APPROVED MINUTES
WSBT CONFERENCE CALL
APRIL 14, 2002 – 6:00 PM PDT
Meeting began: 6:11 pm PDT
- Serenity Prayer. Teri
- Roll Call. Teri IC – ASRT; Spencer B – MWRT; Elizabeth S – WSOBT; John B – WST; Leon M – TALI; Amy B – ANRT; Jahi B – TAL2; Hal IC – SWRT – (joined at 6:33 pm PDT)
- Review minutes of 4/7/02 conference call. All
Question: Elizabeth – is it typical that the minutes be recorded in such detail? Teri -1 believe the detail of the minutes is relational to the recording secretary’s ability to takes notes.
Motion: (Amy) To table the approval of the conference call minutes until the next conference call. Passed
- Unity Pamphlet. Amy
Motion: (Amy) To approve the Unity pamphlet as provided to the WSBT by the LC&F Committee. Passed
Point of Information (John) – How many years has this been involved in the process? Amy-1 believe it is at least four years, maybe longer. Elizabeth – what point in the process is this piece at? Amy -1 believe it is at Point Seven of the process.
- Leon Scotland Letter. Leon
Leon – All suggested changes have been updated in the letter. Elizabeth – Reference to the World Service Office has been removed from the letter. John -1 offer my assistance in crafting the final draft of the letter. Leon – the only thing that needs to be reworded is the reference to “member” vs “individual”. John – Once the letter is finalized, should there be a final vote? Spencer – does anyone require to see the letter with this revision prior to sending to Scotland?
Motion: to accept Leon’s draft of the letter to Scotland Passed
- Public Relations Statement. Teri, Hall, and John
Everyone on the call confirmed they had an opportunity to see the statement. Teri – This statement was the result of a discussion at the November quarterly meeting regarding the media interviews planned during CAWS 2002 in Portland. At that time there was a question as to what CA’s public relations statement was and the result of the work is presented for approval John – Is this public relations statement now to be turned over to the PI conference committee? Elizabeth – I believe this would be turned over to the PI conference committee as a referral.
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Motion (John): That the public relations statement be turned over as a referral to the PI Conference Committee. Passed
Motion (Teri): That the public relations statement be made available as a suggestion to the CAWS 2002 PI Committee. Passed
Teri – This is to be offered as a suggestion for their use. Spencer – as CAWS 2002 is before the Conference, is this what we want to do? Elizabeth – we can only suggest this to the CAWS 2002 PI committee.
- Issue’s from last conference call {The new letter to South Central Texas}
Hal -1 believe we stated in the last conference call that we send someone to the South Central Texas Area. Elizabeth – Read the motion from the previous, proposed conf call minutes. The detail is not specific. Jahi -1 agree that we should prepare a statement whether or not someone is sent. John -1 agree with Hall.
Motion (Elizabeth): We create a statement that would be read by the visiting WSBT representative to the members that wrote to the World Service Board of Trustees with the understanding that the a meeting with those individuals would be coordinated separate from an Area function or meeting. Further, the WSBT representative will make themselves available for any other meeting or meetings with members of the South Central Texas area who wishes to speak with the WSBT representative regarding any Cocaine Anonymous matter. Passed
Hal – in regard to whom should be sent, I recommend that Jahi, TAL2 as this is considered to be within the realm of their responsibilities and if we aren’t going to follow this thinking I recommend that we send Teri K, ASRT as she also has a rapport with this area.
Point of Information (Hal) – that there is approximately 360 miles difference between the members referenced in this motion.
Hal – we shouldn’t only address only those members that addressed these letters but others within the state of Texas also would be seeking closure to this matter. Elizabeth – we are not going down to clear up what happened but to address the requests for help in setting up the and establishing their area. Leon -1 think this motion talks about making a motion to make an amends to those folks that wrote the letters. I also take issue that there was no investigation.
That is not true. We have a report from a former Trustee which reflects an investigation was done. Hal -1 can agree with Elizabeth that there is a quest to respond to the request for help in setting up an area. I strongly disagree that there was an investigation as only with those that wrote the letters. Elizabeth – we need to be really clear with this motion because we certainly are not going to spend the fellowship’s money to make an amends. We are going to assist in addressing the concerns about how to start an area. Amy -1 agree with Elizabeth however we don’t want to restrict ourselves and that Trustee should be of maximum service to the Area/Fellowship to address whatever concerns, issues etc that we are asked to assist with. Hal – there are about 15 members of the South Central Texas area that will want to meet with the Trustee representative regarding this matter.
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Jahi, Elizabeth and Teri offered to craft a draft of the statement to the members of the South Central Texas.
Motion (Leon): That Amy go down to the South Central Texas Area. Passed
Amy – accepts the motion. As I am not currently working I could be flexible about attending over a weekend. Hal -1 comfortably accept Amy’s nomination. The next South Central Texas area meeting is April 27th in Brownsville, TX. Amy – the Atlantic North Regional Assembly is that same weekend. Spencer – is it possible that we could ask the Area to make arrangements Amy – is there a date that this statement will be ready? Teri -1 will only be available on April 22-23 to participate.
Question (Leon) – Should we hold an election for both the Chair and Vice-Chair since the current Vice-Chair declined to step up as Chair. Spencer -1 declined due to the late hour of the call and as such I am ready and willing to fill the position of Chair.
