Trustee Removal Committee Worksheet

Andy

Proposed Version
Article VIII Section 4
Any Trustee is automatically removed from office for gambling by his/her own admission, for not attending Gamblers Anonymous Meetings Or he or she may be removed for other acts on his or her part, which are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole by the Board of Trustees or at the local Inter-group level. The steps for removal are to be found in the Trustee Removal Pamphlet. Removal by the Board of Trustees would require a 2/3 majority vote and will take place at the next physical BOT Meeting. Any Trustee who is voluntarily or involuntarily removed will not have a voice at the BOT meetings nor will they be permitted to run for Trustee for a period of 2 years. All other requirements to become a Trustee must be met. Gambling, for the compulsive gambler is defined as follows: Any betting or wagering, for self or others, whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignificant, where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or “skill” constitutes gambling.

(NEW) Guidance Code, Article VIII-Board of Trustees, Section 4B
The Board of Trustees will not consider any removal of a Trustee, unless all the procedures outlined for the removal of a Trustee have been followed by the parties bringing such charges against the Trustee.

Guidance Code, Article VIII-Board of Trustees, Section 4
Any Trustee is automatically removed from office for gambling by his/her own admission; or for not attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Any Trustee may be removed by the Board of Trustees for other acts on his or her part which are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole. Removal by the Board requires two-thirds vote for expulsion by the Board of Trustees at the next physical meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Any Trustee may also be removed by his or her area or local Intergroup. Procedures for the removal of a Trustee are contained in the Trustee Removal Procedures pamphlet.
Any current or past Trustee who is removed by the Board of Trustees or by his or her area or Intergorup will not have a voice at the Board of Trustee meeting until they will have attained two (2) years of abstinence. They also will not be eligible to be elected as Trustee for a period of two (2) years from the date of removal.

Section 4
Any Trustee who admits to gambling shall automatically be removed from the Board of Trustees. Any Trustee or past Trustee that admits to gambling shall lose all past Trustee privileges, unless and until that member returns to recovery and is again elected Trustee.

Section 4B
A Trustee may also be removed from the Board of Trustees by the Board of Trustees for not attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings or for acts that are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous. Any action to remove a Trustee under this section will in accordance with the Gamblers Anonymous Trustee Removal Protocol and require a 2/3 vote by the Board at the next physical Board of Trustees Meeting. No action under the protocol will be allowed if there is any similar action to remove the Trustee at the Trustee’s local level.

Article VIII, Section 4
Current or past trustees who return to gambling and subsequently come back to GA, or any trustee who is removed under the trustee removal protocol, shall not have a voice at a Board of Trustees meeting unless they are elected as trustee, as set forth in Article VIII, Section 1.

After all local remedies have failed, at the group level and intergroup level a written complaint should be sent to the chairman of the BOT

1. Complaint
A. Should be a detailed written account of the act detrimental to GA.
B. Should contain a detailed account of what remedies have been tried and failed.
C. Could be from any MEMBER of GA
D. Could be from the intergroup of the local area.
Then I think the Chair of the BOT should appoint an INDEPENDENT PANEL to look into the complaint.

2. Panel
A. Should be composed of current and former Trustees
B. Should at least number 7 and not to exceed 11 Trustees.
C. Should be regionally balanced
D. Panel would then meet to discuss the merits of the complaint, and come to a unanimous conclusion of what step of steps to take next
E. Panel could then dismiss the case against the Trustee
F. Panel could then offer suggestions to the local area so to remedy the complaint
G. Panel could the recommend removal as a Trustee as an act detrimental to GA.
H. One or more of the Current Chairs should be on the panel
I. The panel would then contact said trustee for their version of the act or acts.
If the Panel recommends removal of the Trustee it would then be put on the next agenda as an agenda item.
Discussion would then take place before the BOT

Voting
A. A one time vote would then take place and ??????? would be required for immediate dismissal

Thoughts from 4/6:
Appoint a panel chair
Divide US into 8 geographical regions. One Trustee from each region
3 Trustees from Canada
Breakdown full procedures listing to be handed out to the concerned parties

I’m proposing the 10-point suggested procedure below as well as modifications to 2 items in the Guidance Code.

Guidance Code, Article VIII-Board of Trustees
(New Section 5. to be inserted after Section 4 with the remaining paragraphs to be renumbered accordingly.)

