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GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS TRUSTEE MEETING The Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order by Dan B., Chairman of the Board of Trustees at 1:30 P.M., November 15, 1990. A) ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Karen H. B) INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS Dan B. welcomed all members and asked all new Trustees and Alternate Trustees stand and introduce themselves. C) STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN Dan B. gave an opening statement explaining how the meeting would be conducted and that “Roberts Rules of Order” would be followed to the best of our ability. He also urged all members to participate. D) MINUTES OF THE BOSTON MEETING
The minutes of the Boston Meeting were approved as submitted. E) COMMITTEE REPORTS 1. Conference Committee Larry G. gave a report that the conferences seem to be running very well. Attendance here (New Orleans) looks to be about 400. Detroit is exceptionally well organized. San Diego has flyers out already. Montreal is starting to fill up very quickly. 2. Literature Committee Danny M. gave a report on the Literature Committee. He stated that there is no new literature except for the Sponsorship piece that will be presented at this meeting. The one new piece that has gone around since Boston is the Trustee Line. It has gone out twice and so far the response has been favorable. The function of the Literature Committee is not necessarily to create literature but to clean it up. 3. I.E.S. – Lifeliner report Karen H. gave a report on Lifeliners and handed out a graph giving an overall view of Lifeliner activity for the past year. F) OLD BUSINESS
1. Establish guidelines (and insert in the Guidance Code) for selecting cities for hosting National
and International conferences. Tabled from Boston.
2. Can a Gamblers Anonymous member count time of abstinence from gambling prior to
attending his/her first G.A. Meeting as accumulated time toward their Gamblers Anonymous
anniversaries? Tabled from Boston.
3. “Abstinence From Gambling The G.A. Way” proposed as new G.A. literature. 2nd vote.
4. “Public Relations Fact Sheet”, as new literature, (includes 3 approved amendments) 2nd
vote. G) COMBO BOOK
1. Page 6: Unity Step #6 – remove the words… “related facility or…” Tabled from Boston.
2. Page 17: Heading – delete “particularly the new Gamblers Anonymous members.
3. Page 17; #5 – add the word “twelve” after “the” and before “steps”.
4. Page 13; 7th line – Can a Compulsive Gambler ever gamble normally again? After abstaining
for a period of time, some members unfortunately returned to gambling. What generally starts as
small bet experimentation inevitably ends in disaster. Our Gamblers Anonymous experience…..
Motion to accept above.
5. Page 14; Definition of gambling – remove the words “….or wagering….”.
6. Page 2; 2nd paragraph – remove entire 2nd paragraph.
7. Page 17; paragraph 3 – after “Don’t gamble for anything”, add Gambling includes; playing the
stock and other financial markets, commodities and options; buying lottery and raffle tickets;
flipping a coin; and entering any sports pool H) GUIDANCE CODE
1. Page 8; Article VIII; Section 22; Clarification – “Any Trustee or Alternate Trustee who misses
three (3) consecutive Board meetings is automatically removed…” Upon a new term, does this
wipe the slate clean? If you go from Alternate to Trustee, does this wipe the slate clean?
2. Page 5; Article VII; Section 4; to be inserted after”…Gamblers Anonymous meetings…” add
the following “over a 12 month period on a regular basis, beginning from the day he/she joins
G.A.”
3. Page 5; Article VIII; Section 1; Increase the number of “Trustees and Alternates to 40. Also,
adjust any other area of the Guidance Code to reflect this change.
4. Page 7; Article VIII; Section 11; eliminate entire section.
5. Page 7; Article VIII; Section 10; after “shall” insert “nominate and”, and (2nd sentence) after
“The” insert “nominations and”.
6. Page 11; Article X; Section 9 (#f); replace entire paragraph as follows – “Duties of the
Pressure Relief Group Chairman shall be to be responsible for educating the groups on Pressure
Relief, maintaining updated forms and giving assistance to groups where needed. 2nd vote.
7. Page 18; Article XVI; Section 2 (line 13); remove the word “appoint” and replace it with the
word “elect”, also at (line 15) take out the word “appointment” and replace it with the word
“election”. 2nd vote.
8. Page 19; Article XVI , Section 4; delete “and Board of Trustees”. 2nd vote.
9. Page 20; Article XVI; Section 14; insert “within 60 days in the Lifeline Bulletin”. 2nd
vote.
