GUTS Business Meeting – 07/05/2026

July 5th, 2026 Business Meeting Notes

BM Chair: Christian
BM Co-Chair: Bently
Secretary: Lauren

1. Treasurer’s Report – Elle
   1. Report: Beginning Balance -$4,478.09, Ending Balance-$5,300.01
   2. ORC Allocation/7th Donations
      1. Elle-60% of money remaining that is not part of the reserves goes to the ORC. The remaining is split between the 7th contributions that we donate to. We do that every quarter. The allocation to the ORC would be $875 dollars. $150 goes to the 7th contributions that the group offers.
         • Seconded and Passed (15 Yes Votes/1 No Vote)
2. ORC Report – Jason
   1. Report: We could use one more person to be on the ORC. Last month we had 10 coins. One was a 17 year medallion. We had 10 books given. We have one order for Australia pending.
   2. Motion to Approve ORC report
      1. Seconded and Passed (17 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
3. Tech Team Report – Elle
   1. Report: The automator is broken for the contact lists. It is because of a code conflict with the modern calendar plug-in for verifications. Trying to work it out is delicate. As soon as I try to change it, it will stop the website. I had to go through the back end and try again. I won’t do this anytime there’s a meeting happening. My time has been pretty limited. I’m sorry that it’s still broken. I’m going to try to fix it today. It’s the plug-ins that are conflicting. Hopefully, we can do something about that.
   2. Motion to approve Tech Team Report 
      1. Seconded and Passes (16 Yes Votes/No Dissesnt)
4. GSR Report – Dennis
   1. Report: Our district has been discussing having a workshop for a couple of years now. They set up an ad-hoc committee last month to discuss possible topics. Here is what they produced in order from highest to lowest ranked-A)The AA Service Structure, B)Sponsorship, C) Step-focused workshop, D)Boundaries and Relationships, E)Beginner’s Workshop. They are asking for our input/feedback on these. You can offer it now or by messaging Dennis before the 14th.
   2. Report Continued: Last month, Dennis gave a brief rundown of what happened at the Conference. The group can view the delegate’s report on Area 12’s website along with a few other things
   3. Motion to approve GSR Report
      1. Seconded and Passed (19 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
5. Nominations – Lauren
   1. Nominations 
      1. Britt Britt – Trainer – 19 Yes Votes
      2. Gabi – Training Coordinator – 24 Yes Votes
      3. Erica – Female Contact List Coordinator – 23 Yes Votes
      4. Jeannine – Scheduler – 22 Yes Votes
      5. Anahs – Scheduler – 22 Yes Votes
      6. Lauren – BM Chair – 24 Yes Votes
      7. Bently – BM Co-Chair – 22 Yes Votes
      8. Mike G – SC Member – 23 Yes Votes
      9. Shawna – SC Member  -22 Yes Votes
      10. Britt Britt – Secretary – 23 Yes Votes
      11. Gabi – Email Coordinator – 23 Yes Votes
      12. RA – Sibling Meeting Coordinator – 22 Yes Votes
      13. Diana – ORC Member – 23 Yes Votes
      14. Daz – ORC Member – 25 Yes Votes
      15. Teresa – Newcomer’s Meeting Host – 23 Yes Votes
6. Unity Workshop Info – Lauren
   1. Report: There was low attendance for the Unity Workshop. I appreciate those who did show up. I wanted to bring up a couple of things from the workshop that was discussed. 
   2. Info
      1. Most felt that the workshop was a good refresher for training and that this was important information for the group. Some felt the workshop should have been mandatory for people to show up or to have the information somehow incorporated in training. Maybe we can figure out a way to use the information in the workshop somehow.
      2. There was a lot of talk about the Live Thread and the group conscience involved with how the Thread is utilized. 
      3. Most felt that the group could use better communication overall. 
      4. Many spoke very highly of the group and how we adhere to traditions and focus on our own betterment. 
      5. Some members proposed having another group inventory. 
      6. Suicidal Shares-One member proposed that we have a more in depth conversation about those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts during shares. There’s not a lot of group conscience on the subject. Our GC is really to offer resources. We aren’t doctors or professionals, but maybe there’s some suggestions the group has on this topic.
   3. BM Response 
      1. Dennis-I would be willing to work on the Group Inventory Committee. I might be able to find someone to help us with the inventory
      2. Bently-We have some stuff to talk about as a group. There’s areas in which we can continue to grow and be a safer place for recovery. I think we do a good job. There’s a continued need for improvement
      3. Glenn-This is a healthy process. We need to turn towards the traditions in the way we operate and in everything we do.
      4. Teresa-I agree with comments about the training. It was such a good workshop. If we can incorporate some of the material in the training. That powerpoint should be in training. It would be good to have it available.
   4. Motions – 
      1. Kristen – Motion to form another Group Inventory Committee
         • Seconded and Passed (23 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
      2. Bently – Motion to have group inventory, at a minimum, every two years
         • Seconded and Passed (23 Yes Votes/No Dissent)
7. Daren’s Return to Service
   1. Christian: Daren has requested to return to service. He’s nearly one of the original members. He’s been in and out of service a lot. It doesn’t go smoothly. 
   2. BM Response 
      1. Bently-I think this is a bad idea. With the last strike he received, he booted two people he didn’t like. He was instructing the cohosts to do that. Those people weren’t doing anything that warranted being booted. He didn’t even show any remorse. It was more of a demand for him to return to service. He used share time to solicit votes because he knew he wasn’t going to get votes from people who were aware of the situation. He wants to come back to Host only which is not the way we do things in this group. I say no to Daren returning to service
