TEC:
Jay Finesilver (TEC Chair) – Thanks to the 15 people who served.
Hayward Hunt is the new World Service Trustee.
Atlantic South Trustee position – No candidate was selected. The members of the WSBT will assume that position.
Questions:
Don Logan – How many candidates were there for the Atlantic South position?
Jay Finesilver – Three
Gloria Bridget – Our region suffered when a trustee was not elected. Is there no way that this can be re-hashed so as to elect a trustee?
Jay Finesilver – The process is clearly defined and followed, which was done. The result was that no one was selected.
Danny Holland – If you are not ratified at 2/3 then are you not to have one?
Jay – Correct.
Tammy Peacock – Would like to know the process to challenge the decision.
Kevin Murphy – The procedure is found in the Charter, item number 4.
Bob Campbell – Point of order – Charter item 4 does not apply. The TEC is not the “Board of Trustees and related activities”. The TEC is a separate, stand alone committee.
Kevin Murphy – Under item C.
Tammy Peacock – Would like to challenge the decision.
Motion to suspend the rules to hear an item of new business out of order.
Second.
Tigua Naghel – Point of order – Object to consideration of the questions.
Chair – Out of order.
Billy Humphries – Point of order.
Chair – A motion to suspend the rules will require a simple majority to pass.
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Motion to suspend the rules fails 63 to 64.
Billy Humphries – Demands a recount.
Chair – The motion fails 61 to 64.
Tammy Peacock – 5th Concept statement.
John Whitaker – Parliamentary Inquiry – At which point would it be appropriate for the body to elect someone into that position?
Kevin Murphy – There is no direct procedure for WSC to elect members to the board of trustees unless pertains to part D in the Charter. It would be an item of new business on Sunday.
Bryan Bell – Should this decision remain standing as it is, would you confer with the WSBT to take into account that the region needs a Trustee who is accessible and be as close as possible to the Atlantic South.
Jay Finesilver – See page 4.7.
Billy Humphries – Point of order.
Chair – out of order.
Teri Knight – The Trustee at Large position holder, Bobbie Harmon, will be representing the concerns to the Atlantic South Region until another slate can be reviewed and a trustee elected.
John Bodkin – Parliamentary Inquiry – Would the outcome of the Conference attempting to take action on article 4 of the Conference Charter create the need to potentially debate a candidate on the floor with no resume and no interview?
Kevin Murphy – Yes, it would be an open debate.
Tony Drake – Point of Order – If we are going to have an open discussion, we are not supposed to be personally punitive.
Kevin Murphy – Correct.
Freeman Houston – 5th Concept statement.
David McQuiag – 5th Concept Statement.
Tad Smith – Question.
Tammy Peacock – Parliamentary Inquiry – Can I make a motion to suspend the rules to make a special election out of order?
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Chair – Can’t make the same motion twice and this is the same motion.
Tammy Peacock – Challenge the chair.
Cynthia Cronkhite – Was there a second?
Kevin Murphy – Yes, there was a second. This is not debatable. If you agree with the chair that this is the same motion, you will vote to sustain the chair. If you feel this motion should be allowed as requested, then you vote to overturn the chair.
Kevin Murphy – The motion to sustain the chair passes. The Chair’s ruling is sustained.
Bryan Seid – Are you (TEC) going to modify the TEC process so that things like this will not happen in the future on their own or should I make a referral?
Jay Finesilver – This was not about a lack of qualified candidates. We did not reach unanimity. We followed the process and we have adjourned.
Dan Santa Maria – Did the TEC explore the possibility of a candidate recusing themselves to assist in the process.
Jay Finesilver – We followed the process.
Shane Merck – 5th Concept statement.
Dan Santa Maria – Is it out of order for the Conference Chair to request the TEC to renew their efforts to achieve a solution.
Chair – I don’t have opinions on such issues.
