Cocaine. Anonymous World Services
Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Regular Quarterly Meeting
November 11, 1988
Los Angeles, CA
The meeting was called to order at 9:25 a.m. PST.
Quiet Time and The Serenity .Prayer were observed.
12 Traditions were read.
Concepts 7, 8, 9 were read.
Roll Call:
- Chairman: Ray Grossa
- Vice-Chairman: Jennifer Rice
- Secretary: Fenn Pervier
- Jack Perry
- Reginald LeMay
- H. Lee Slavin
- Bob Lemon
- Greg Dobbs
Personal reports were given.
Tradition Three chapter read and discussed.
The minutes were read and corrections were made.
Motion: To accept minutes with corrections.
Motion passed.
TRUSTEES COMMITTEE REPORTS
World Service Conference Report
Structure & By-Laws – Bob Lemon
The next project will be a service manual based on literature produced in Chicago to be submitted to the literature committee. The committee will be working with WSO on guidelines to up the fellowship through committee guidelines. Also will be working on how the regions are going to operate. Right now nominating new trustee candidates is the only function of the committee. Bob has been in contact with Kelly L. from Oregon. The committee met in Palm Springs in August at the convention.
Chips. Literature & Formats – Reggie LeMay
There has been a lot of contact with Allan S. of New Mexico. Work in progress is “Tips on Staying Away from Cocaine.” First draft projected for early December on this and –
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“Tools of Recovery,” “The First 30 Days” (Tulsa is working on this), “Power Greater Than Ourselves,” “Self-Test for Cocaine Addiction, ” “GSR Pamphlet”. (Kelly – thanks) , “An Open Letter to the Athiest & Agnostic,” “Defining Our Primary Purpose” pamphlet (Denver). Allan is stepping down as committee chairman. Steve F. from San Fernando will be assuming the position in December for one year. Dan from Milwaukee is working on bumper stickers. C.A. Big Book question: the committee wants to collect stories. The people in Arizona are going to record speakers. The committee is looking for 12 stories per region and a 2-3 year commitment. We should have our own introduction.
Other project – “4th Step” pamphlet. Literature committee is getting approval on any question from A.A. in New York.
Fenn suggested when literature is typeset, have the face state the title of the piece, and the C.A. name and logo.
The target for published literature is Jan. 1. For large- volume areas, WSO will print for a fee local addresses on the front of each piece.
The next committee meeting will be on Dec. 4.
Finance – Jack Perry & Greg Dobbs
Jack has done no work in this area last quarter. Ditto for Greg.
H & I – H. Lee Slavin
The committee has reformed with new people. Their goal is a Starter Kit. The work has been divided up regionally. H. Lee asked Jennifer for information from North Atlantic region on how to start an H & I committee. The committee’s goal at the next conference is approval of a Starter Kit.
Discussion of the nuances of starting H & I meetings in treatment centers – whether this is H & I or another area. H. Lee is looking for input in this area that is unclear, especially from Jennifer.
Convention
*Chicago ’88 – Greg Dobbs
The final bill was received showing a $1,700 credit. The neon sign is still in Chicago. Arrangements are being made to ship it to New York. All other minutes have been forwarded to N.Y. except the treasurer’s report (which is awaiting the final bill to close out). Funds from Ch icago will be sent by the treasurer when he gets the master account. Greg will light a fire under him.
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*New York ’89 – Jack Perry
A spending committee has been formed to control all expenditures. Room rates have been negotiated at $98 for single, double, $113 for triple. The banquet menu was given. The dinner will cost $35. The breakfast menu was given. It will cost $15. Between the two events, an $8 profit is built in.
Early registration, until May 15, is $30 with no give away. After that, the fee is $35 to register. The special events committee rented a boat for a cruise around Manhattan for Friday, June 30. The price for the banquet and dance only is $50, and the dance only is $10 or $12.
Finance committee has more than $13,000 in two accounts to date and is throwing a fund-raising event per month. There is a star file number with American Airlines. Negotiations are in progress for a 10 percent discount.
All registrations received will be confirmed by postcard. 500-600 tee shirts have been sold.
