June 1st 2025 BM Notes
BM Chair: Lauren
SC Chair: Suzie
Secretary: Lauren
SC Members Present: Add
I. Treasurer’s Report-Elle
Bank – beginning balance -$3,971.62
Total deposits – $898.86
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- Noted Registered Agent Service Biennial fee ($58) – We pay this fee every two years, as a Registered Agent is a requirement of DE incorporation.
- Noted Q1 7th Tradition to DAGSA Area 12 ($400) cleared 5/12
Total expenses – $1,071.78
7th tradition apps – beginning balance – ($892.54)
7th tradition apps – end balance – $879.81
Ending cash balance – $4,229.53 (about $80 less than last month)
Prudent reserve – $1k
ORC – Q2 Bal 5/31 – $1,033.83
Zoom Exp reserve – $499.16 – (billed in Nov)
Tech reserve (interserver, mailpoet, uncanny automate, WPforms basic) – $108.35
Q2 7th Tradition to DAGSA Area 12 ($385) – check pending
Motion to approve Treasurer’s Report – Seconded and Passed (12 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
II. ORC Report-Elle
A. BM Response
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- Elle shared the spreadsheet for the ORC. ORC is sending out books and coins, and there’s lots of positive feedback for them.
- Motion to approve ORC Report – Seconded and Passed (17 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
III. Tech Team Report-Elle
A. BM Response
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- Bently-We had an issue last night. People coming in and dialing in unmuted and yelling a racial slur in the beginning announcements. Maybe something can be done on the tech side. If not, it needs to be a part of training.
- Elle-That’s a zoom admin setting. Zoom does updates frequently. They do the update with new “features” turned on. We don’t always know that until something changes. It could be something that was changed. There could be settings that could prevent that.
- Mark-Participants column open, more button on the right, should see a pull up menu-it says allow participants to unmute themselves.
- Bently-This was at the 1am slot of the meeting. On the settings, nobody was allowed to unmute. It had nothing to do with the settings. People were coming in unmuted.
- Kristen-All the settings were right. It’s happened before with phone numbers coming in. It’s people calling into the meeting itself. Newer people might not be quick at removing people. It could end up being a problem. When we see a phone number, we need to make sure to mute them. That might be the only option. Not sure if there’s a setting for that.
- Elle-At one time, it did apply to phone numbers. That might have changed. Zoom doesn’t always update us on those changes. We find out when problems like this arise.
- Susan-Make sure that the person on the door knows to mute the phone numbers.
- Glen-Provided service from other groups. Throughout the time I have been doing service in GUTS, it’s been super positive. Lately, there seems to be an uptick of people being extra. I understand compassion and empathy, but sometimes the frequency and the content shifts outside of what the chat is intended for. Thinking out loud. Are there things we may be able do like shutting down the chat. Breakout room.
- Kristen-We have those things in place. We have a GC where we will pause the chat. I helped out at the beginning with training. I can’t speak about current training, but a lot of the relevant info is covered during training. There are set things for dealing with conflict in the chat. Some people aren’t aware that these things are in place. There’s a lot to remember. A lot for anyone to remember. We can do a better job of letting the training team know. There’s just so much to cover.
- Donna-Training coordinator. Things come up all the time. You can shut the chat down at any time. You don’t need a Host’s permission. I depend on my cohosts to deal with the chat. Pause the chat and let everyone know why in the Live Thread.
- Motion to approve tech team report – Seconded and Passed (15 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
IV. GSR Report – Dennis
A. BM Response
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- Kristen-Appreciate the group pushing the neurodivergent pamphlet. Inherently feel different due to neurodivergence. Just so you know, we support you. This pamphlet can show that they are supported. May open the door to future neurodivergent members.
- Motion to take Dennis’s proposal to the District Meeting – Seconded and Passed (17 Yes Votes/ No Dissent)
- Motion to approve GSR Report. – Seconded and Passed (18 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
V. Sponsorship Workshop Report – Mark
A. Mark-Not many have voted in the poll. Each workshop should be about an hour. I will post the poll in the threads again. We would like to hold the workshop in the span of three days. I would like to get 40-50 votes if possible. I will put the link into the Fellowship threads just so we can get a good cross section of people.
