AA GUTS Steering Committee Meeting Minutes May 30th, 2026
SC Chair(Filling in): Bently
Secretary: Lauren
SC Members Present: Justin, Roy, Mark, Shawna, Elle
I. Grapevine Topic
A. Steering Committee Response
Dennis: Grapevine relies on sales. I think we could help the Grapevine by making it available to group members. That could be possible through the website.
Elle: For the subscription price, would it be unlimited?
Dennis: I don’t think they can limit how many people can use it.
Elle: We should probably check that out just in case.
Dennis: The ORC can also consider giving out Grapevine subscriptions as milestone gifts. That’s something we can discuss as well.
B. Motion
1. Motion: Bring this topic to the Business Meeting.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
II. Todd’s Ban
A. Steering Committee Response
Shawna: I was in the Business Meeting. My understanding is that more information came out about Todd after the BM. I trust the people who said he crossed boundaries. Bring this back to the BM since there wasn’t a two-thirds approval. I don’t want to rely solely on hearsay. Bring another vote for the ban to protect our GC. This would not be for the individual, but for the group.
Bently: My one concern is him coming back to the meeting in the meantime. He would be disruptive if we let him back.
Mark: After speaking with Todd, I don’t think this issue is going to change. I hope he receives the help he needs, but nothing is going to change. He believes what he believes based on what he’s been through. I wish him well. However, the people who voted against the ban will need a good argument in this case. Be prepared coming in.
Bently: He also immediately did what we asked him not to do.
Lauren: I just wanted to point out that the group did decide that a ban would go into effect if he broke GC. We already have the GC in place. We should uphold what the group decided and not let him return in the meantime based on the group’s wishes. We still need to address the two-thirds voting issue at the BM.
Roy: I reviewed the feedback. Some of what he’s posting is not even truthful. He accused me of removing him, which I did not do. I have never removed him from the meeting. We should definitely leave the ban in place. I feel like his behavior will continue.
Dennis: My issue isn’t necessarily with the ban itself. My concern is with the lack of the required two-thirds majority vote. Even if the group decided to issue the ban after restrictions were given, the outcome still involves a ban. I don’t like the precedent of not upholding this GC, but I agree with the rest of the group’s decision on the matter. Everything else is fine.
Kristen: We want to stick to two-thirds majority votes for bans, but there’s also more information to consider. A few of us were privy to interactions between Todd and newcomers. There were legal issues involved. Todd offered to sell child pornography to a newcomer. We discussed this with a member of the SC. They advised us to wait until more information came to light. The newcomer intends to report this to the authorities, but the situation became difficult for them due to their early sobriety. Ultimately, we need to uphold the safety of the room. We have been working with the newcomer to ensure they have support while reporting the issue.
B. Motions
1. Motion: Take this topic to the Business Meeting.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
2. Motion: Do not allow Todd back into the meeting until the Business Meeting.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
3. Motion: Table Todd’s complaints.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
4. Motion: Consider the third topic resolved and take no further action.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
III. Intergroup Description Topic
A. Steering Committee Response
Bently: We had to remove the LGBTQIA+ meeting from Intergroup. All of this should be handled through the Intergroup Representative. I can touch base with him and make a phone call. There are already processes in place for Intergroup. I can discuss the issues we are having with the Intergroup descriptions.
Justin: I am the Intergroup Representative in another group. Taking care of this is as simple as sending an email. Sometimes you have to contact Intergroup more than once to get the issue resolved.
Kristen: There was an issue with Ian being recognized as the Intergroup Representative. I don’t know if Evan has reached out since then. They were still only willing to correspond with Justin T., who was the previous Intergroup Representative.
Bently: Going forward, there should be a process requiring outgoing representatives to notify Intergroup when their term ends and a new representative takes over.
B. Motion
1. Motion: Bently will discuss the issues with Intergroup with Ian. Lauren will update the Intergroup Representative position description to include notifying Intergroup when a representative’s term ends. Do not take this topic to the Business Meeting.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
IV. GSR Term
A. Discussion
The GSR term is currently two years. Most group positions have a two-term limit. As written, a GSR could potentially hold the position for four years, which is a lengthy commitment. The group should consider limiting the position to a single term.
B. Motion
1. Motion: Take this topic to the Business Meeting.
Seconded and Passed (6 Yes Votes / No Dissent).
The meeting closed with the Serenity Prayer and a motion to adjourn.