of Alcoholics Anonymous – Area 93
#3 PMB 140
606 Alamo Pintado
# 3
Solvang, CA 93463
of Alcoholics Anonymous – Area 93
#3 PMB 140
Solvang, CA 93463
www.aaarea93.org
St.
Francis Hospital, Santa Barbara CA
CCAA
Chairman Debbie B. called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. and led us in the
Serenity Prayer in the language of our choice.
Beady
P. read the 12 Concepts in English.
Armando read the 12 Concepts in Spanish..
|
Secretary’s
Report |
Stephanie S. |
The list of who is eligible to vote
at an Area Committee Meeting was read.
Instructions were given on how to report Roll Call.
|
Roll Call: |
DCMs/Alternates |
19 |
|
|
DCMCs/Alternates |
4 |
|
|
Committee
Chairs/Subcommittee Chairs |
10 |
|
|
CCAA Past Delegates |
1 |
|
|
CCAA Officers |
6 |
|
|
Sound Dude/Chick |
2 |
|
|
Guests |
7 |
|
|
Total |
49 |
Motion No. 1: To accept the
February Committee minutes as written.
Motion No. 1 was seconded and approved by the assembly.
|
Registrar |
Lisa J. |
First of all, when you come in,
there is a place for every body to sign in.
If you have guests or other officers from your districts, there is an
area for guests to sign as well. This
helps with our attendance numbers for our report. It is very important, also, that DCMs, Alternate DCMs if your DCM
is not here, or DCMCs check your folders when you come in. The officers put in updates for
information. I put presents in there today
for every one. I’m going to go over
that right now. A little over 2 weeks
ago I received print outs for each district containing group information from
GSO. These need to be updated and sent
back to GSO, I believe, by May 5. The
printout look like this. Any changes or corrections get put directly
on the print outs. These prints get
sent back to GSO, and I do have labels for that. If you don’t make corrections on some of the group information,
you do not need to send those back to GSO.
Only the corrections. I also
included instruction sheets on revising the information. It has a step by step “how to” with those
instructions. The other item they sent
me that might be of interest, I put forms on the back that state how a group
becomes listed as active or inactive.
That information is available on the Registrar’s table. I know some of you have groups that you are
not whether they are active or not. One
little addition to that information, if you are District 01 through 04, your
information has already been corrected and sent back to GSO. I needed to try it out myself before I make
other people do this type of work.
Hopefully, I found all the bugs before you do, and the directions will
be clear for your folks on these updates.
I also included in the folders print outs of your district group
information. This is the information
that is current as of today on our database.
You can take a look at that, and it also includes group numbers which I
know that some of you are interested in as well. The last thing I have are labels for the GSO send back. If you need those, see me.
As usual, everybody is
doing a really good job about getting their group changes to me, and I
appreciate that. If you can continue to
do so, the clearest is by form. I can
also take it by email or change it here at one of these Committee Meetings or
area assembly.
If you have any
questions or any needs from the Registrar’s position, please let me know. Thank you for letting me be of service.
|
Treasurer |
Theresa
D. |
The current bank balance is
$13,604.23. I understand from talking
to the past Treasurer that the bank balance hasn’t been this low. So, I’m asking you to please go back to your
groups and ask them to make contributions to the Area so that we can continue
our work of carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. I have provided you with copies of the
“reminder flyers” to post, copy and give to your district treasurers and GSRs. Also, the quarterly reports are available in
Spanish and in English for your approval at the next Area Assembly, in the back
there on the table. If you have any
questions, just see me. You will have
plenty of time to review these before the Assembly in May in Bakersfield. I would encourage you to come to the Finance
Committee if you have questions, problems, or solutions about Area 93
finances. I would like to also remind
you that if your committee has a need for some unbudgeted amount of money for a
project, that first you need to find out what the cost will be, present it at
your committee, then bring it to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee will then make a
recommendation to the Area Committee where it will be discussed. If approved, the item will be placed on the
agenda for assembly. If you have any
questions regarding our financial guidelines, please see Gene Wolf, Ken
Schmidt, or myself. Thank you very
muchfor allowing me to be of service.
|
Chairman |
Debbie B. |
Good
Morning. We held our first officers
meeting on March 22 in Santa Barbara. We
discussed one or two items from our area inventory. Form that discussion, we came up with a schedule for officer
visits to the districts over the next 2 years.