Motion to approve Sponsorship Workshop Report – Seconded and Passed (16 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
VI. Nominations – Lauren
A. SC Member
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- Rockston-(12 Yes Votes/1 No Vote)
- Donna-Declined
- Momma Christi-Declined
B. Scheduler
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- Gabi-(20 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
C. LGBTQIA+ and Allies Meeting Host
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- Delilah-(19 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
D. Step/Trad Host
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- Mary Mc-(15 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
E. Women’s Contact List
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- Donna-(14 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
VII. Privacy of Contact Lists
A. I’d prefer to explain my reasoning during the meeting, but I’d like to discuss the possibility of locking the contact lists behind a password (this lists themselves, not the website) -Gabi
B. BM Response
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- Gabi-Discovered a problem with the way the contact lists are formatted on the website. Google or search engines were able to pull from the contact lists. Since we figured out the problem, we have solved it. People are no longer able to be pulled from the contact lists. Just giving a security update.
- Susan-I had a sponsee who was 13th stepped by a service team member. Everyone on the service team has access to phone numbers. My feedback wasn’t received by the SC. We need to be aware that the abuse can happen. People who are new in AA are easily victimized.
- Bently-There should be no reason that men and women should have access to each other’s contact lists. I don’t know how we are going to rectify that. There should be no way in hell that male service team members should have access to the women’s list at all. I am not sure how this is going to happen tech-wise. Sexual predatory behavior needs to be stopped. No way that should be happening. We dropped the ball. We need to keep newcomers safe.
- Jayna-Unfortunately another person in service is doing this. Susan came to me. This person had left service. The woman that was preyed upon didn’t want to come forward. This person who came back shouldn’t have been able to come back. It was under 6 months so they could come back immediately.
- Dennis-When I send a contact list, male or female, all I do is copy the link and post it. I don’t look at the women’s list. 13 stepping should not be happening.
- Elle-Two things: I agree that there’s no reason why genders of the opposite sex should be going through the list. Secondly, this does become an admin nightmare when people pull out of the security group. It becomes a time-consuming thing. People come and go every day. That’s something we need to consider. It’s unfortunate that we can’t always trust our service members to not have predatory behavior. I don’t have a solution currently.
- Bently-Motion that genders of the opposite sex do not have access to the lists
- Kristen-We have never been on the same page. When it comes to this, principles over personalities doesn’t happen when it needs to. It becomes a trial when the woman comes forward and it can be traumatizing. If any person is 13th stepping, they should be removed from service immediately. We can do things within the meeting, always have to remember principles over personalities.
- Kelly-Totally respect everyone’s desire to protect the members. If there’s an issue, it needs to be addressed with the person. I don’t see how locking down the contact lists to opposing genders solves the problem. I don’t think there’s a happy way to solve this.
- Susan-An ethics subcommittee to handle issues like this. Maybe behind the scenes a mediation should happen.
- Donna-Wanted to chime in. If you’re going to bring a complaint forward, that something is said. Safety first. If something is going on, bring that forward. Bring the receipts. If I don’t see that, then it’s hearsay.
- John- I want to let everyone know these issues do come up. I can’t tell you how this is going to look going forward. They are discussed with multiple people. We take these accusations against people very seriously. I hope that we can carry on these discussions before it gets to the BM. We need to make sure that we have receipts. We are talking about 2 individuals, and there have been unquestionable receipts. Once something comes up, we have to see if it’s true. Hopefully, we will continue to have a dialogue. Certain people are going to find stuff out. Take it where it needs to go.
- Kristen-The only issue is that the receipts were brought, but the group deemed it not enough. Everything is up for interpretation. A pattern of behavior is proof enough. If there’s multiple complaints, that is enough. I agree with not tarnishing someone’s reputation. There have been receipts shown. No one should feel like this is a court hearing. I want to see the group do a better job of principles over personalities.
- Bently-An ethics committee is a good idea. BM should not be the venue where we talk about predatory behavior. It becomes-well we know this person and the other person is new. Someone who just listens and takes notes. Asking someone to discuss something so personal in a BM or SC meeting setting is wrong.
