CA WORLD SERVICE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SUMMARY MINUTES OF MEETING QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING
Fri, December 9 – Sun, December 11, 2016
Los Angeles, California
Since this report is a confidential C.A. document, for members only, it may contain members’ full names. This usage to facilitate communication within the fellowship was approved by the 1990 WS Conference. Such confidential use does not, of course, violate in any way out Tradition on anonymity in public communications media (press, radio, TV, etc.).
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WSBT Quarterly
Friday, December 9 – 11, 2016
Los Angeles, California
Minutes
(12:00 pm meet in lobby.)
Moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer
Personal Sharing (approximately 3-5 minutes each)
- Roll call
- Kerry Wesley – SWRT
- Kevin Murphy – WSOT
- Rob Wellhauser – TAL
- Suzanne Veltman – ERT
- Tom Phelan – PSRT
- Wade Staples – PNRT
- Yvette Holman – WST
- Jeannette Johnson – MWRT / WSBT Secretary
- Anne Meyer – ASRT / WSBT Vice-Chair
- Yves White – ANRT / WSBT Chair
Reading of the 12 Traditions
Read long form of Tradition 12 and discuss (Kerry)
Read Concept 12 and discuss (Suzanne) – Kevin and Rob added remarks.
Chair’s opening remarks: (Yves)
Yves explained procedures and reviewed agenda. Yves asked us to remember to add our name in email subject line for tracking responses.
WSBT officer reports:
Chair (Yves)
Vice-Chair (Anne)
Secretary (Jeannette)
Motion to approve Officers Reports made by Rob seconded by Tom. Motion passed
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Trustee reports: . Suzanne commented that there are a lot of late reports and it makes it difficult to come prepared with reports are shared 2 days before the meeting.
Questions and discussion regarding each report.
Motioned to approve Trustee Reports seconded and passed.
WSBT Subcommittee reports – lead member listed first:
- Finance (Kerry)
- Legal (Anne)
- NewsGram (Tom)
- TEC (Jeannette)
- Long-term Planning (Rob)
- Orientation (Anne)
- International Structure and Development (Suzanne)
- TNC (Yvette, Yves, Jeannette, Rob, Kerry)
- Trustee Outreach (Kevin)
- World Service Conference (Yvette)
Motioned to approve WSBT Subcommittee reports with the exception of TEC and ISD. Motion passed.
Trustee Conference Committee reports:
Conference (Anne-lead, Yvette-second)
PI (Jeannette-lead, Yves-second)
- Questions asked regarding Presentation ready for anyone to use.
- Question asked regarding PI website. Yves replied any content has to be conference approved.
- Kevin asked about PI activity.
- Question was asked what is the Stewards of PI. Yves explained.
HI (Wade-lead, Rob-second)
LCF (Kevin-lead, Suzanne-second)
S&B (Kerry-lead, Jeannette-second)
Convention (Tom-lead, Kerry-second)
Archive (Yvette-lead, Kevin-second)
Unity (Suzanne-lead, Anne-second)
Finance (Rob-lead, Tom-second)
IT (Yves-lead, Wade-second)
Motioned to approve WSC committee reports. Motion passed.
CAWS Convention updates
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- CAWS 2017 (Wade) – Summary: reviewed report. Treasurer stepped down two weeks ago. Two new resumes received for the treasurer position. The secretary is moving and will need to be replaced and has a potential replacement. Wade will check on room confirmation, updated timeline and contract.
Kevin asked Wade to help the office and the trustee be kept in the loop.
- CAWS 2018 (Yves) – Summary: Yves talked about issue with logo design. Four positions to be filled. Fundraising underway and is doing well. Preparing draft budget to be finished by February for conference.
Kevin asked about translations. Yves said the committee is working on it.
- CAWS 2019 (Suzanne) – Summary: Suzanne explained May timeline was considered, but Committee decided on a 4th of July Convention.
- CAWS 2020 (Kerry) – Summary: The steering committee is in place and they are busy looking at hotels.
Motioned to approve WSConference Convention reports. Motion passed.