Gloria Bridget – Parliamentary Inquiry – I asked if there was any way to get a Trustee for this Region and the answer was no.
Kevin Murphy – That was not the specific question asked previously.
Jim Schodowski – 5th Concept Statement.
Debra Virece – 5th Concept Statement. Not having a Trustee is a scary and disturbing proposition. I hope that changes will be made.
Bryan Seid – Motion to suspend the rules to hear a motion out of order. The motion would be to encourage the TEC to follow some guidelines to help them elect a trustee for the region out of the well qualified individuals.
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Second
Chair – The motion is in order and there is no debate.
Chair – The motion to suspend the rules passed.
Bryan Seid – Motion for the TEC to use page 2.16 – “then draw the names from a hat and leave the choice to God”.
Jay Finesilver – Point of Order – that is for the Regional Slate
Scott Botz – Point of Order – The TEC has done their job and is no longer meeting so he believes this motion is out of order.
Chair – This motion has been ruled in order.
Susan Bredau – On page 2.16 it refers to 7 or more candidates.
Kevin Murphy – The motion is just using the language on page 2.1 as an example of a way to handle the situation. He is charging the TEC to simply go back and use a God box.
Danny Holland – Point of Order
Bryan Seid – Speaks in favor of the motion. Having experience with the TEC and knowing the candidates and if they are highly qualified, then this God hat process is the solution. Trust the process. The God hat is already a process in the Manual.
John Bodkin – Speaks against the motion. Rather than picking and choosing from different parts of the manual, we should use the process that is set forth in the manual. This is about substantial unanimity, not about qualified candidates. It is about the math. There might be a better solution, but this is not it. You can make a suggestion on how to make the process better with a referral.
Barry Haynes – Speaks in favor of the motion. I am aware of how financially fragile this fellowship is, and this process allows us the right to be wrong. This body has chosen to act and request getting a Regional Trustee. This is a simple process. Allow us the right to be wrong and correct our mistake.
Michael Chiki – Speaks in favor of the motion. We can save time, money and make people happy. If we can’t have someone in our Area, we would suffer. Let’s find a solution.
Jay Finesilver – Speaks against the motion. The process was 15 people and asked to select two Trustees. The process was long and involved. Bobbie Harmon is the Trustee that will cover that Region and she is very qualified to do this. Refers to Concept 9. A
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group conscience is being ignored and this motion is flawed for that reason too. A Trustee was elected with the God hat and was removed two years later, so this process was used previously. This process included a five hour debate. We picked another Trustee which shows this process works.
Tony Drake – Speaks against the motion. When we trusted the process with the God hat last time, the result was not great. That is a gamble. We believe that God speaks through the group conscience and this was seven group consciences. Now we are talking about God speaking through a hat? The process is in place and none of the candidates received the 2/3. We need to trust the conscience.
Vinney Martin – Speaks against the motion. There is a process. Although I believe it is ridiculous that three qualified nominees who were put on the slate and there is no Trustee elected, we should not be here discussing that. Rather, what we should be here debating here now is how to improve the process.
Bob Campbell – Speaks against the motion. I do trust the process. The process includes “if no one is chosen, the position remains open for the next year.” This Conference clearly approved this possibility. When the God hat was put into the process we went “oh boy, I hope we don’t have to use that”. The Conference took out the God hat and now we are looking to use it here. We took it out for a real reason. We had nightmarish problems. Insanity is continuing the same action and expecting a different result. This is not about them and us. They are on our side and we are on their side. Everything that people don’t like is Conference approved. This process has worked very well, most of the time.
Robert Holloway – Speaks in favor of the motion.
David McQuaig – Speaks in favor of the motion. Has heard: This was never about the qualifications; This is not about the qualifications of the TEC; The TEC did their job. This process doesn’t work all of the time and this may be one of the times that this did work. It doesn’t feel right to just “trust the process.”