Actually, Stephanie came up with a great diagram that has been placed in
the DCM folders. She is doing it right
now at the Registration table. That
diagram greatly added in our discussion.
The officers will be calling you or feel free to call them to schedule
your visits or to ask us questions. We
will also be visiting the dark districts in hopes of getting participation from
them. We also discussed the remaining
funds from the split of Area 05 and Area 93.
We felt that at the end of this panel, those funds should be absorbed
into the general bank account since by that time, all equipment should have
been purchased. We had a question as to
whether the Area 93 Delegate computer could be utilized as the budget setting
meeting. With Vicki’s help, we will be
doing that this year. I’m sure Theresa
is thrilled that she won’t have to pack up the computer and lug it down from
her house and then drive it back and set it all up again. As we get older, we get wiser. We asked Jeanine if the districts had begun
setting up County Delegate Days as provided for in our Guidelines. When Area 93 was formed, it was decided that
the Delegate would not visit each district separately, but would visit each
county and give a report. That is what
we strive for, for each panel.
I want to
thank John Rose for his work in securing a new meeting place for our Area
Committee Meetings. As of our next
meeting on July 20, we will be meeting at the Goleta Valley Community
Center. I have brought some flyers
today, and I will make more exciting ones for handing out at the May
assembly. I will also mail them with
the Agendas. The Spanish are my own
attempts to translate. I hope it gets
the idea across. I will have the
Translation Committee translate them into real Spanish, so bear with me.
Speaking of
the Translation Committee, we do have a new Translation Chairperson, Chuck
G., from District 22. I don’t see
him yet although he did call and say he would be here. Chuck has been active in service in other
areas and I’m really excited that he has joined our Area Committee.
Our next
Committee meeting will be on July 20 at the Goleta Valley Community Center and
it will be an all day meeting. The
morning will be the Area Committee, the afternoon session will be the budget
setting meeting for 2004. It is very
important that all committee chairs attend the budget setting meeting. All are welcome to attend and
encouraged. Don’t worry, John R. has
assured me that next door to the meeting place is the base hamburger place
around. So, you can get a quick lunch
and come back ready to go. The Goleta
Valley Community Center does not commit to anyone for a meeting place for a 2
year schedule, but they have assured John and I that if we like them and they
like us, after our July 20 meeting, that something can be worked out. It will just keep me on my toes to make sure
that each time everything is ready to go.
Thank you.
|
Alternate
Delegate |
Vicki B. |
First of all, I would really like
to thank all the presenters that are here today that participated in the
workshop. You all did a great job. I heard numerous feed backs on how much
every body enjoyed it. I’ve talked with
some local GSRs that are up in my district, and they said that they learned a
lot and they were really impressed with the presentations. I want to thank you all again. You did a great job. I also received a letter of thanks from
Warren when he got back to New York. He
said it was very pleasing to be up here in our 22nd district. He, too, enjoyed the presentations and the
workshop and had a great time being here.
He wanted to let you guys all know that he would love to come back any
time we can invite him.
I did bring
in today the last of the H&I flyers that I have for the H&I
Conference. It is happing April 25, 26
and 27 in Irvine, California. Please
take them back to your districts. You
don’t know, maybe there is somebody there that really wants to go and hasn’t
heard about it. Bring the flyers back
to them and distribute them. They do
still have a few weeks and they can register on site. Some times doing Area service work, I’m not sure about others,
but it does cross my mind am I really doing something to help the alcoholic who
still suffers. The last time I went to
the H&I Liaison meeting, the Intergroup meeting, I had brought along the
information that GSO had sent for all of the committees and bridging the gap
committees, and correctional facility committees in the United States and
Canada. I passed it on to their
secretary. During that meeting there
was somebody else from, gosh I can’t even remember, maybe L.A., that had information
about a release that was coming in Northern California, didn’t know how to get
hold of anybody, and I had the information right there. When I see stuff like that, that we get to
pass on, and somebody is going to be able to get contact now when they get
released. I know that the work that we
do still helps. It lifts my spirits to
understand that every thing that we are doing here makes a difference in
Alcoholics Anonymous. We really are out
here to help the alcoholic.