10. Page 20; Article XVIII; Section 1; eliminate the entire section. 2nd vote.
11. Page 8; Article VIII; Section 22; at the end of the last sentence add: “Absentee ballots by
overseas members of the Board of trustees will count as attendance at the Board of Trustees
physical meetings. 2nd vote.
12. Page 8; Article VIII; Section 17; Remove the first 16 words – to read: “Any item(s)…etc.” 2nd
vote. I) NEW BUSINESS
1. Approve up to $3000 for the translation of “A New Beginning” into French.
2. Amend Step 5 of the Unity Program as follows: “Gamblers Anonymous has but one primary,
and one secondary purpose. They are: 2. to carry its message of hope to the compulsive gambler who still suffers”. Motion to accept above. The motion died for lack of a second.
3. Coins to commemorate annual anniversaries. Two coins were presented for approval.
4. Conference site selection – SOUTH.
5. Approve Korean version of Combo Book.
6. Translate Combo Book into Japanese and Armenian.
7. Limit Trustees to 2 consecutive terms.
8. At the beginning of Gamblers Anonymous meetings, the “additional suggestions” should be
unified.
9. Lower the 39 meeting rule for Trustees.
10. What is 1/2 meeting?
11. Do prison groups get voting rights within the fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous?
12. No G.A. member should be allowed to buy a G.A. pin (except in extenuating circumstances).
Pins should only be sold to groups who intend to honor the member.
13. Limit a Trustee to 3 consecutive terms.
14. Recommendation that there be an independent audit or “watchdog” committee for all
National Conferences.
15. Can a Trustee position be eliminated by other than the body who created it?
16. Can a Intergroup restrict the number of terms their Trustee can serve?
17. Create a International Committee to discuss common goals and objectives.
18. Should Trustees/Alternates that leave prior to convention be required to pay the registration
fee?
19. Limit speakers at B.O.T. meetings to 5 minutes.
20. Moratorium to Combo Book changes – every 2 years.
21. Leave Combo Book “as is”, no more changes.
22. Make the A.A. “Big Book” approved G.A. literature.
23. The Board of Trustees to reconfirm;
3. Action taken in Orlando 10/89 that mini-conferences, marathons, etc. are local and will
receive not bulletin advertising.
24. “A chart of Compulsive Gambling and Recovery” as approved G.A. literature.
25. A procedure to be followed by group secretaries for signing attendance records for members
who need verification and validation of meeting attendance (procedure to be placed in the
Guidance Code).
26. Is it proper to list G.A , Gam-Anon, Gam-Ateen and Adult Children of Compulsive Gamblers
on one meeting list card, whether it is paid in full or partial by G.A.?
27. Election – B.O.T. Chairman/Co-Chairmen.
28. Election – International Executive Secretary.
29. Sponsorship Literature.
30. Area 13A Trustee. J) DISCUSSION
1. Some meeting places such as utility companies, banks, Veterans Administration, clinics, and
others, provide meeting rooms to G.A. as part of their community service program. These
companies state that they are not equipped to accept, and decline to accept, any contribution or
rental for the use of their facilities. These companies are given a token gift annually at Christmas
time. Is this a violation of Step 7 of the Unity Program? 2. Lower the cost of conferences and make them more affordable for more members to attend. Discussion only. A lot of good ideas were presented.
3. Raffle tickets are being sold by the American Legion. An individual makes a donation by
purchasing a ticket and entering his/her church’s name on the ticket. Is this gambling:
4. Procedure for electing an Alternate Trustee in case of a vacancy.
5. Some meeting locations are requiring G.A. groups to secure a liability policy as a condition
for future meetings. How are groups dealing with this?
6. E.R.I.C. – discuss its responsibilities.
7. Did Long Island Intergroup violate Unity Step 7 by accepting $200 from Gam-Anon (Unity) to
help supplement one of their committees (Sunshine Fund)?
8. How can G.A. best meet the needs of prisoners reaching out for help?
9. New members in some rooms are not allowed to comment at a comment meeting unless they
have 90 days clean.
10. Do you have to admit you’re a compulsive gambler as a requirement to attend a G.A.
meeting?
11. Is it proper to tell Gam-Anon members things we suspect about other G.A. members?
12. Is it proper to “set up” a G.A. brother/sister at a couples meeting? Are these meetings G.A.
approved?
13. What is the purpose of a meetings treasury?
14. Is selling chances or raffle tickets considered gambling? K) ANYTHING OMITTED FROM THE AGENDA L) GOOD AND WELFARE
The meeting was closed with the Serenity Prayer at 5:00 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted, |