MINUTES TAKEN BY: HeidiK
Attendees
Natara
HeidiK
Ali
DavidW
Sandra
JohnR
Petra
JenW
KyleG
Requested Proxy Votes
Revis
Mouncey
MEETING NOTES
Read Tradition 2
Serenity Prayer
Set out guidelines for the meeting
Discussion on consensus vs. majority; majority
Are proxy votes allowed, yes
No timer is needed for discussion
Secretaryship: Need structure and support for incoming secretaries.
Discussion on writing a job description, more official training, a committee to support, a person or group to ask questions. Radford does this.
Petra: Trainer is needed; especially a specific person/group to ask questions, how to find speakers and commitments. Also how to be more collaborative with co-secretaries, a post-mortem after 6 months of service/end of commitment
Heidi: Need a repeatable, published successful plan on how to find speakers, learn what new secretaries need, discuss with the new secretary their comfort level and clarify understanding of their role. Heidi had previously created a schedule for Wed meetings when she was secretary (shared in chat; please request access)
Natara: Likes idea of central location for secretaries to track speakers, suggested speakers and comments on dates available
JohnR moved to create a committee for onboarding secretaries
DavidW seconded
Motion carried
Result: A new committee will be created for onboarding new secretaries, including creating a job description, explaining the training, and providing a resource for asking questions. [Clarification: Current members are Heidi, Ali S, Mouncey]
Discussion on voting 2 weeks before changing of the guard (Change occurs first meeting day of January/June). Purpose is to allow secretary time for training.
DavidW: Need to announce this, incl schedule and reminders
Natara: purpose is to vote sect’y 2 weeks ahead of change to give enough time for sect’y to train
JohnR moved to vote for new secretaries 2 weeks ahead of change instead of 1 week.
DavidW seconded
Motion carried
Result: Elections will be held 2 weeks before changing of the guard (Start date occurs first meeting day of January/June) Dates below in post-script
Should brand-new newcomers (new to the program; in their early days of sobriety) be new secretaries.
Petra: being a newcomer and becoming secretary helped me learn; although it depends on the comfort level of the individual.
Ali: as a newcomer it was difficult to say no; almost went out on a cake commitment. Lots of stress and expectation; emotional regulation can be a concern, should allow newcomers to breathe and get comfortable with their being new
JohnR: How many people in a meeting is appropriate for a vote? How much is a quorum? Not a good idea to put pressure on a newcomer
Heidi: the elections need more structure; a flow chart of sorts, a set quorum. It can be up to the secretary if there are enough voters; nuance to this issue. When I came in, I was at 6 months and welcomed the routine and structure. Consider how far through the steps, also.
DavidW: Confused with this issue; thought it was a 1 yr minimum, but I can tell
Natara: 6 months is standard in the rooms. Zoom is different; and newcomers (or anyone) can say no. Perhaps they self-select, whether it’s 6 months, 1 year or 28 years. Consider including “been around time.”
JohnR: Note that enthusiasm in decision; including if newcomer has previous time.
John R moved that a newcomer has 6 months (if brand new to the program) prior to being secretary. If a newcomer has been in the program before, and has more than 3 months, allowing them to be secretary.
SandraH seconded
Motion carried.
Result: Requirements will be added by Onboarding Committee when the job description is written.
Discussion of quorum.
Sandra: Sunday meeting doesn’t get 10 people; difficult to vote
Petra: strong secretary makes the meeting better; do we have to know the number in the quorum
Natara: needs to be structure/standard across meetings
JohnR: the number needs to be secretary, nominee and nominator.
Sandra: last Sunday had 5 ppl and they voted; voted secretary had gone out prior and had less than 30 days; but said yes
Heidi moved that we table this issue in respect for time
DavidW 2nd
Motion carried.
Result: Put on action items
Discussion of job description of secretary; duties, duration, requirements outside of meeting time.
Heidi: these should be determined by the Onboarding Committee
Tuesday Topic Participation Meeting format
Discussion of Tuesday’s Topic Participation meeting; how to increase attendance. Low attendees makes for a challenging topic participation meeting. Perhaps this can switch to an As Bill Sees It (ABSI) meeting.