Then on a
personal note, I would like you guys to know that I am moving to Santa
Barbara. This District 23. I am so thrilled. I’ve accepted a job offer.
I’ll be down here the first part of May. One of the things is it is because of my association with
Alcoholics Anonymous and my membership here, which has changed my life so
drastically, that I am able to go out and into the world and do these changes
that would totally, I would have totally been in too fear to ever venture out
before. Everything is just falling into
place, so I know that is it God working in my life. This is where I’m meant to be, and I want to thank you all very
much.
Delegate |
Jeanine R. |
Good morning. My name is Jeanine
R. and I’m an alcoholic. My home group is the Freedom Group in Lompoc and I
have the fantastic privilege of serving Area 93 as your Panel 53 Delegate.
As you all know the General
Service Conference will begin Sunday, April 27th and run until
Friday, May 2nd. I have been keeping busy with the preparations for
the Conference and again want to thank everyone for the efforts they have made
to help me prepare. I’m very confident that after attending PRAASA, reading
Area 93’s group opinion polls, and listening again to the Pre-Conference
Workshop tapes that I will be able to convey Area 93’s group conscience during
the upcoming decisions that will be made. I do ask that you keep all of us at
the Conference in your prayers and that you ask our Higher Power to help us
make the best possible decisions for the good of AA members everywhere. Any DCMs
needing to schedule Conference report backs should see me as soon as possible.
During the Conference it is
customary that the delegates share a souvenir from their Areas with each other.
I ordered a few extras to give to the Area Officers, Committee Chairs, and
DCMs. If you haven’t gotten one from me, please see me at break. If you are an
alternate, I will be bringing any that are left over to the May Assembly to
pass out.
There has been a problem with
PRAASA 2005 in Arizona. It seems that the hotel changed management and double
booked another event. They offered to give us the same accommodations the
following weekend for $20 less a night and $5 less per person for the banquet.
The Arizona Delegate tried to find other places to hold PRAASA 2005 for the 1st
weekend in March, as required in the Guidelines. The best he could do was find
a place in Mesa, Arizona, which would cost $40 more a night plus a cost for the
shuttle to and from the airport. After several e-mails to the Pacific Region
Delegates it was decided that the best thing for us to do was to move the 2005
PRAASA to the second weekend in March.
AAWS
Highlights are as follows:
That’s all I have for
today. I’m looking forward to sharing all about the Conference week with you at
May’s Assembly.
I’d like to
wish everyone a Happy Easter and Mother’s Day, if applicable. Being of service
is awesome. Thanks for the opportunity.
DCMC
& DCM Reports
|
Gold Coast Districts (Districts 08,
09, 12 & 13) |
Ken S., DCMC |
I
don’t have much to report today. We
have a new DCM for District 08, North Oxnard, Rick S.. He is here today. We are continuing with our, what we call a workshop for group
officers. I put a brochure on the back
there. It is the one that says “Gone in
a Puff of Smoke.” If you are curious
what that means, you will have to ask me because it is kind of part of the
presentation. We are going to have our
second presentation in May in Oak View.
This is, as I’ve reported before, this is going to be an on-going thing
4 or 5 times a year to continually get information to incoming group officers,
secretaries, treasurers and that type of people who seem to rotate more on a
6-month period rather than a one year period or even less. They constantly need more information. Thank you.
|
East San Fernando Valley Districts
(Districts 11, 16 & 17) |
Scott M., DCMC |
We submitted our bid form today for
potentially hosting the August 17 Area Assembly. If the bid is accepted, then we will have flyers available for
the May Assembly. We had our first
combined districts meeting April 7 at the Chandler Lodge which is a new
location for us. The individual
districts now have an hour to meet instead of the half hour we had in our
previous location. We made a decision
to form combined districts working committees.