Tammy Peacock – Speaks in favor of the motion. There may be problems, but the TEC is asked to bring certain recommendations to the floor. My question is…Is “trusting the process” leaving it alone or using the process to correct a mistake? We are trusting the process when we, the Conference floor, enters into debates such as these. This is trusting the process.
Teri Knight – Against the motion. This is the best solution to date on this issue. I don’t doubt that the candidates could serve in the future as a Trustee. It is a sound decision to have Bobbie Harmon cover the territory as the Trustee at Large. She already has strong footing in the region. I will be there as an elder statesmen to be supportive of the region. The process as it is currently defined should be supported. Following the group conscience and supporting the TEC is what we should do at this time.
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John Whitaker – Call the question.
Second.
Motion passes with substantial unanimity.
Walter Johnson – Parliamentary Inquiry
Motion for the TEC to use page 2.16 – “then draw the names from a hat and leave the choice to God”.
The motion fails: 34 for and 80 against.
Return to questions to the TEC.
Jim Schodowski – The make up of the TEC consists of how many Trustees and how many Delegates?
Jay Finesilver – 9 trustees and 6 delegates.
Scott Botz – How did the process work?
Jay Finesilver – The process in the manual was followed. The 2/3rd was done individually.
Billy Humphries – Motion to suspend the rules to take the vote to the conference floor. In order to hold an election.
Tony Drake – Point of order.
Scott Botz – Point of order.
Chair – The motion is out of order.
Tad Smith – Did he Region lose the leadership of these three people because they were not elected?
David McQuaig – Is it appropriate to ask a rhetorical question?
Kevin Murphy – Yes.
Diane Wabitsch – 5th Concept Statement.
Tawri Bey – Is there a time limit on the TEC process?
Jay Finesilver – No there is no time limit. We went through the process and took as much time as it took.
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Walker Johnson – 5th Concept Statement.
Bryan Seid – Motion to suspend the rules to extend the time of the session until the end of the TEC report.
Second
Motion carries with substantial unanimity.
Bryan Seid – Motion to extend the time to hear the rest of the TEC report.
Second
Motion carries with substantial unanimity.
Tigua Naghel – Parliamentary Inquiry – How can I limit the questioning period of the TEC report?
Kevin Murphy – You can make a motion to suspend the rules to limit question.
Nick Alexander – Do you think the process is to blame for this and do you have any suggestion on how to make it better?
Jay Finesilver – The process worked well with one of the two Trustee elections this year and all three last year, so we know it works.
Cynthia Chronkhite – The process says that it ends after a certain number of ballots and that it is okay to end up without a Trustee. If someone does not like the process, they can make a referral to change it.
Freeman Houston – 5th Concept Statement.
Chair – Out of order. Has already expressed minority opinion.
Chair – The minority opinion has been adequately expressed. Please only ask questions.
Billy Humphries – 10th Concept.
Chair – can be worked on outside of this contact.
Felicia Adams – Is there more to the TEC report that we need to hear?
Chair – No, only questions.
Shane Merck – Have the questions asked in the interview process been revised or changed in the last ten years.
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Jay Finesilver – Yes, last year and again this year.
John Bernardone – What can you do to encourage folks to want to do this sort of service with two Regions splitting.
Jay Finesilver – 7 out of 8 Trustees have been elected through this process. It works pretty damn well, most of the time.
Jim Schodowski – Are the trustees electing themselves?
Jay Finesilver – No. The process has been adjusted so that there is an equal balance of power.
David McQuiag – When the ballots occur, does every member have to vote yes or no, or can they abstain?
Jay Finesilver – They can abstain.
Bryan Seid – Should a referral be directed to the TEC or S&B?
Jay Finesilver – S&B.
Trever Scheible – Will a straight vote, one person one vote solve the problem in the future?
David McComb – Point of Order. Should this be directed to S&B?
Announcements
Dan Santa Maria – Motion to Adjourn the session.
Second
Motion carries.
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