Section 5.
The procedure for removing a Trustee from the Board of Trustees if he or she commits acts which are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole or for not attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings will [shall] be as follows:
1) A petition or complaint in writing citing the grounds for removal will [shall] be presented to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
2) Any member of Gamblers Anonymous may present a petition to the Chairman, but it must be signed by at least ten (10) current Trustees.
3) The Chairman will [shall] provide a copy of the petition to the First Co-Chairman and Second Co-Chairman, and together they will discuss the petition with the petitioner.
4) If the petitioner’s concerns are not resolved, the Trustee to be removed will [shall] then be given the option to resign from the Board or allow a Board of Trustee vote on the removal.
5) If a vote is requested, the vote will [shall] take place within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the petition or at the next Board of Trustees meeting following the receipt of the letter, whichever occurs first.
6) If receipt of the petition occurs within the forty-five (45) day period, the vote will [shall] be conducted by mail in accordance with Section 3, Article IX of the Guidance Code; otherwise the Chairman will [shall] place the petition on the agenda of the next scheduled Board of Trustees meeting and will request the Trustee to be removed to attend and be heard at that meeting.
7) After hearing from the Trustee to be removed, the Board of Trustees will [shall] vote on the petition.
8) Voting will [shall] be by secret ballot and removal will [shall] require two-thirds majority.
9) The petitioner need not be present at the Board of Trustees meeting or any stage of the process.
10) Any Trustee who is removed will [shall] not be eligible to become a Trustee or have a voice as a past Trustee at the Board of Trustee meeting until two (2) years will have elapsed from his or her date of removal from the Board.

Guidance Code, Article VIII-Board of Trustees, Section 1
Current version: This Fellowship shall be guided by a Board of Trustees who are members of Gamblers Anonymous and have completely abstained from gambling by their own admission for a period of two (2) years and have had regular attendance at Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Board of Trustees defines regular attendance for International officers as thirty-nine (39) meetings per year. This does not include Intergroup meetings or picnics but does include Birthday meetings. This Board shall not exceed as many Trustees as deemed necessary by the Board of Trustees.

Proposed version: This Fellowship shall be guided by a Board of Trustees who are members of Gamblers Anonymous and have completely abstained from gambling by their own admission for a period of two (2) years, have not been removed from the Board in the past two (2) years for acts detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole, and have had regular attendance at Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Board of Trustees defines regular attendance for International officers as thirty-nine (39) meetings per year. This does not include Intergroup meetings or picnics but does include Birthday meetings. This Board shall not exceed as many Trustees as deemed necessary by the Board of Trustees.

Guidance Code, Article VIII-Board of Trustees, Section 4
(Delete the last 2 sentences of this paragraph.)
Current version: Any Trustee is automatically removed from office for gambling by his/her own admission. Current of past Trustees who return to gambling and subsequently come back to G.A. should not have a voice at the BOT meeting until they have 2 years of abstinence, the same qualification as becoming a Trustee. Gambling, for the compulsive gambler is defined as follows: Any betting or wagering, for self or others, whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignificant, where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or “skill” constitutes gambling. Or he or she may be removed for other acts on his or her part, which are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole, or for not attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Removal requires 2/3 vote for expulsion by the Board of Trustees at the next physical meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Proposed version: Any Trustee is automatically removed from office for gambling by his/her own admission. Current of past Trustees who return to gambling and subsequently come back to G.A. should not have a voice at the BOT meeting until they have 2 years of abstinence, the same qualification as becoming a Trustee. Gambling, for the compulsive gambler is defined as follows: Any betting or wagering, for self or others, whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignificant, where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or “skill” constitutes gambling.

Notes:
➢ I kept the following conditions in mind in formulating my suggested procedure.
• Generally I believe the objective is to resolve concerns, and therefore the aim is to retain rather than to remove a Trustee.
• The Trustee should be given the choice of either resigning or bringing the petition before a Board vote.
• I’m proposing concurrence by 10 current Trustees representing different parts of the U.S./Canada should validate a petition; however that number is somewhat arbitrary.
• The petitioner’s concerns should be heard and discussed.
• The process should be expedient, hence the “45 days”.
• The Trustee should be given the opportunity to be heard.
• The voting should be by secret ballot and require two-thirds majority.
• I’m seeking suggestions regarding the use of “will” or “[shall]”.

➢ Other
• My biggest concern is preventing frivolous petitions being presented to the BOT Chair.
• Providing general guidelines that better describe “acts detrimental to GA as a whole” should be done separately by one of the committee members, independent of the committee since that is not the committee’s objective. Just my opinion, but here are examples of “acts detrimental to GA as a whole”:
o Willful and continued defiance to any and all items contained in the Guidance Code.
o Willful and continued defiance to any and all of the 17 items contained in the “Responsibilities of International Trustees of Gamblers Anonymous”.

I believe we should not define events that are specific to what is considered detrimental and thereby subject to invoke the Trustee removal process. What is more important, and I believe the thrust of the item, is the process. My ideas are as follows:

A committee of 11 current Trustees should be appointed for a 2-year term at the 1st Trustee meeting after the bi-annual Trustee election (fall conference - even years). This committee will be the final determination as to whether or not a Trustee will be removed for acts that are detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole. They should be as follows, after geographical determination: 2 each from the North, East, West, South, Canada and 1 of the 3 BOT Chairs.

The chair will explain the duties of the position in the opening session on the 1st day and ask that any Trustees who are interested in volunteering for such a committee to please indicate this to the Chairman of the BOT.

If there are only 2 current Trustees from any area that indicate so, those Trustees will automatically be part of the committee. If only 1 Trustee volunteers, then the BOT Chair will ask for another volunteer in the 2nd session of the 1st day, as will do so until the position is filled. If more than 3 Trustees volunteer for any area, then the BOT will take a closed ballot vote with the 2 Trustees receiving the largest number of votes being the appointees. Ties will be handled with a procedure decided by the Chairman of the BOT. Current Trustees who are no longer able to carry out their duties as current Trustees, will automatically be removed from the committee. The Chair of the BOT will assign replacements from the same geographical areas in such an event.

This committee will receive statements from any current GA member with regular attendance of 39 weekly meetings per year, any issues that are deemed to be detrimental to Gamblers Anonymous as a whole. The submitting member must outline in exact detail the 1 - reasons
2 - circumstances
3 - evidence
4 - timeline and
5 - resolution pathways that are part of this issue.

The committee will review the matter and make a preliminary determination as to whether the issue is dismissed or if it merits further consideration. If further consideration is the majority decision, with ties always being decided by an addition Chair of the BOT, then the Trustee that is the subject of this issue will be contacted by the committee chair via telephone, email and a physical letter, and asked for his/her version of the issue. The Trustee will have 2 weeks to respond from the receipt of the letter and a confirmation of receipt of same either by telephone or email. Failure to respond will result in automatic removal as a Trustee. The committee chair will allow for an extension of time if the Trustee is unable to be reached, is traveling or incapacitated. After receipt of the information from the Trustee, the committee will have 2 weeks to decide if the matter is to be dismissed or if it merits a full resolution process.

If the committee's decision is that the issue does warrant a full resolution process, then the Intergroup(s) that the Trustee represents, will be contacted for their version of what is important about the issue and what steps have already been taken to resolve the matter. It will communicated to the Intergroup that this issue has the potential of causing the Trustee in question to be removed, and that every attempt should be made with all parties concerned to resolve this matter as expeditiously as possible and to also see that it does not reoccur. However, the matter may not be one that can be resolved, in which case the Intergroup's version of what happened will add to the material that the committee will review prior to making a determination. The Intergroup will have 2 weeks to respond after its next monthly meeting.

Upon receipt of all the material from the 3 sources outlined above, the committee will review the actions and prepare a document that shows the contrasts and differences between the 3 sources. A copy of this will be sent to each of the 3 sources for clarifications from each party. These clarifications must be returned in 2 weeks from their receipt.

After such time, the committee will review these documents and make a determination through a conference call on whether the Trustee should be removed. If the determination is that the Trustee should be removed, then the Chair of the Committee will send a letter to the Trustee in question, the Intergroup(s) that elected the Trustee, the ISO, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, advising everyone of the decision of the committee, which is final and not subject to appeal. It will then be up to the Intergroup(s) to elect a new and different Trustee to fill the position. The removed Trustee will not be allowed to hold any Trustee or BOT committee position for a period of 4 years.

If the determination is to not remove the Trustee, then the same people will be contacted with such a decision and with a clear outline of the issues that were critical to the committee's review process, along with recommendations on how to prevent such a situation from arising again.

It is my understanding that this committee is responsible to submit an outline to the BOT for consideration on how to go about removing a Trustee from office due to any improprieties. Our job as a committee is not and should not be to determine what exactly an impropriety is, therefore our job should start as an advisory role to any member who believes a trustee has wronged and should finish with either the removal of such Trustee or exoneration of such Trustee at any level. e.g. Intergroup level, Advisory Board, BOT meeting.

A piece of literature would be written up and added to the guidance code.

Article VIII Section 4 should be placed as Section 26 All Sections after 4 should be moved up 1 number and

the following should be added as new

Article VIII Section 27

Trustee Removal Process:

If any member of GA feels the actions of a Trustee were/are detrimental to GA as a whole, they have the right to do the following;

A) Speak to their intergroup representative/chairman and give a detailed description of what they believe to be detrimental to GA.
B) Have the right to speak at their intergroup meeting. The intergroup will try to resolve any issues at this level.

1) Issue will be resolved
2) There is no resolution, proceed to step C.

C) A written detailed description of the said offense must be sent to the Advisory Board. This must be accompanied with all other attempts to resolve the issue and must be signed by at least 2 officers of your intergroup e.g. Treasurer, Secretary, Chairperson.

The Advisory Board will be chosen at the fall conference of even years by the Chairperson, 1st Chair and 2nd Chair of the BOT.

The Board will consist of 8 current Trustees and 1 of the 2 co-chairs. The Co-chair would be used as a tiebreaker for voting purposes.

The 8 members would cover the US and Canada Geographically.

1) The Advisory board would contact the trustee in question and get a written account of his/her side of the story. This should be within 14 days.
2) The Advisory board may make recommendations to resolve any issues
3) The Advisory board may dismiss the charges with a written explanation
4) If there is no resolve, and the Advisory Board feels by a majority vote that the actions taken by said Trustee were/are detrimental to GA as a whole, an agenda item for removal of said Trustee will be put on the following BOT meeting agenda.

There will be no deadline as to when this can be submitted as an agenda item.

This would require a 2/3 vote.