Judging by the response for our last meeting, we will be starting with
the PI and GrapeVine/LaVina committees as well as an Events Committee to
initially focus on a possible founders day event for our combined
districts. We have scheduled a Delegate
Day for L.A. County, minus Lancaster, Palmdale, for Monday, June 2 at the
Chandler Lodge in North Hollywood.
District 01 will be joining us for this meeting. Next Year’s Delegate Day will be held in
District 01. I thank David for making
Jeanine’s life a little bit easier by combining our Delegate Day. Thank you for letting me be of service.
|
District 01 |
David W., DCM |
We have our meetings the first
Wednesday of the month at the Cabritto House in Canoga Park at 6:30. You are all welcome to show up. Yesterday, we had a movie afternoon. We had AA films, Bill W. They had a film of Chapter 5 that was signed
for hearing impaired. It was pretty
cool because it forced you to slow down and really listen to what they were
saying. There was food and
beverage. There were a few people that
showed. Next year, we may ask to have
Archives also. One thing that we need
to do instead of just announcing the thing, giving flyers and putting on top of
table. I think I would like to have our
people pass around the flyers and get it into the hands. I think it helps out a lot. Otherwise, we were happy. Our CPC Chair has started getting names to
send letters out. He has written a
letter based on the standards that CPC has set. We are kind of excited about that. We are also working on doing a concepts round table
workshop. It is still in the planning
stage. We need to get a venue and a
date. We may use the same venue that we
had our movie night at last night. The
group is looking forward to it. We are
also looking at holding a Service/Meeting picnic. Maybe have a speaker speak on service and also a main
speaker. I like one on one. I went to one a couple of years ago in North
Hollywood, it was appropriately held in Section 8. I felt comfortable there.
That’s all I have. Thanks for
letting me be of service.
|
District 02 |
Tomas G., DCM |
Our district is working on the
Concepts and Traditions. We are sharing
at the groups and motivating the committees to serve. Also, as well as the 7th Tradition. We know before hand that we have lots of
work in this area. We are trying to
share with respect to the visits to the groups and right now at present there
are four committees that are working.
It should be mentioned that the Public Information Committee is also
included. Also, there was a committee
formed for the Bulletin for District 02 made up by the GSR Armando M. from the
Serenidad Group and Jesus P. is Secretary.
Only 15 bulletins were approved.
On the 10th of April, we had invited four companions to share
at our Public Information Committee of District 04. It was something very special and new for us. It was a full house and we made use of the
spirituality of the 7th Tradition to our invited committee. We are appreciative of this visit and happy
24 hours of sobriety from your District 02.
|
District 03 |
Adolfo M., DCM |
As
always, receive our greetings from those of us in District 03. Our service meetings are every Tuesday. The first Tuesday was the meeting on the
structure of AA. The second Tuesday is
Reports. The fourth Tuesday is business
or agenda, and we study the Service Manual.
The third and fifth Tuesday and the third Monday, we call together the
meeting, the internal meeting for all of us at the committee offices for the
formation of the agenda. Every
Wednesday and Monday we visit the groups.
The group, The Three Legacies, is found in its new location since the 16th
of March of this year, 13610 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91405. We are preparing ourselves for the meeting
with our Delegate. Also, we definitely
do not count with the Alternate or the Secretary, they have disappeared from
our agenda, from our work agenda. We’ve
elected an interim secretary, Fernando, from the group, Amore y Amistad. They attended the PRAASA event and one GSR
was motivated to join and one LRV. It
was their first PRAASA that they assisted from the group, Despertar Feliz
Todos. We are very filled with
gratitude. That’s all for today. Thank you for letting me be of service.
|
District 04 |
Alberto E.,
DCM |
This is what we have done lately at my district: District 2 from Bakersfield asked us if we
could kind of sponsor them to form their PI Committee. Our PI committee took on that commitment
with the help of the Alternate DCM, Justino G., Domingo and our CPC Chair. Last Thursday they went to the district’s
meeting place and gave quite some information and explained them the placards
that we use for a PI meeting. As of
matter of fact this Wednesday our PI chair will be explaining them for our
district, this is going to be a sharing meeting.