- John-Service members are responsible for protecting the room and the members of AA GUTS. That is part of our role. This is not a problem that is running rampant. There are two individuals that needed to be discussed. Our responsibility is to protect everyone in the group. It can become a popularity contest when these issues arise. There’s a backlash from that decision. One of the individuals has been addressed, one has not.
- Elle-Before, we used to handle this in private with SC members. We would have third party calls. We could handle situations that way. We could keep it off the radar. Unfortunately, people will have biases. There’s a groupthink that happens. Let’s talk about going back in that direction (handling some things in private). People might not understand why it’s happening in private.
- Susan-Motion to create an ethics committee. The way that this proceeds will be a learning process. It’s a first stop gap procedure.
- Donna-Thinks the ethics committee is a good idea. I have been a victim of gossip. If we are going to have this committee. Maybe they could handle the receipts.
- Bently-2 Men 2 Women 2 LGBTQIA+ should form the committee. If a vote is tied, have the SC Chair come in and break the tie.
- Lauren-Susan’s motion (17), Bently’s amendment (19), and add an amendment to create guidelines for the committee that will be brought to the next BM.
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- Seconded and Passed (22 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
VIII. Justin NY Permanent Ban
A. Justin NY requesting to return to attending GUTS by vote in BM.
B. SC Response: There was an acknowledgement that Justin NY has a “permanent ban” not a “indeterminate ban”, the permanent ban GC is just that and is not eligible for a vote to return. To discuss further in the BM.
C. BM Response
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- Dennis-Unless we changed the permanent ban to indefinite, there’s no need for a vote.
- Lauren-At the time, it was a permanent ban because there was believed to be a restraining order. There has been new info that has come to light, and the group needs to consider that.
- Donna-I haven’t talked to this person in two years. I believe that everyone is capable of change. If they are allowed back in, eyes will be on the person. Let’s revisit the ban.
- Kristen-New evidence was brought to light about what happened. The person had made amends, and there was a lot cleared up. There were false allegations against the person. GC can override. Permanent bans are a little harsh.
- Kelly-I was one of the women involved in that meeting. The other person was a newcomer. I was around 90 days at the time. It came out that she was lying about what happened with Justin F. Lied about a restraining order. This is why evidence is important. This person falsified evidence.
- Susan-I was most directly involved in this because I was the woman’s sponsor. Even when she brought the accusation forward, I knew she had an issue with true and false. It shouldn’t have happened, but we have the chance to be smarter.
- Jayna-The group voted, right or wrong, those people that voted before are discounted. Secondly, if we do vote on this, then we really need to figure out what’s going on in the future.
- Lauren-There’s a third woman who spoke out openly at the meeting. I don’t want her voice to be discounted. I would be remiss in not reminding the group that there was a third woman involved. I won’t give her name because she doesn’t attend the meeting anymore.
- Justin-Inappropriate things were said on both ends with Kelly. I won’t defend anything in regard to Kelly. We both have talked about the situation, and we are cool now. Stacy came to me, and I didn’t do the actions in which she accused me. I don’t run around flirting with women in AA. I follow the spiritual principles of the program, sponsor men, and attend meetings. I would like to come back to the GUTS meeting, and I am pleased to know how much it has grown.
- Bently-We all make mistakes and fall short. He’s a constant place for support. We shouldn’t use the word permanent because GC can override any decision that’s made. The word should be changed to indefinite.
- Lauren-We faced a restraining order and illegal action at the time of the meeting, which is why it was a permanent ban. Permanent bans are reserved for members who have restraining orders and/or there was an illegal crime that was committed.
- Kristen-We did what we could at the time. GC has changed and been allowed to grow. We have come to learn that the legal action was false. We have to account for growth. I don’t want to rehash old history. Things have changed, and we have evolved. Let’s deal with the here and now.
- Suzie-I don’t know all the details, but I heard some things. People were adamant about this ban. If we are going to change the GC, can we be specific about the details?
- Rachel- The restraining order did not happen, and the receipts aren’t there. If that’s what created the permanent ban, it should have been addressed differently.
- Dennis-If the reasoning was falsified, we should welcome him back with our apologies.