The outreach committee is not doing well.
Co-Anon is involved.
The neon sign will be hooked up if it is financially reasonable to do.
The speakers will be Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson (opening), Bob Earll (banquet), Johnnie Siegal (spiritual), and Tex J. (spiritual workshop).
All questions were held until new business.
Ray added some informati-on on Arizona.
Conference – Fenn Pervier
The corrections on the conference documents are in progress. There has been contact with the trustee conference committee, but the conf. committee hasn’t seen the corrections yet.
Conference expenses to date are much lower than expected.
The transcriber’s bill is lower and the rough draft is already done.
Fenn said he needs to know more about hotel negotiations and contracts. He would like to work with Greg.
A nice letter on good stationery needs to be written thanking the hotel.
Public Information – Jennifer Rice
Hal from Texas was elected committee chairman.
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Sub-committees by regions. Sub-committee chairs are communicating bi-monthly by conference calls. Julie from San Fernando is the sub-committee chair handling PSAs. There is a new PSA in the works. Another sub-committee is writing a pamphlet on how to produce a PSA (the audio PSA portion is completed).
A press package has been prepared and is ready for mailing.
The convention P.I. committee is going well. Their next meeting will be Nov. 27.
Meeting adjourned for lunch.at 1:35 p.m. PST.
Meeting reconvened at 3:00 p.m. PST.
Quiet time and The Serenity Prayer observed.
TRUSTEE NOMINATING COMMITTEE – Bob Lemon
We are now in a position to have a WSO Trustee because of work done at the conference. The nominees are Helene Heurtin and Bob Campbell. Bob will interview nominees by telephone this weekend. Election will take place tomorrow.
Two of the trustees’ (Bob and Greg) terms are up in the next 8 months.
Motion: That Bob Lemon become the trustee-at-large. Motion passed.
The Trustees need to look into candidates. Projected date for a list of nominees is the end of February or March.
There was a discussion of the nominating/selection, rotation process.
TRUSTEE LEGAL COMMITTEE – Jack Perry
The lawyers for Berens are willing to give up names and want release of any claims against the name. B. Gans accepted the offer and made a counter-proposal to get $2,000 for legal fees. Resolution should occur by the next quarterly meeting.
Ray wants the attorney to continue with the case on the assumption the case will not be settled because of previous issues with Berens.
The attorney wants to know what’s going on with the licensing letter. It was sent to WSO two months ago.
Jack is having a problem getting the bill to the typesetter paid. Ray asked that duplicate correspondence go to him.
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The Hazelden pamphlet, “What is C.A.?” was sent to the attorney per WSBT.
There are now 11 members in the legal committee. A letter dated Oct. 24 was sent to them regarding liability at specific functions and in general. There has been no response yet.
Jack has put together a Starter Kit for setting up a corporation. He also sent the pamphlet, “Cocaine-Impaired Lawyer” from A.A.
Jack has someone in mind to take over the legal committee.
TRUSTEE LITERATURE & PUBLICATION COMMITTEE – Reggie LeMay
Connection: The Fall issue of “The Connection” is available for distribution. Lifetime subscriptions are still being accepted. The only submissions received have been from the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys.
Fenn gave thanks to Susie and urged all the areas to submit material.
New rack literature to be reviewed in two weeks at the production meeting. Pieces were handed out to look at point sizes and fonts of the type used.
NewsGram: The conference edition will be out this month.
One of the main delays Jias been in the review process. Some kind of streamline procedure needs to be instituted.
TRUSTEE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE – Fenn Pervier
This committee consists of a few key people at this time (Helene and Lucy – Debbie hasn’t gotten involved yet).
Fenn raised the question about conference officers being members of other committees; in particular, he wishes to integrate the vice-chair into the conference committee. In the event the chair doesn’t attend the WSC, the vice-chair will have to take over. Feedback from the board is that this is a good idea.
TRUSTEE FINANCE COMMITTEE – Jack Perry
When the bookkeeping service at WSO is in effect, Jack wants the WSBT to get monthly financial statements.