We are still visiting two groups
every Thursday. And one more group sent
their new GSR, so now we are getting 11 GSRs at the district meetings out of 13
groups the district represents.
The alternate DCM, the PI chair,
CPC chair and the PI chair from District 3 are working together to organize our
annual PI meeting, where we try to invite as many professionals as possible,
from the Hispanic community. That is
all I have today, thank you very much.
|
District 05 |
Francisco R., DCM |
We keep having 2 meetings a month,
one of reports and the other one of business.
We have 2 study meetings, the first and third Monday of each month. We visit three groups a week inviting them
to participate in General Service and to improve the communication of the
groups. We usually have the assistance
of 12 to 15 GSRs. We only have one
group without a GSR out of the 18 groups that make up District 05. Also, the Public Information Committee gave
a report in the city of Moorpark which there were 35 people in assistance. Among those, a Sheriff’s official. We reported on what Alcoholics Anonymous
does and does not do. Thanks.
|
District 07 |
Sharon G., DCM |
At our meeting yesterday, we tried
to further our agenda with having a General Service day where we would also
have the Delegate’s Report Back to us.
We discussed several ideas. I
think we’ve kind of settled on wanting to have a short speaker on the
Traditions and a short speaker on the Concepts, and then the Delegate’s
Report. The Open Door in Lancaster has
offered and volunteered to host the event.
The other thing we discussed, is we will have a service table at the
Antelope Valley Round Up. We will have
literature on that table, and people there to talk about service. That is June 27 through 29. We will also be chairing a panel for the
Round UP for the Marathon meetings where we will talk about service. That’s all I have. Thanks.
|
District 10 |
Lorraine M., DCM |
I
serve as DCM for District 10. District
10 and 15 are getting together to put on a Founders Day to be held in June that
will consist of a dance and a speaker meeting.
The date, time and place will be announced. I have resigned as GSR for the Tuesday Night Baker Street
Meeting. I don’t have anything else to
report. Thank you.
|
District 15 |
Amanda P., Alternate DCM |
Right now our district is mainly
preparing and working hosting the May assembly for you guys. That will be held in our sweet little town
of Bakersfield - Oildale. It is at the
school. Things seem to be falling right
into place. I think the biggest issue that
we are having is trying to decide whether feed you guys ribs and chicken or
chicken and hamburgers or just nothing at all.
Who really knows what God wants to feed all of us on May 18. If you are curious what will be served, show
up. Thanks for letting me be of
service.
|
District 16 |
Jess A., DCM |
At our last district meeting I gave
the GSRs a report on PRAASA. Gave them
a report on pre-conference workshop, gave them a report on General Assemblies
and asked them to carry that information back to their groups. We had 4 GSRs give district reports on the
area committee that they sat on during the March Assembly. It was suggested that I have some GSRs get
involved and give our district reports even though we get combined district
committee reports, our district felt that we got our GSRs involved in giving
each other reports, that they would have some sense of making the assembly so
that they could bring back something.
We asked all GSRs to sign for an Area committee, the committees that are
being formed. The district also
approved my air funds and hotel cost to PRAASA at the last district
meeting. We had three new GSRs,
actually two of them, I want to thank District 17 DCM for going out and
recruiting in my district. We kind of
got the boundaries mixed up there. We
appreciate it. We had the Alternate DCM
give a report on the importance of making these assemblies to the GSRs. That should do it.
|
District 17 |
Miles B., DCM |
My district
has nothing to report because we did it all for 16 this time. They did approve, this last week at our
combined district meeting, to reimburse me for the hotel and food at Cambria. We are looking forward to starting with the
combined districts committees. We are
going to start meeting with the PI and with the Events Committee and with
Richard is really wanting to get involved with the LaVina Committee. We are kind of getting our roots into the
combined districts, and we still have on our agenda a committee looking at the
possibility of District 17 meeting on our own.
They will be reporting back to us with their findings in our June combined
districts meeting. We will keep you
posted. Thanks.
|
District 22 |
Kathy A., Alternate, DCM |
My biggest news right now is our DCM
has resigned effective immediately. We
are kind of turned upside down right now.