Motion to allow Justin NY back into the meeting – Seconded and Passed (17 Yes Votes/2 No Votes)
IX. Folks Not Fulfilling Service Commitments
A. Due to the increasing need for stability within our sister meetings we may need to explore how we can assure that a long term service commitment is maintained. Too many people are taking commitments and then once elected or put in those commitments decide they are no longer interested. Perhaps we could make those commitments less time, or perhaps if someone backs out of a service commitment that we not allow someone who’s back out of a leadership position to hold another for 6 months. It doesn’t seem fair that people are taking these commitments on the basis that there was going to be a collective effort to have these meetings and then someone decides not to do them after being elected. We ought to have a more efficient and streamlined way to make sure people taking commitments are committed to their commitments. -Bently
B. It has happened that a sister meeting did not happen for 3 weeks because of no host for the meeting. I think there needs to be a way to have hosts and cohosts for sister meetings in emergency situations. Hosts and cohosts are voted in to be a part of the group. How about having standby hosts and cohosts? Or have votes between Business Meetings to let the sister meetings go on. -Leona
C. Service Guideline Suggestions/Updates for Consideration:
To address ongoing issues with the abandonment and/or neglect of elected service commitment positions, and to ensure the group operates efficiently and maintains its commitments in good faith, I propose the following guideline:
Elected Service Commitment Accountability
Elected service members are accountable for the positions to which they are elected and agree to fulfill. A member will be removed from their service commitment if they:
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- Neglect or fail to perform the responsibilities of their position;
- Fail to notify the group of their absence or to arrange alternative coverage when absent; or
- Fail to acknowledge or respond to WhatsApp and/or email within 72 hours (or when regular communication is required for their service position).
A removed position may be temporarily filled by a current service member who meets the established minimum sobriety, service, and experience requirements until a new nomination and vote are held for a replacement. Once removed, the member will be ineligible to serve in any elected service commitment positions for a minimum of six months. -Elle
D. BM Response
Motion to put Elle’s proposal in place – Seconded and Passed (20 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
X. Fast tracking to Hosting
A. As of now someone can be fast tracked to host IF there is an opening to host a sister meeting. If they are voted in and fast tracked they then can host the marathon too regardless of their cohost hours. We have other cohosts that are unable to attend sister meetings or can but there are no openings. I propose that we either change the GC to say that those voted in and fast tracked only host the sisters while they continue to gain their 60 hours before hosting the marathon OR change the 60 hour requirement for others to host to remain fair to all. It makes no sense that some have to follow this guideline to host and others don’t. -Jayna
B. Will be on the next agenda!! Sorry!
XI. Return to Service
A. The current GC for those returning to service is to just inform a scheduler if gone UNDER 6 months and they can be added right back and for those gone longer than 6 months to be voted back in and redo cohost hours. I’d like to propose that we swap the voting-in here for those under 6 months. This would cut down on rage quitting significantly and share the weight put on schedulers in these situations by providing transparency to the group. Those gone longer than 6 months because of work, etc. (not bans) coming back isn’t the problem. They’d still do a refresh and start hours again. -Jayna
B. Topic: Service Members needing to be voted back into service after resigning.
“Lisa-Made a concrete motion to vote people back in who have been gone for 6 months or longer. Revisit the topic in 6 months.” 1/07/2024 BM notes
I am requesting that we revisit this topic because we did not consider how polling would work. Would members need to wait until a BM happens just to be voted back into service? I am hoping we can reconsider the logistics of this GC and have a discussion. -Lauren
C. BM Response
Motion to approve Jayna’s proposal – Seconded and Passed (17 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
Motion to approve schedulers polling for returning to service members, and any problematic returns will be sent to the BM for approval. – Seconded and Passed (16 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
XII. Service Guideline Suggestions/Updates for Consideration:
A. Service Guideline Suggestions/Updates for Consideration:
B. 1. Zoom Admin(s) for LNG: Propose 2- 3 back-up Zoom admins for LNG
Suggested: Minimum 2 years of continuous sobriety & 1-year continuous member of the GUTS service team. Responsibilities: Limited to room/host recovery as needed
*Primary Zoom Admin retains responsibility of managing account-wide settings and user permissions
Term Length: 1 year minimum. Consider ongoing service terms due to specialized nature of position, with a periodic (annual?) review. (ideally back-ups would only need to rotate in the event they step down, leave service, or are no longer available for LNG) *This may also apply to early evening GUTS Zoom back-ups. This feedback was reviewed with Vote 7-0 to forward to the BM.
