District 17/Area93 Meeting Minutes March 03, 2009

6:30 pm – Meeting was called to order with the Serenity Prayer by Michael F.
            Concepts were read by Alexandra.
            Introduced ourselves and group we represent: 17 GSRs and 5 officers
            Introduction of Guests & Visitors: 1

Secretary Report: Heather, a motion to approve the February minutes was unanimously approved. Please let Heather know of any changes to your contact information so she can update the roster.

DCM Report:

Attended the ACM in Goleta on Sunday, February 15, 2009

Ad hoc committee was formed to research the possibility of lowering the number of area assemblies and area committee meeting per year. I volunteered to serve on this committee, partly out of interests in planning and also since I have been fairly outspoken on this topic over the past year.
Area 93 gave a letter of support for the SFV young peoples’ committee to host the ACYPAA Convention in the SFV in 2010.
An update was given on the audio/visual equipment.
An update was given on the 4 Area Share workshop in Oceanside on Feb 21st.
Request was made to add to the agenda – New GSR orientation in Spanish. This issue is being researched and was not appropriate as an agenda item at this time.

2009 Group Opinion Polls

Received the 2009 Group Opinion Polls in Feb 15th from Jeff J, our area delegate, and got them out to District 17 GSRs on Feb 19th.

Attended the 4 Area Share Workshop in Oceanside on Saturday, February 21, 2009

This was a useful workshop attended by about a 100 general service folks from area’s 5, 8, 9 and 93. It went from 9:30 am to about 4 pm.
Our speaker was Joel C, past DCM and Alt Delegate for Area 8. He gave a very simple and succinct description of the AA structure – one of the best I’ve ever heard. In short, how AA is a spiritual organization with a business side (we in general service are also very much a part of the business side). He talked about Bill’s writings on leadership in Concept 9, particularly his way of describing leaders as, stimulators.
There were at total of 8-table topic offered and I could attend 4 of them. I attended:

District leadership & AA commitments: How to delegate responsibility and pass on the importance of rotation.
Service Sponsorship: Learning and teaching the Traditions, Concepts and General Service Manual.
Goals, Duties and Responsibilities of the DCM to GSRs and the Area
Humility and Sacrifice in general service: Keeping balance in your personal program while maintaining enthusiasm for general service.

Some ideas that struck me, either during discourse or from learning about other districts:

Universal contributions – its better for 20 AA members to give $1 each than for 2 to give $10 each, but it is the same outcome.
Deciding on an Annual Event that District 17 sponsors every year – recreational, learning or both.
Willingness to allow failure at the expense of the group conscience, this process can change the culture respective to rotation

Alt. DCM Report: Mark: Attended the 4 Area workshop, felt a sense of camaraderie amongst DCM’s and felt safe sharing. New GSR: Judy- Radford Hall. One visitor interested in becoming a GSR.

Treasurer Report: Jeff- Expenses are high this month related to annual and semi-annual fees. We had a good month contribution wise. The Reserves are at $250.80. Our reserves are very prudent. If you need help with presenting contributions to your meetings Jeff will be happy to help. There are 4 groups to contribute to, make sure contributions are distributing evenly. You can bring to your treasurer the contribution list for reference. SFV convention expenses passed through (literature). Jeff is continuing to contribute to the reserve.

Registrar Report: Howard was not present. 1 new GSR. Mark would like to clean up the registration records. Goal: Have contact information for the group to make sure everyone can participate.

Group GSRs Discussion:

There was mention about meetings that do not have elections, secretaries just get pushed in. This is creating confusion and dissention. There needs to be a current group conscience. Group consciousness is a way to keep honesty through the group.
There was discussion about maintaining singleness of purpose at AA meetings. Singleness of purpose is imperative to AA in order to survive. We have responsibility as AA’s to share their experiences and hope. It is important for identification and respecting and following the traditions. We are not the AA police and meetings that shift usually dissipate. It is also important to be accepting of others.
There was discussion about financing our GSR’s to attend Area Assemblies. You can suggest to your group to contribute to the expenses. Two-thirds of your gas can be reimbursed at the current rate. The rest you can deduct from your taxes.

Area Standing Committees (Reports, Activity and/or Members):
Archives: Helen
CPC: Raul
Treatment Facilities: Simon
Finance: Jeff
Grapevine/LaViña: Larry
Guidelines & Policies: Tom
Literature/Audio Visual/Newsletter: Kirby
Public Information: Laura
Accessibility/Website: None
Registration: Howard

Liaisons

SFV Liaison: Paul- Attended the Inner-Group District Meeting on February 9th. District 17 brought to the table bridging the gap ad hoc committee, response to GSR table at the convention and talked about the upcoming assembly. What’s happening: Quality of life meeting has new home on Sherman Way. Happy Campers meeting is on the 3rd Saturday of every month at Lake Piru. Recovery Times is a newsletter that the office sends out. There are opportunities to get involved in planning SFV convention for next year. Our district is having on a gay and lesbian convention on Memorial Day.
H&I Liaison: Simon

Old Business:

Goals for Dist 17: Need Accessibility rep. Mark will be the alternate SFV liaison. Suggestion to start a District Annual picnic once a year. Michael will suggest to District 93 about having a picnic for all 4 areas.
Goals for Dist 17: Need Accessibility rep. Mark will be the alternate SFV liaison. Suggestion to start a District Annual picnic once a year. Michael will suggest to District 93 about having a picnic for all 4 areas
Presentation – Concept VI – by Laura was tabled until May.

New Business

Please present opinion polls to your group and send to Jeff by April 23rd, or bring it to Jeff at the Area Assembly. This is a great way for your groups to contribute to GSO.

Birthdays/Good & Welfare
Tom: 11 years
Juan: 3 years

7:45 pm – Adjourned with Responsibility Declaration

Upcoming Events:

March 6th – 8th PRASSA 09 -- The 42nd Pacific Region AA Service Assembly will be held at the Marriott City Center Hotel and Convention Center at 1001 Broadway, Oakland CA, 94607. The program will start at approximately 1pm on Friday March 6th and end at noon on the 8th.

http://www.praasa.org/?q=en/wppraasa09.html

March 14th & 15th – Area 93 Pre-conference and Assembly – 8:30 am – Ocean View Elementary School, 1208 Linda Rd, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420. http://www.aaarea93.org/
March 28th – 9 am to 12:30 pm – 3031 West 5th St., Oxnard, CA 93030 -- Central AA California Area 93 Archives Repository – 3 Year Anniversary – Continental Breakfast and Beverages. archives@aaarea93.org
April 6th – District 17 Monthly Meeting – 6:00 PM Orientation, 6:30 PM Meeting – 5000 Colfax, No Hollywood.

Respectfully submitted,

Heather M.