We did not have a meeting in March due to PRAASA. We still have several committees open,
committee chairs that we are looking for.
We seem to have had kind of a drop in attendance. We are currently working with H&I and
CPC to organize an Orientation Workshop for mandated individuals, to kind of
give them an idea what AA is and what it is not. We are hoping that will help get the word to them as well as keep
our meetings strong. The Registration
Chair is having trouble getting meetings to register through him. At our district meetings, we are currently
enlisting our GSRs to study the Traditions and Concepts and giving a
presentation at our district meetings.
I’m finding that is being really well received. They are excited about getting to study
them. That is all I have.
|
District 23 |
Martin S., DCM |
The District sent me to PRAASA and
it was a great event. I got a lot of
information for them. Our Registrar,
Sam M., is sending in group information forms. He is still continuing to gather forms from our groups that are
not currently registered. We have 145
groups in this district. We’ve got a
pretty good chunk, we’ve done a really good job of getting our groups
registered. Our Archivist, Ann B., has
received some group history forms as she continues to compile a history of AA
in Santa Barbara in our 23rd District. Our new District Literature person is Celia M. She will be checking our libraries and
schools to continue supplying AA literature to those in need. Our GrapeVine Committee person, Dawn, has
submitted an article to the Messenger to try to gain help in getting
subscriptions for the GrapeVine. That’s
all I have to report. Thanks.
|
District 24 |
Steve R., DCM |
Our district sent me to PRAASA this
year. We vote on that every year. It is not a required function that is funded
by the district, so they do vote on that one.
The district function, The Meeting from Hell, was quite a hit. Everyone enjoyed that. It
was a lot of fun. Our GrapeVine Rep is
quite active at the time. He is getting
GrapeVines out to doctors and Laundromats.
They figure that are a lot of drunks in Laundromats. Our GSRs are trying to get past issues to
help him out so that financially it is easier for us to get more issues out
there. Also, to get different members
of the group involved in this committee work.
Our PI and CPC Committee was discussed in depth at our last district
meeting. It looks like our district
will get more involved in those areas.
|
District 28 |
William G. P., DCM |
A fairly short report. The District 28 Workshop, held on April 5,
was a great success with about 80 attendees.
The success is credited to a great committee. Our next district meeting is Tuesday, April 15. Now that the workshop and PRAASA and those
things are over, we will be reviewing our standing committee’s effectiveness
before planning our next workshop to be held around October.
|
District 52 |
Bill S., Alternate DCM |
David M., our new DCM, respectfully
send his regrets for not attending today.
Today is our regular district meeting, so he is not able to attend. Dave has been very active in attending all
AA events since he has taken over from our former DCM, Mike Rodriguez. He has been to PRAASA, the 4 Area Sharing
Sessions and he is full of it. He has
lots of new ideas and energy, including a possible bidding for a future
assembly. They are discussing that at
today’s district meeting. Our District
52 Web Site is up and running. A fellow
named Billy from Santa Maria stepped up and got it going in a day. The guy is a wizard. The Convention Committee for convention over
at District 52 is working very hard.
The Convention will be Halloween Weekend. They have dances planned, the whole thing. Speakers are already on the way. The GrapeVine Committee is spreading the
word and working hard to get new GrapeVine Representatives. That seems to be working out fairly
well. We do meet the 2nd
Sunday of each month, rotating between Santa Maria, Solvang and Lompoc, which
is the reason I’m not able to attend too many of those meetings and Dave is not
here today. The PI and CPC Committee is
sending out to health care professionals on a continuous rotating basis info on
AA and AA’s willingness to be of service to them. I want to thank Lisa for being helpful on that. The Freedom Group has moved to 1342 Maple in
Lompoc from the old Quonset Hut.
Apparently the new digs are pretty good. I have not had a chance to be there. Also, District 52 wishes to send our home grown Delegate best
wishes as the AA Delegate to the General Service Conference. We hope that you have a wonderful time and
I’m sure that you will represent us very well.
Thank you for letting me be of service.