C. 2. Update – Zoom Admin Service Guidelines
Suggested: Minimum 2 years of continuous sobriety & 1-year continuous member of the GUTS service team.
Ideal Experience: Familiarity with Zoom’s admin portal & settings, user groups & role assignment. Sufficient time available to meet the responsibilities of this position.
Responsibilities: Configure/manage Zoom account-wide settings and user permissions to ensure consistency with Zoom best practices (e.g. accessibility) and ensure alignment with AA Traditions & Group Conscience.
Term Length: 1 year minimum. Consider ongoing service terms due to specialized nature of the position, with a periodic (annual?) review to assess performance & rotation of commitment based on group’s and/or individual’s needs.
D. 3. Update – Website/Tech Admin Service Guidelines
Suggested: Minimum 2 years of continuous sobriety & 1-year continuous member of the GUTS service team.
Ideal Experience: Familiarity with website design and maintenance (e.g., WordPress or similar platforms). Sufficient time available to meet the responsibilities of this position.
Responsibilities: Configure/manage website page information, functionality, and user permissions to ensure consistency with web design/maintenance best practices and ensure alignment with AA Traditions & Group Conscience. Coordinate responsibilities with Tech back-ups.
Term Length: 1 year minimum. Consider ongoing service terms due to specialized nature of the position, with a periodic (annual?) review to assess performance & rotation of commitment based on group’s and/or individual’s needs.
*Tech Admin back-up’s (2 per current GC): Same sobriety/experience as primary admin and coordinated responsibilities with Website Admin. 1-year minimum term length and up to two additional terms based on group’s and/or individual’s needs.
E. 4. Update – Treasurer Service Guidelines
Suggested: Minimum 2 years of continuous sobriety & 1-year continuous member of the GUTS service team.
Ideal Experience: Familiarity with basic financial/bookkeeping concepts, spreadsheet proficiency (e.g., Google sheets). Sufficient time available to meet the responsibilities of this position.
Responsibilities: Maintain accurate and organized documentation of all contributions, expenses, and financial transactions. Prepare and file annual non-profit tax reports. Reconcile ORC purchases monthly/quarterly. Provide regular financial updates at group business meetings to ensure transparency and accountability and alignment with AA Traditions & Group Conscience.
Term Length: 1 year minimum. Consider ongoing service terms due to specialized nature of the position, with a periodic (annual?) review to assess performance & rotation of commitment based on group’s and/or individual’s needs.
*New – Treasurer back-up: Same sobriety/experience/term length as above and coordinated responsibilities with Treasurer. Note: Both Treasurer and Treasurer back-up must either serve as a concurrent SC member or non-voting Board member and named on list of Directors for purposes of non-profit annual state reporting, providing some level of protection from personal liability for actions taken per GC and in good faith as part of their role.
Motion to approve Elle’s updates and include Dennis’s GSR service commitment description. – Seconded and Passed (14 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
XIII. International Convention
A. International Convention
As many of us have probably heard, there is a big AA party going on in July in Vancouver. Past international conventions have attracted over 60000 attendees from over 90 countries.
One of the highlights of the convention is the flag ceremony at the opening meeting on Friday night. A representative from every country represented carries their flag onto the stage. In Atlanta in 2015, 95 countries were represented. The average length is about 20 minutes.
On Saturday morning this ceremony will be streamed on line, anonymity protected, for those who are not in Vancouver to see. My home group has in the past held a pizza party before its regular Saturday meeting to show the streamed ceremony.
I can’t promise pizza. But I would like to propose that we could have such a special meeting here. The time I am thinking might be right after the Business Meeting on Sunday. -Dennis
B. BM Response
Motion to approve Dennis’s proposal – Seconded and Passed (12 Yes Votes/No Dissent)