TRUSTEE H & I – H. Lee Slavin
No implementation.
TRUSTEE P.I. COMMITTEE – Jennifer Rice
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Jennifer discussed the Ann Landers article and the response from WSO. Helene wrote form letter responses to mail out in packets which included the preamble, tranditions, local meetings, information line numbers and other fellowships.
The Washington Post wrote an article mentioning C.A. that was not syndicated.
Employee Assistance magazine ran an article targeting an abuser and C.A. with help line numbers printed..
WSO did a lot of work. In the future, we need to prepare better for this kind of event.
Discussion ensued on recommending A.A., N.A. in a letter from WSO. Each trustee was asked to give his/her view on this 12-step referral process in the letter as it relates to the traditions. Comments were so given. And given some more.
Reggie and H. Lee are to write a report giving the cons. Fenn and Jack will write the pros.
Motion: When there is no C.A. in an area and the person requesting information is not presently sober, that we refer him/her to the appropriate 12-step program. Motion passed with one abstention.
Bob addressed P.I. for these guidelines:
1) speaker’s bureaus to outside agencies, 2) setting up booths at health fairs, 3) procedure for getting the message out, i.e., meetings in papers, 4) the difference between promotion and advertising, i.e., where to put posters, flyers (apart from PSAs).
Bob petitioned the chair under new business for opinions on these guidelines.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – Ray Grossa
Ray said his calls were down and he only went to two WSO meetings because of personal problems. Ann Landers was the most active thing he was involved in.
A.A. REPORTS – Jennifer Rice
Jennifer sent all information approved at the last meeting to A.A. They haven’t responded yet. Jennifer will continue to send information and maintain quarterly contact with A.A.
WSO REPORT – Ray Grossa
Some of the legal issues are slipping.
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The computer was stolen. A new computer was purchased for approximately $900. Thanks to Zachary and Bob C.
Tony C. will be here tomorrow to meet the board prior to his approval as a director.
Lisa D. from the Inland Empire is the new secretary director.
David has gotten a raise of 60 cents an hour.
Financial statements for Sept./Oct. were distributed as were the minutes from the directors’ meetings.
July-August – more money was received from donations than from chips and literature sales. Past quarterly averages have been $6,000 in donations and $10,000 in sales. Unity is being achieved!
Financial reports for Jan.- Nov. distributed.
Chips and literature orders to Canada have run into problems going through customs. Agents called WSO to complain about paraphenalia into their country. Explanations were gently given.
Responses are still coming in by phone and mail from the Ann Landers’ article.
Complimentary and uncomplimentary letters and reports are coming into WSO regarding their performance.
The P.I. committee has been active.
Attorney’s fees are running between $100-$500 per month.
The World Directory is out.
WSO bought a typewriter from Helene for $180.
WSO is getting non-profit mailing.
New meeting counts were given.
WSO REPORT – Reggie LeMay
The first issue of the Connection made $2,900. As of this month, David and Helene are working with Susie on maintaining separate books. Reggie asked for suggestions to improve money-generating capabilities of the publication.
REGIONAL REPORTS:
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1) Atlantic South – Jack mailed out a letter introducing himself.
2) Pacific South – Reggie reports the L.A. convention was successful; however, tradition breaks abounded. There was a board turnover in L.A. Johnnie S. is the new chairman. Bob Campbell has been a bridge builder between L.A. and WSO.
L.A. will be donating $9,000 to WSO over a three-month period. Orange County asked Reggie out to speak on WSO, WSC and the delegates. Reggie feels this may indicate that word is not getting out from the Orange County representatives.
2b) 1/2 Pacific South – Ray reports that this region hasn’t been formally split yet. Ray intends to go to Las Vegas within the next three months to see if the C.A. meetings are in fact C.A. meetings. The Inland Empire has had a lot of questions. They are starting active H & x and PI committees. Johnnie S. accepted the chairman’s position in L.A. because of the tradition breaks that abounded at the August convention.