FORO Report
Good morning everyone, my name is
Mario and I’m an alcoholic. I’m the
alternate coordinator for the 3rd FORO of General Service. This is the first time I’ve been at this
meeting, and I congratulate you on being well organized. I’ve learned a lot being here so far. The following is my report. The organizing committee continues to work
and we continue meeting with districts 02, 03, 05 & 06. The subcommittees are not contributing
economically. At the last meeting held
on the 6th of April on Sunday, it was agreed to send information to
the DUH. Also, it was agreed that on
the first of June would be the final dead line for the logo and emblem and also
for the themes. The organizing
committee also informs that the site and the date is ready. That is Richie V. Park located on the corner
of Laural Canyon and Paxton. The date
will be the 12th of October, 2003, from 10:30am on with a cost of
$15 per hour. The treasurer informs
that he had $493.05 plus $30 left over from the congress at Santa Maria. Contributions from District 02 were $67,
District 03 $0, District 05 $70, District 06 $30. The total is now $743.07.
The next meeting will be the 4th of May in Bakersfield,
District 02. We are working so that the
English speaking people can have their own table there to work with us. Area 05 is also invited.
Eddie D.: I don’t know what the money is all
about. I don’t get the money. I don’t understand it all.
Why
are they putting the money up?
Theresa D.: It is my understanding that it came from
other districts that are contributing towards the FORO, the Spanish speaking
districts.
Mario: The money we had from the meeting before was
$493. That is money that is left over
from last year’s FORO because they gave us $500 to start working this
FORO. The contributions are made by way
of ticket stubs (like raffle tickets).
The Spanish speaking districts work that way, we make up stubs or raffle
tickets and the people fill it out and put their name on it. They take a copy, our representative takes a
copy.
Debbie: Is your question why are the districts
paying for it if it is an Area 93 event?
(Yes.) Jeanine is our historian
for the FORO.
Jeanine: I’m the Past FORO Liaison for the last 2
years. The FORO is an Area event that
is put on by the Spanish Speaking districts.
They rent a hall, they have to get table and chairs in that particular
hall because that is the same place we had it last year for some reason. We are having it in the same place, but they
had to get tables and chairs. They put
on this wonderful feast. Coffee,
donuts, bagels, whatever. It all costs
money, so to collect money, they collect money from each of the districts. The Spanish speaking districts, not the
English speaking districts. The Spanish
speaking districts continue toward to help them to pay for all the costs of the
event. The Area gives $400 each year to
help them pay for the rent. The food and
everything else comes from the Spanish speaking districts. It has always been done that way. You guys can contribute, if anybody has one
of those little ticket stub thingies, they can ask you guys to give money. It is up to you whether you want to make
donations or not.
Debbie: My understanding in reading the guidelines
is you will not see the FORO as an Area 93 event. We ask that every body support this event, and we consider an
Area 93 event, but it is an event that started with the DUH (the united Spanish
districts). It is traditionally from
Area 05 to be put on by the united Spanish districts meetings. They rotate hosting it through districts,
now 02, 03, 04, 05 & 06. It is not
technically in our guidelines as an Area 93 event. We do ask that Area 93 members support it and attend it to
promote unity between English and Spanish speaking members.
Eddie D.: It helps, but it doesn’t solve the
problem. We are sticking these people,
nothing against the Spanish people, with the tab.
Debbie: We’re not doing anything. It is the traditional way the united Spanish
districts meetings have put on this event for years. We, as the Area, contribute a portion of our budget each
year. Last year it was $300, this time
it is $400.
More loving discussion followed. It was suggested that making the FORO an
“Area event” be an agenda item today.
After more discussion, it was decided that the question of making the
FORO an “Area event” will be put on the July Area Committee Meeting
agenda. This will give the DUH time to
prepare a history on why the FORO is handled the way it is currently
handled.
Old Business
1. Special PI Presentation on the Do’s and
Don’ts of Public Speaking
Mary Ann .: At the next meeting, the assembly meeting,
we will be planning. We need to plan a
little bit more, and have this at the August assembly. Right now we are just going through what the
scenario will be as well as what kind of hand out we are giving. It will be at the August Assembly. I just want to announce that we have a new
co-chair for PI. Alberto is our new
Co-Chair for PI. Welcome.