PLACE MARKER – BUSINESS ITEMS
MARKER 2006.02.20 Copyright and trademark protection (Yvette/Yves) – To remain on agenda for quarterly review.
| Matter No. | Country | Mark | Renewal Due: | |
| 59628-0001 | Canada | WE’RE HERE AND WE’RE FREE | September 30, 2027 | |
| 59628-0002 | U.S. | COCAINE ANONYMOUS | September 4, 2020 | |
| 59628-0003 | Canada | COCAINE ANONYMOUS | December 13, 2021 | |
| 59628-0004 | U.S. | CA | December 20, 2018 | |
| 59628-0005 | Canada | CA | June 12, 2022 | |
| 59628-0006 | U.S. | CA HOPE FAITH COURAGE | April 24, 2020 | |
| 59628-0007 | Canada | CA HOPE FAITH COURAGE | August 9, 2021 | |
| 59628-0008 | U.S. | WE’RE HERE AND WE’RE FREE | April 2, 2026 | |
| 59628-0009 | Europe | COCAINE ANONYMOUS | April 1, 2026 | |
| 59628-0010 | Europe | CA HOPE FAITH COURAGE | July 26, 2026 | |
| 59628-0011 | Europe | CA | November 15, 2021 | |
Yves reviewed the current attorney fees related to copyright update. The board held lengthy discussion regarding developing a Standard Operating Procedure for continuity.
Motion made to pay invoice amount $749.68. Motion passed.
Suzanne asked that an area asked if they can use CA without the periods. The response was that if they want to have their material protected CA should be used with periods.
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MARKER 2006.08.13 Signature of annual corporate documents (All)
To be completed @ at spring quarterly
MARKER 2009.05.09 Status of WSO – (Yvette)
Office going well. Signed new lease. Reconstructing the office for archives. The office submitted a request for $2,700 for shelving reconstruction. Great board right now. Monthly meetings are efficient.
Kevin added – they are fully staffed now. Kevin says he is happy with the way the office is working.
Suzanne asked if the fully staffed WSO has a member of the fellowship? Not at this time.
Marker Finance – Kerry reviewed what he sees in Finances. Tom mentioned while we look good, we need not feel comfortable.
Suzanne – the board voted to remove Area Support line item. Is it removed? The line item is still on the budget with $0. We will need to follow-up with the office regarding removal. Also, has the fulfillment center been removed? Anne stated that the conference approved the funds and therefore the funds cannot go away. The item has been budgeted as International products support.
MARKER NADCP – (Rob/Yves) Yvette will speak with the office about following the conscience of the Conference. With a reminder to the office that any expense over $2,000 must come to WSBT for review/approval.
MARKER TEC – (Jeannette/Tom)
Jeannette and Tom will begin review of the TEC interviews to be scheduled.
B2B Agenda topics discussed.
Other New Business
Wade shared a text he received from a member. Anne responded that we ask members to send questions in writing to wsbt@ca.org. We do have a process and we utilize it. Unless we know more details we can’t address it specifically.
Yves added sometimes inquiries do not have to be addressed by the entire board.
OLD BUSINESS
Motion to accept future contributions from Amazon Smile. This item tabled at 1611 Conference Call.
The Board continued discussion.
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Motion failed.
Kevin will inform the WSO of the board’s decision and ask them to notify Amazon Smile to remove our name from their donations list.
Motion: to have an attorney member to help WSBT proceed with the attorney’s recommendation to have someone from the Fellowship approach Cocaine.Org and express the concerns we have. Approved during 1608 quarterly
Yves gave background and history on the ca.org violation and said he contacted another member to see if she is still doing legal work.
The Board discussed how to proceed and what the request to a member attorney would entail.
Motion to ask another member to draft the letter. The motion was restated:
Motion to amend the previous motion to substitute members. The previous motion read:
Motion: to have an attorney member to help WSBT proceed with the attorney’s recommendation to have someone from the Fellowship approach Cocaine.Org and express the concerns we have. Motion passed.
Yves will contact both members with the Boards path forward and the WSBT Legal subcommittee was assigned to follow-up.
Anne reiterated that this will be a letter from an attorney to ask the organization to remove the C.A. logo from its website.
Royalty Issue (Yves) – The WSBT reviewed why this item is on the agenda.
We will respond to the member who sent inquiry and remove this item from the agenda until we are asked for further information.
Regional placement for Martinique (Yves) – wanted to open to French meetings in Martinique. If they open where do we put them? Do they go under ER or AS? Yves tried to get back to them and had no response.
Anne – also Barbados and Peru who started to come on. I think it’s a larger issue but to have a home for new areas develop.
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Kevin – there’s no guarantee that the AN trustee will be a French speaker. St.
Kitts members of the online meeting as well as Costa Rica.
Suzanne – the most important with assigning regions would be where can they attend a regional assembly.
The Board will revisit if/when contacted by outlier cities.
Trademark review process (Yves) – It’s owned by WSBT. We should build the process to accommodate the budgeting necessary for the year’s legal fees to be incurred for the renewals.
Motion to have the attorney provide a proposal to have trademarks, C.A., C.A. logo and Cocaine Anonymous for South Africa. Motion passed.