3) South West – H. Lee reports regular contact with Oklahoma and New Mexico. The Texas Convention had tradition breaks only modestly abounding. Donation to WSO is forthcoming. H. is working on unity in the Houston area where racism is an issue.
4) Pacific North – Fenn reports he has communicated only as far north as Sacramento. He needs to find out who his area chairs are. The Bay Area is being renamed and three new meetings have been formed. Fenn will try to communicate with his region more in the next quarter.
5) Midwest – Greg reports that the Chicago area gave a gratitude dinner (which included Indiana) for service people. Ninety people from 47 groups attended the dinner, the purpose of which was for the delegates to share. Greg and area trustees gave reports as well. In 1989 a one-day celebration is being planned for the C.A. anniversary. A regional convention is being planned. Delegate workshops would be included. Tentative dates are Nov. 3-5, 1989 or Nov. 10-12, 1989.
6) Atlantic North – Jennifer reported that Connecticut held a unity dinner. Jennifer was suspicious about where the funds were actually going. The basket was passed for unity and the W.S. convention, but the funds were diverted. The State has taken steps so this can’t happen again. The person who took the funds was a delegate. There was a long discussion on this issue. Recommendations were made as follows: 1) local area to look at the suspected thief’s service as a delegate and give him the ax. Tell him to take care of his problem and service will be here for him when he gets better, 2) a letter to go to the suspect from B. Gans
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telling him he is in violation of the traditions and the law by using the C.A. logo for personal gain, 3) send a letter signed by area officers and local trustees as witnesses, 4) the area needs guidance because the disease has been there too long. The area must be confronted.
7) Trustee-at-Large – Bob said he needs specific definition of this new position. Does he deal with communication throughout the entire fellowship? Northern California has established a Transition Committee to structurally comply with conference guidelines.
OLD BUSINESS
C.A. AFTERCARE – Jack Perry
As per the last board meeting, Jack has taken a “wait and see” attitude to keep the cost down.
H. Lee spoke to the owner who said, “F*** you! Sue me!” – a negative reaction.
B. Gans said he would not take this on contingency. He sent a “cease and desist” letter three months ago, suing for damages.
A consensus was taken on these issues: 1) protecting the name (2), 2) concern over cost (3), 3) must set precedent (1). Jack pointed out that legally we must take action to protect the trademark in order to keep it.
Jack will look into the possibility of having members of the legal committee handle this, and he will get an estimate from B. Gans. He will be in contact by telephone with his findings.
WSO LIABILITY INSURANCE – Greg Dobbs
The agent in Illinois needs information on the building, employees, types of and estimate of stock, equipment, etc. The policy will cover office contents and liability.
TRUSTEE CALLING CARDS – Greg Dobbs
The cards have been ordered from AT&T. – Each card will have a different number and area code but will be billed to the WSO number. The credit card calls will be itemized on the WSO bill. An additional card will be ordered for the WSO trustee. The cards will arrive in about three weeks.
Thanks, Greg!
STARTER KIT LETTER – Jack Perry
Helene has it.
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70-30 PLAN – Jack Perry
This has been turned over to WSO to design the cofer and to set the type.
Point of information: Within the 70-30 structure, 30% will have to be sent by three different levels. There is resistance in the fellowship to this.
Any further discussion postponed to new business.
C.A. SPONSORED DANCES 7 EVENTS – LIABILITY
Continued under old business.
CHIP SALES FROM GEORGIA – H. Lee, Greg, Jack
According to Pierre, they’re buying from WSO now. The issue is resolved.
C.A. CLUBHOUSES IN GEORGIA – H. Lee and Greg
They don’t have them, there is no such thing. It isn’t being brought up in the area meetings, Pierre said. Greg will check with Pierre to update.
UNITY & IDENTITY COMMITTEE – H. Lee Slavin
H. Lee hasn’t done a lot of research, but he has been working on a local level especially with racial problems. H. Lee and Reggie still feel a need to form this committee to deal with these problems. They will do some research and present the results at the next quarterly meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. PST and will reconvene at 9:0 a.m. PST.
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Cocaine Anonymous World Services
Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Regular Quarterly Meeting
November 12, 1988
Los Angeles, CA .