2. Inventory Items
Debbie: We are going to be, probably, continuing
through out this entire panel, I would think, discussion of our Area Inventory
items that were reported back after our Area Inventory that took place last
September. The report back does appear
in the September 2002 Area Assembly Minutes.
What we thought we would do, is just take a couple of items each Area
Committee Meeting, and discuss them. One
thing that we’ve already discussed that came out, we started at the last Area
Committee Meeting and then continued with the officers meeting, was the
Officers Visits. That was part of the
question, are we effectively communicating with our GSRs. One item, I would like to bring up for
discussion today, and there were some very good suggestions about it, is do our
GSRs stick with us. The answers were,
some do and some don’t. It appears that
GSRs want to be involved at the Area level, and they would like more
projects. How committed are individuals
on a committee. If they stick around
for a committee, they are committed.
Should our committee positions be polled by lot, and the answer was
no. What that generally refers to at
some other areas, they literally have almost like a lottery system where if
there is a new GSR, their name is pulled out and said congratulations, you are
part of the PI committee. When we set
up Area 93, the suggested manner of forming our committees were that the GSRs
would be appointed to a committee when they came in. That appointment would generally be done through the DCMs. Today, I would like to hear from everybody,
their feed back on this inventory item, do our GSRs stick with us. If you are a DCM, are you making those appointments,
how does that go over with your district.
Jess A., DCM Dist. 16: This was one thing that I really tried to
concentrate without our district is to get the GSRs on an area committee. By doing that, I asked 4 of the GSRs that
attended the past assembly to sit on a committee and then give the district a
report. They did a wonderful job giving
the district a report on the committees they sat on, and the other GSRs took
note. I passed out a sheet and I wanted
each GSR to sign up for a committee. I
got the sheet after the district meeting.
I said to all the GSRs, now that everyone is appointed to a committee, I
let them pick the committee they wanted, but I wanted them to chose one. I said that I would really appreciate a
report back after the next assembly from each one of them. Hopefully, that will prompt them to get to
the assembly and then give the district report on each committee that they sat
on.
Debbie: I curious, how many DCMs have been able to
appoint their GSRs to a committee? Are
there any DCMs that have found that this does not work for their district? It is something to think about. That seems that it might be a way to get
some continued involvement in our area and have the GSRs stick around.
3. Officers Visits
Debbie: What this means is that as part of the
response to the area inventory, we have come up with a schedule that Stephanie
has placed in the DCM folders at the Registration Table. If you haven’t picked it up, please do
so. It is color coded so that the officers
know where we are supposed to be. I’m
going to use myself as an example, the
first column shows the months April, May and June of 2003. I will be visiting Districts 01, 02 and
59. What we are going to do is this is
to help your district. We want to make
sure that we are not interfering with your district business, and we will be
available to you. We will ask you for
certain dates. You can ask us for
certain dates. We will do as little or
as much at that meeting as you would like us to do. We are going to let the DCMs tell us what sort of participation
they would like or they need. Please
feel free to contact us. Our names and
numbers are on the agendas, the area assemblies or the newsletter.
Theresa: I just want to mention what I’m doing. I already have a couple of visits scheduled
on my calendar to visit the districts.
When I’m calling, I may or may not be coming with another officer. I am going to be asking you if that is
OK. There may be a couple of us that
come to your district.
New Business
1.
Registration to Districts by “e-file”
Debbie: It is my understanding that DCMs would like
to be able to get the registration information, a list of their groups, from
the Registrar by electronic media (email).
Jess A., DCM Dist. 16: When I had requested earlier was to receive
my district roster (the groups and the meetings in the district) through
email. It helps me keep my district
updated as I turn in my changes to the Area Registrar. Some times I would like to have an updated
district roster to take back to my district meeting to make sure that my
changes have been made. My district
meetings are more frequent than the assemblies to wait for this.
Several DCMs agreed with the idea of
obtaining their district meetings information by email.
Loving discussion followed:
Stephanie: