Minutes of the Meeting of
CA World Service Office Board of Directors
July 9, 2009
Opening – John B. called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. with the Serenity Prayer.
Tradition 8 – read by Patty F.
Concept 8 – read by Willie B.
Traditions Group Inventory – Tradition 10 – read by John B.
Birthdays – none.
Roll call and Quorum Determined
Voting Members Present: John B. (WSOB Chair), Tom P. (WSOB Treasurer), Willie B. (WSO Trustee), Hayward H. (WS Trustee), Yvette H. (Director at Large), Barry J. (Director at Large), Patty F. (DR&PD). A quorum is established.
Voting Members Absent: Teresa N. (WSOB Vice Chair), Richard L. (WSOB Secretary).
Guests Present: Judy L.
Approval of Previous Minutes:
- Patty – Motion to approve 6/25/09 minutes. Barry seconded. Minutes approved unanimously as amended.
- 5/7/09 minutes will be discussed later in meeting.
Guest Reports – Judy L. is happy to fill in as substitute Recording Secretary.
On-Line Business –
Motion passed online – Willie B. – In the spirit of substantial unanimity; we need a vote from the 3 Board members who have not voted. Barry – The contract we approved online is dated 6/30/09, but the one we have for signature is dated 7/6/09. The newer version does contain changes agreed to verbally relating to parking and valet charges but not use of the pool by attendees not staying at the hotel. Barry – Motion to ratify 7/6/09 contract for Arizona Biltmore CAWS 2011. Patty seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Old Business –
1. John B. – Phyllis Holiday from GSO called today and apologized profusely for our request having fallen through the cracks. She will speak to the Chairman of the Board and will get back to John next week. John reiterated willingness to have face to face meeting.
2. Willie B. – We should encourage people to come to the WSO Board meetings so that when we have openings we will have people already interested.
3. No update on CA.org in Spanish. John will contact Mike R. about Help Desk.
4. Willie & Tom visited bank. Account number on checks corrected. Tom has spoken to several banks and has not been able to find one that will facilitate us writing checks to a foreign entity. Patty – UK Committee needs to spend money now, so we need to resolve this before Conference.
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5. Update on referrals – #5816 – need further clarification from preparer on which website needs to be updated.
Approval of Previous Minutes:
- Tom – Motion to approve the minutes of 5/7/09. Barry seconded. Minutes approved unanimously as amended.
Office Director Reports:
DR&PD Report – Patty submitted verbal & written report.
- We need to cut expenses due to decreased anticipated revenue for next fiscal year (partially due to 20% decrease in spending from H & I). Conference expenses have increased 10%. Possibly have Conference every other year? There are several possible scenarios for changes in staffing and salaries (see written attachment). Office currently operating under Plan 1. Office is currently down one staff and they are behind in their work. Tom: Plan 4 may be Utopian, but it aligns with concept 11 regarding rotation and equal staff pay. Barry: given current salaries, can 3 staff be cross trained as in Plan 4? Patty: no. Barry: are they cross trainable? Patty: yes. Hayward: what is contingency for? Patty: overtime during delegate mailing, etc. although we usually pay in comp time instead of cash. It has been used as needed for temps for inventory, etc. Willie: Under Plan 1, will the job descriptions need to be modified? Patty: no. Willie: If we added duties, can we legally pay a stipend to a full-time employee? Patty: yes. Willie: what is the time line for revisiting the financial situation? Patty: in November. Willie: thank you for providing this information so we will be armed with facts when we start getting questions.
- Patty: Motion to print 5000 registration forms for CAWS 2010 for $680. Tom seconded. Patty: the current version is not of the quality we generally use for conventions. Barry: friendly amendment to also print 2000 postcards for a cost of no more than $250, with the total being $930. Tom seconded. Willie: speaks against the amendment because he is against the additional expense of the postcards. Patty: we need to update the registration form because they have added a special event that is not on the form. Tom – Motion to table. Patty seconded. Motion to table passed.
- Patty: Motion to add a link to the Regonline.org and the CAWS Convention.org websites to the hotel pending Trustee approval. Hayward seconded. Willie: we would have to put a disclaimer stating we are not affiliated with the hotel. Motion passed 4 – 2.
- Patty: Motion to add special event Saturday sunrise meeting at Lake Michigan at 4:00 a.m. for $12.00 for transportation and donuts and add the event to all pertinent literature and media. Tom seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
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- Patty: Motion to set price on PI poster for a set of 5 for $25.00 and 1 for 7.99. Tom seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
- Patty: Motion to approve the concept of a t-shirt of the PI poster. Tom seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
- Willie: Motion to suspend the rules to extend the meeting. Hayward seconded. Motion passed 4 – 2.
Director Reports –
Chair – John B. – No report. Spoke with several directors since last meeting.
Vice – Chair – Teresa absent.
Treasurer – Tom – has draft/concept for a letter requested by the Conference Finance Committee to be sent to Areas, delegates, etc. Tom: Motion that the WSOB approve this letter to be sent to Areas, delegates, etc. pending Conference Finance Chair signature. Patty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. John thanks the Finance Committee for their efforts on this. John: did you write and submit the note from the WSO for the Newsgram? Tom: yes.
Secretary – Richard absent. John – Richard seems to be improving.
Director at Large – Yvette – no report.
Director at Large – Barry – learned a lot about the online procedures and made some suggestions for the CAWS 2011 contract.
Trustee Reports –
WSOT – Willie – written report will be emailed.
- WSBT would like to know why Patty does not want staff to be cc’d on emails. Patty: because the correct chain of command is to go through her so she can save time and assign it to the appropriate person.
- Willie: when will the year end numbers be done? Patty: before the Trustee conference call.
- Willie discussed splitting the mailings up so that the SR14 items get out on time and asked Patty for some suggestions as to how to split it up. Patty suggests sending the Trustee minutes separately. It will make it easier to do the mailing close to year-end.
- Willie: is there anything else that the Board would like me to bring up in the 7/19/09 conference call? Patty: please follow reimbursement policies.
- Willie – there is a group in the London District of CA that has decided to leave CA and call itself Cocaine Addicts Anonymous. The Trustees will need to discuss the legality of their using that name or if it infringes on our copyrights, etc.
- Willie provided Patty with a draft copy of a disclaimer for the vendor licensing agreement. Tom and Patty need to review and provide feedback.
WST – Hayward – passed on information received about unity luncheon. Wrote last Newsgram article as Trustee. Please make edits on Board to Board minutes.
Seventh Tradition
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Committee Reports – no pressing business.
World Service Conventions – no pressing business.
Yvette – motion to adjourn. Patty seconded. Meeting adjourned at 10:55 P.M.
Next WSOB meeting will be 7/23/09 at 7:00 p.m.
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