The meeting was called to order at 9:26 a.m. P.S.T.
Quiet time and The Serenity Prayer were observed.
The 12 Traditions were read.
Concepts 10, 11 and 12 were read.
Tradition Four chapter was read and discussed.
Roll Call:
Chairman: Ray Grossa
Vice-Chair: Jennifer Rice
Secretary: Fenn Perrer
Jack Parry
Reginald LeMay
H. Lee Slavin
Bob Lemon
Greg Dobbs
NEW BUSINESS
WSO – IDEAS TO HELP THE OFFICE BECOME MORE BUSINESS-LIKE.
The office has been working hard in certain areas. Other areas are being neglected. 1) Quarterly taxes were filed late this year, 2) delinquent quarterly forms have finally gotten to Ray after four months, 3) delinquent State and Federal tax bills for 1987 and 1988, some still unopened, 4) W2, 5) form for state exemption is unfiled, 6) two of the filings with the IRS equal a $1,400 overpayment, 7) nothing has been turned into the bookkeeping service since they were hired four months .ago, 8) still don’t have IRS non-profit status, 9) bills are delinquent and checks are bouncing. The latter affects the C.A. name.
Ray wants WSO to go back to bi-weekly meeting schedule. This will improve the issue of delinquent bills.
Helene would like to get a part-time employee.
The computer needs to be utilized for taxes and finances.
Ray would like to see the third year start off on new footing.
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Fenn feels the office should constitute a checklist of priorities.
After much discussion, this is a recap of the priorities suggested by the WSBT:
- Filings
- Utilize the computer
- Create a position for a business administrator/office manager by developing old talent or hiring new
- Bi-weekly board of directors’ meetings
- Study job titles and do the jobs
- Develop directors into a working unit
- Recruit a volunteer to recruit volunteers
- Have one full-time employee instead of two part-time
- New office space
- Business plan with 1-3-5 year goals to promote a sense of measurement, a yardstick for progress
- Board to get away to talk and develop this business plan
Motion: Recommendation that the items on this list be made to WSO.
Friendly amendment: that the first two items be given a timetable of 30 days.
Motion passed with friendly amendment.
WSO FINANCES
The new figures for rental of new office space, which includes security and insurance (renter’s policy). The new office will cost an additional $10,000 per year. L.A. Central has made a commitment to help financially so that WSO will stay in L.A.
Motion: To tell WSO to go ahead on the move at the cost of $16,250 per year inclusive of insurance, security and janitorial.
Motion passed.
NEW YORK CONVENTION ’89
Question: Where does Co-Anon registration money go?
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Discussion.
Motion: All funds generated through registration are for WSO.
Motion passed with one abstention.
Jack added that Co-Anon will keep money from the sale of their literature and 7th Tradition.
Question: Should Co-Anon be on the flyer?
Discussion. Answer – yes.
Question: In regard to memorabilia, can the Big Book and 12 & 12 be sold? Which tapes can the vendor sell?
Answer: C.A. tapes and primarily conference-approved literature, meeting directories, key chains, mugs, tee shirts are okay. Get an up-front contract with the person taping to ‘sell only’ C.A. tapes.
Question: Can the committee make and sell posters of the promises?
Answer: No – A.A.’s permission is needed.
There was a question about using other people’s mailing lists to promote the W.S. convention. After a discussion, it was decided this was not a good idea for many reasons. Jennifer suggested using the World Directory and Fenn said he has data on delegates from the past on a floppy.
It was also decided not to use the speakers’ last names on the flyers.
WSO TRUSTEE – Bob Lemon
Bob feels a WSO Trustee is a good move for communication and action.
The candidates, Bob Campbell and Helene Huertin, were discussed.
Helene was elected WSO Trustee by written ballot.
APPROVAL OF NEW DIRECTOR
Tony Clark was interviewed for the director-at-large position.
Motion: To ratify Tony Clark as the director-at-large.
Motion passed.
The next quarterly meeting is set for Feb. 25 & 26 at Stouffer Concourse.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:34 p.m, PST.
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