Heidi: favors changing to ABSI
JohnR: for lower attendance meetings, he suggested popcorn meetings; each reading a bit then sharing then picking another person, repeat.
Ali: what other literature is possible to use
DavidW: Drop the Rock (DTR) might work
Petra: concerned that reading popcorn may lack structure and the mtg needs structure. Perhaps repeat book study from another day
Natara: Reminded group that the subject on the table is if the Topic Participation meeting on Tuesday should be changed, not how to share. Is the DTR conference approved? Can’t use Living Sober; not conf approved.
Heidi: How about Daily Reflections? (Heidi determined that other groups within aa, on the aa.org website meeting list, meetings are indeed using DTR)
Heidi posted a DTR meeting thats conf approved; more examples available
Ali: Maybe this should be a Newcomer Meeting. Cover issues like HP
JohnR moved that the Moorpark Tuesday meeting format be changed to a Newcomer Meeting
Petra seconded
Motion carried.
Result: Format will be changed; script tbd.
Aligning the format (script) between all the Moorpark online meetings.
Natara: Standardize the heading, add reminder to get readers, align the text for the court card, add the prayer to the script, asking newcomers if they’re 29 vs 30 days, ask attendees to stay for fellowship after meeting
Petra moved to align the script/standardize for all the Moorpark online meetings
Ali seconded
Motion carried.
Result: Natara will update the scripts to reflect the decision.
Create a steering committee for Moorpark online meetings. Purpose to guide all the groups.
Natara: perhaps we have one person from each meeting be on the steering committee [Correction: it has periodically been discussed with the in-person meetings, but it has never happened, partly because each day is an independent meeting, whereas Moorpark Online is a Group in the AA sense of the word]
JohnR: is the lack of this creating a problem
Natara: no but historically Moorpark in person has had one
JohnR: I think business meetings like this are enough
No motions; discussion moved on (3:08pm)
Discussion of Intergroup Rep
Heidi: what is an intergroup rep
Natara: Communicates with Intergroup (online contingent of aa) and conveys information both ways. Treasury reports, convey status and needs of Moorpark. In Person Moorpark has this.
Tabled for meeting time constraints.
Discussion about commitments, accountability
Natara: Many commitments are open. Suggestions on how to fill (and keep) welcomed. How do you keep ppl accountable while not lecturing. Perhaps if you volunteer and stand up the commitment 3x the commitment will become open. Expectation is to get a temporary replacement if a person can’t make it.
Heidi: Is it the secretary’s responsibility to check in on the person with the commitment if absent?
Natara: decision for the onboarding committee
Petra: how do we get job (commitment) descriptions for each commitment?
Heidi: agree, showing descriptions may help recruiting; shows some are simply reading a script.
Petra: no newcomer will go to a website to read a description. Part of the secretary is to recruit for open commitments.
JohnR: Maybe it takes a little marketing; like the secretary reads: ”A sponsor is someone…please check the chat.” Then tell the meeting participants that reading that blurb was a commitment, look how easy that is; and you’ll be of service.
No motions; discussion ended.
How often should business meeting occur for Moorpark online meetings
JohnR suggested every 3 months
Ali agreed saying its best to fail fast, then troubleshoot
Heidi made a motion to have business meeting 4x a year; 3 weeks before the changing of the guard and 3 months after. (Dates can be determined and shared.)
Ali seconded
Motion passed
Meeting ended.
Postscript:
Dates for business meetings are: First Saturday in September, December, March, and June at 1:30pm.
For 2024/2025:
Sept 7, 2024
Dec 7, 2024
(Secretaries change first week of January)
March 1, 2025
June 7, 2025
(Secretaries change first week of July)
Treasury Report (Natara):
Jan 1 through July 31 2024
$841.12 gross
(average $120.16/mo)
$140 expenses (Zoom, website hosting & domain name)
$701.12 net
50% to SFVCO $350.56
40% to GSO $280.44
10% Intergroup $70.12
Please report any errors or omissions to HeidiK