and presents possible affiliation.
XXV. Next meetings: May 13.
XXVI. Motion to Adjourn made by Willie at 10:12pm Seconded by Richard S. Vote taken: Passed unanimously.
XXVII. Meeting closed at 10:56pm by Chair Tom P. with the “we” version of the Serenity Prayer.
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