During the B2B the WSOB asked for the WSBT’s cooperation with a former WSOB Treasurer attending the 2017 WSConvention to provide assistance to the WSOB Treasurer.
Motioned to allow the former WSOB treasurer to attend the 2017 convention to serve as assistant treasurer.
The Board discussed and would this expense come out of their budget (convention)? The answer was office.
There’s more that goes into preparing the money to be counted. There are many things that goes on in the room during the convention. The office needs two people, everyone needs two people to allow for checks or balances. There are other details that happen that you need that amount of people in the room.
Motion passed.
NEW BUSINESS
TAL2 (Yves) – we reinstated the TAL 2 position at last Quarterly. What will be the role of the TAL2 on the next board? After discussion, Yves asked that we
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have a couple of volunteers draft a job description. The WSBT ISD committee will oversee the development of the TAL 2 position description/responsibilities.
Review of Correspondence from the Fellowship
The Board reviewed one inquiry received from a member and assigned a WSBT member to begin crafting a response for review/approval.
Election of WSBT Assistant Secretary
The board reviewed the roles and responsibilities. Nominations accepted. Tom elected WSBT Assistant Secretary Next Conference Call
January 29 at 9 am PT
Next Quarterly
April 1 at 5 pm – 3
June 26 – June 30 noon
Suzanne motioned to approve the WSBT Subcommitte 2016 ISD and 2016 TEC reports. Motion passed.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Saturday, December 10 10:00 AM – Board to Board at the Sheraton
CORRESPONDENCE/ RESPONSES FROM/TO THE FELLOWSHIP:
—–Message d’origine—–
De : Jason D Sparks [mailto:jasonstange@mac.com]
Envoyé : 1 décembre 2016 01:15
- : Yves White <anrtrustee@yahoo.ca> Cc : Wade Staples <pnrt@ca.org>
Objet : Appeal to the Cocaine Anonymous Board of Trustees
Yves,
I am writing to request the Board Of Trustees review of my removal as Treasurer and Spending Committee Chair for CAWS 2017. Enclosed are 3 documents supporting my request. I am asking the Board to hear my cause of action on behalf of the conference as I believe the matter requires urgent review. It’s my understanding the Board has a meeting in December and I’m
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hoping the agenda will permit my concerns to be presented at that time.
I have been deeply impacted (and humbled to be sure) by the events of the last several months and believe we have not acted in accordance with the traditions, concepts, bylaws and guidelines. I hereby ask for the Board’s official review and opinion. I am available for questions should the need present itself, and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be heard.
Kind Regards,
Jason D. Sparks
PROPOSED RESPONSE
Proposed response reviewed. Response will be edited and returned to board for review approval.
POST-CONFERENCE REFERRALS:
08/31/2016 WSBT 2016 – 2 Suzanne/Wade
Please allow Areas to produce and distribute C.A. keyrings, medallions and Books under Royalty Agreement.
08/28/2016 WSBT 2016 – 3 Anne/Wade
In an effort to save money for our fellowship, It would be prudent to cut the trustee quarterly meetings from 4 to 3 in person meetings and maybe 1 skype meeting or conference call meeting.
08/13/2016 WSBT 2016 – 4 Kerry
That once a new Area has been recognised by The World Service Conference that a World Service Manual be provided in the language spoken by that Area.
It has become apparent that new Areas, e.g. Norway, are not provided with a manual in the language that can be understood by their members. Instead of expecting a fledgling fellowship to carry out their own translation I believe it would be extremely helpful if our World Services paid for manuals be translated and provided as quickly as is reasonably possible so that these new members are afforded the same opportunity as most of us have. It is to easy for members to form their own incorrect understanding of our Fellowships service structure and procedures or even be mislead.
04/07/2016 WSBT 2016 – 5 Kevin/Yvette
This is a referral for the consideration to amend our 11th Tradition.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, television and films.
The amended version would be:
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, television, films and internet.
I think it’s important to recognize that when Bill W , wrote the 11th Tradition it was before the widespread use of television, and yet the language of the tradition is flexible
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enough to cover that form of media. I believe that if the Internet would have existed then, it would have been included in the 11th Tradition as well.
CA will continue to grow and change with the years. The “Principal of Anonymity” must remain our primary and enduring safeguard. This change will ensure that we recognize the ever emerging technology around us and adapt to these changes.
DATE OF NEXT WSBT CONFERENCE CALL: January 29 at 9 am PT
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: April 1 at 5 pm through April 3 at noon
WSBT Group Inventory
Close – Serenity Prayer
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For all attached documents and reports see pdf: 2016-12-09-11-WSBT-Quarterly-Meeting-Minutes.pdf