Point of Order (Amy): As the current Vice-Chair is now willing to fulfill the position of WSBT Chair, the nominations are to fill the WSBT Vice-Chair position.
Open nominations for WSBT Vice-Chair: Amy – nominate Jahi as Vice Chair Accept Elizabeth – nominate Teri as Vice Chair Accept Amy – As Teri is Corresponding Secretary, would you be relinquishing that position? Teri – Yes, I would if it was the wish of the WSBT however I would be willing to hold both positions if that was also the desire of the WSBT.
Motion (Amy) – close nominations Passed
Teri K. elected as WSBT Vice-Chair
Open nominations for WSBT Corresponding Secretary: Leon – nomination of Amy Declined Elizabeth – nomination of John Accept
Motion (Teri) to close nominations Passed
John B. elected as WSBT Corresponding Secretary
- Attraction vs Promotion: Teri/Jahi
Jahi – has had a question regarding attraction vs promotion both in my own mind and from the Fellowship. Billboards and PSAs have been questioned as promotion…not attraction. Hal -1 was former PI Chair in 1987. That members of the Fellowship are restricted from promoting CA but Public Information when providing information about Cocaine Anonymous. John – Tradition 11, pg. 182 of the Twelve & Twelve, “…a society which said it wished to publicize its principles and its work, but not its individual members.” Jahi – no I don’t feel that my questions have been answered.
Motion (Teri): That discussion on Item #8 be tabled until the next quarterly board meeting. Passed
- SFVCAPI Pamphlet: Tradition Violation?: Jahi/Teri
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Jahi- question was posed to me by the SFVC PI Chair, John W about any Tradition violations in the proposed PI pamphlet, I had a few questions about copyright and appropriate references.
Teri -1 believe that the reference to ‘award winning web site” is promotional and a Tradition violation. I also believe that the detailed description of the CA activities is promotional. Leon – agrees that removing the reference to the ‘award winning web site” as well references to the dances, fundraisers etc are not directly supporting CA. John – agrees that ‘award winning web site’ should be removed. Also agrees that any footnotes should be appropriately referenced.
The fun activities should not be excluded however, they should really be mentions but only in a general way. Amy – agrees with John about the it is important to reference our activities but once we have pointed out the Traditions. Jahi – the “award winning” statement and the misquotes from the Big Book of AA are the only things that I see as Tradition violations. Leon -1 agree however that we should be careful because any time we, as Trustees, should not make comment on anything aside from our position of Traditions. We should allow an area the right to be wrong. If anything this should be brought before the PI Committee. Jahi -1 was asked to get the WSBT position about Tradition violations. Are there Tradition violations? Elizabeth -1 agree that our job is to uphold the Traditions, the Concepts, the Manual. Regarding the issue about the matter between Jahi and James M regarding the word ‘picnic. ’ This exchange has created a great amount of controversy in the SFYC Area. Spencer – the only two things found things are? Jahi – the two I find are the web site reference and Big Book quotes. Amy- the better part of discretion would not describe the events, but it is not a Tradition violation in describing each of the SFVC events.
Point of Information (John): Will our decision be a referral or recommendation? Spencer – we are looking for Tradition violations only. Are the following Tradition Violations? Jahi -1 will communicate the matter of the Traditions violations to the SFVCA Area and their PI Chair.
- The reference, “award winning web site” – Yes
- The two references to the Big Book – Yes
- Detailed description of each SFVCA event – No
Minority Opinion (Teri): The description of these SFVCA events is promotional and a violation of Tradition 11. Although these descriptions are most appropriate to promote these CA events within the CA Fellowship, this pamphlet is going to individuals outside the CA Fellowship as Public Information material and is inappropriate as it is promotional in nature, thus in violation of Tradition 11.
- WSOB Report – Elizabeth – Elizabeth to provide a copy of her report.
Motion (Amy) – To reschedule our Board to Board meeting for 10:00 am PDT on Friday during the Convention. Passed
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John – to do some research to insure appropriate meeting space. Also, to confirm meeting space availability for a Trustee forum, possibly after the long-term planning session, research possible formats etc.
- WSBT Referrals – Elizabeth
Spencer – we will be working on these between our next two quarterly meetings to complete. Amy – we should go through the list of referrals and assign those referrals that are remaining on our next conference call. Elizabeth – do we have any referrals from the past two years? Amy – not to my knowledge. Jahi – Referring the referral on non-CA related announcements, someone in Los Angeles was told by a member of the WSO that it was okay to pass out non-CA related materials in meetings even after the group voted not to do so and this was conversation between these individuals was recorded. Also, should a response given by a Trustee be passed by the WSBT before it is issued to the Fellowship? Spencer – If it can come directly from the book, then it would not necessarily be
- CAWS 2003 logo – Include the word ‘service’ in the logo.
Teri -1 went out on the CAWS 2003 web site and saw the proposed logo. Is this being promoted prior to approval? Leon – the web site you have is just a shell and has not been distributed for general use to the Fellowship. Amy – there isn’t any requirement but it probably should have the word “service.” Elizabeth – the word ‘service’ was required for the Portland convention.
- Next Conference Call before quarterly meeting.
Sunday, May 12, 2002 at 6:00 pm PDT
Motion (Elizabeth): to adjourn Passed
- “We” version of the Serenity Prayer – Elizabeth
Adjourned at 9:15 pm PDT.
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