      2. Shawna-I was not in the group full time when Daren was doing service. I did not see anything firsthand. I read the BM notes. According to our SC chat, he was informed by Justin F. He was informed to be here at the BM. Making amends is part of the program. I would motion to table this request to return to service since he’s not present. (Rescinded)
      3. Dennis-Daren and I get along very well. At the same time, I do not believe that anyone is special. I had to be a cohost first. He needs to cohost first if he wants to come back.
      4. John-As far as Daren not being here, he never shows up to the BM when he’s the subject of any feedback. He’s consistent about that. Sometimes, this meeting is too trigger happy when throwing people out of the meeting. What Daren did was recruit new people to throw out two people because he didn’t like the messages he was getting from them. The messages were not a reason to boot someone. We can’t throw everyone out based on direct messages we receive from members. This is so outrageous that we are discussing this. As far as I’m concerned, this is a no-brainer. I don’t think he should come back. What we do when people have three strikes and want to come back: There’s a lot of rules. Do we give them a clean slate or keep the strikes. I think this is case by case. I don’t think we can really have a GC on that. 
      5. Glenn-I don’t think much discussion is necessary. We have a GC in place. If GUTS wants him as a host, he can come back to service. If he doesn’t want to do the cohost gig, then that’s how it goes. Trust the GC. GC always gets it right. It’s very simple at this point.
      6. Diana-I wanted to say that I’d like us to remember principles before personalities. 
      7. Justin-I spoke to Daren. He said that he would be at the Business Meeting. I told him it wouldn’t work out well if he didn’t show up. If he doesn’t even show up, then I think that shows a lack of accountability and desire to really do service. People make mistakes. I’m all for Daren coming back to service as a second chance if he shows changed behavior.
      8. Gabi-He clearly doesn’t want to be a part of the discussion. Whatever the case is, he isn’t here. There have been multiple people who have asked to come back to service after one thing or another. Even for the people we have voted no, they tried to make amends. There’s none of that with Daren. He’s not acknowledged any fault. It speaks volumes that he is not here and that he has not shown any accountability. He left before he was even given a third strike. 
      9. Bently-I am going to agree with John about the second point. Maybe we do a probationary period for 90 days. My motion is that we do not return him to service.
      10. Daren-When I was here the last time, I was under a lot of pressure from my family and life. There were some people who were harassing me. No one did anything about it. When I tried to say something about it, I was kicked. It was turned against me. I overreacted. At the same time, I was defenseless. When you host, you’re vulnerable. I handled the situation badly. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. I served hundreds and hundreds of meetings. The last thing I am going to do is cause any problems. I apologize for breaking character. I’m not perfect. I made mistakes which is how I learn. Lots of hate for me going on. I would love to do service. I will go through all the retraining BS if necessary.
      11. Daz-I’m one of the people who got kicked out. Daren made my existence at GUTS miserable. I think the attitude that he’s demonstrated is not good by saying that training is BS.
      12. John-First of all, Daren, nobody hates you. I don’t think you won’t find one person who is not inspired by your shares. I think everyone knows your history here. We are grateful for that. When you’re in the host chair, you are not vulnerable. You have the power.  When we are having a hard time, sometimes taking a break is necessary. Nobody from this meeting is out to get you or hates you.
      13. Glenn-I think all sides have been shown. Daren has just stated that he would cohost. Motion to take this to a vote because he’s willing to cohost. 
      14. Christian-You know that I love you, Daren. In LNG, you bring great shares and are good to the newcomer. I don’t think there’s any question of your value at GUTS. The question is whether you are of value to the service team. When you leave service, you tend to leave with a bang and leave hard feelings with the service. I would like to hear your thoughts on the next time this happens. The consistency of the explosion when you leave leads to hard feelings with the service team.
      15. Daren-I have been sober longer than the people who founded this meeting. No matter what I say, people are going to shoot me down. I put hours and hours of my life into the meeting. I can’t make any decisions for any of you. You don’t know anything about me except what I shared. If you don’t want me to do service, that’s fine.
   3. Motion
      1. Motion to now allow Daren to come back to service. 
         • Seconded and Passed (16 Yes Votes/4 No Votes)
8. Service Strike Issue
   1. BM Response 
      1. Bently-I make a motion for a two month probation. There’s a safety issue with not having a plan. That would cover the cohosting hours. (Rescinded)
      2. Mark-Take one strike away when someone comes back. 
      3. Glenn-This would apply to all people with 3 strikes. Not just Daren. Do not put this on one individual.
      4. Christian-This would be a service rule for everyone.
   2. Motion
      1. Shawna – They start out with two strikes when coming back. If they are issued a third strike, they must not return to service, at least, for 6 months. 
         • Seconded and Passed (20 Yes Votes/No Dissent)

🛑 Vote to close meeting passed.