proposed coda texas 2014 web viewkaren then read and explained the 30 ... two rooms with live...

CoDA Texas Spring Board MeetingApril 26, 2014

West Waco Library and Genealogy Center

5301 Bosque Blvd

Waco, TX

10:40 am – 4 pmAttending:

Board Members Post

Karen G. ChairCindi S. Vice Chair

Kate H. SecretaryMartina V. Treasurer

Tina P., Austin, Denny H., Oaklawn, Dave H., Richardson, Calista M., Tyler, Cindi S., Dallas, Bob M., Tyler, Mary McC, Waco, Yara R., Irving

Calista M. delivered an update to the meeting attendees from Marilyn B. of Kingwood regarding the upcoming State Assembly. The dates are set (Sept. 26-28, 2014). The planning committee has not yet chosen a venue. However, there might be a clubhouse available for meetings, which would defray some of the cost.

Karen G. opened the meeting with a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

The Twelve Steps and Traditions were read. Karen then read and explained the 30-Second Rule.

Bob M. motioned that everyone present have a vote. Yara R. seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Kate H. read the minutes from the 2013 State Assembly. Karen asked for some edits to the minutes, which Kate made on the spot. Cindi moved to approve the minutes (w/ corrections), and Martina seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Spring_2014_BoardMtgMinutes Final Approved 9/29/2014

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TREASURER’S REPORT

Calista distributed the 2014 Budget Overview and the 2013 Profit & Loss statement.

Martina and Calista split the Treasurer’s duties. Martina performs the day-to-day operations; makes the deposits; and e-mails copies of the receipts to Calista and Karen, and Calista keeps the books.

The CoDA Texas’s 2013 budget showed a $300 difference between proposed expenses and proposed donations. State Assembly brought in $900.00, not including receiving $130.00 in 2014 from Seventh Tradition donations. Also, the Oaklawn S&G Group donated $521.40 to CoDA Texas to offset expenses for State Assembly. Because of the kitchen staff’s mix-ups on the lunch deliveries, the hotel did not charge CoDA Texas for any of the lunches at State Assembly; so the expenses were less than expected and donations were more.

The 2014 budget was approved at State Assembly. Typically, we receive ~$1,000.00/year in Seventh Tradition donations. By April 26, 2014, CoDA Texas already received $1000.00 in donations (thanks for the generosity!).

Dave moved that we send a thank you note for Oaklawn S&G’s (Denny’s group) substantial donation to CoDA Texas. Tina seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Discussion ensued about CoDA Texas sending thank you notes to meetings that send our group Seventh Tradition donations. Dave moved that we alter the Seventh Tradition form for CoDA Texas donations to include a request for email addresses so that we can send out acknowledgements for donations without having to pay postage. Karen offered to alter the form. Tina seconded the motion. During the break, old forms were found, and Marilyn will use those. If we do not have an email address for a meeting, we will mail the thank you note via the USPS.

There was discussion regarding suggestions and guidelines for Seventh Tradition donations. (The Secretary respectfully admits not having notes on specific information about what was decided.)

Martina suggested that the next CoDA TX newsletter show the 2013 expenses.

Mary McC requested information about the $200 scholarship. Cindi S. explained how the scholarships for state assembly, retreat, etc. work.

Mary McC made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Bob M. seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Retreat

Cindi S., Tina P., Johnny, Yara R., and Irene are on the retreat committee.

Cindi S. reported that after the retreat, the committee sent out a survey to its attendees. Ten responses were received.


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The main topic of discussion regarding the 2015 retreat centered on the prospect of a guest speaker: a gentleman named Salvador (He’s on YouTube; use search terms “Salvador V” and “Al-Anon”).

Yara spoke to the Board Meeting’s attendees about her impressions of Salvador:

Yara’s group has been active in CoDA for 11 years. Although its members primarily speak Spanish, they didn’t have the CoDA literature in Spanish. Their fellowship was dwindling. Then, someone from the group shared a tape of a guy from Al-Anon with tips on how to practice the program. His name is Salvador.

Putting his tips in practice, Yara says, her group started flourishing. They invited him to speak. He agreed. He’s been on their agenda for 5 years; and they would like him to be a speaker at the 2015 retreat.

Salvador has 30-35 years of recovery in Al-Anon. Although he is bilingual, Yara says she believes her community would be more inclined to participate in retreat if there is an opportunity to hear a Spanish speaker with so many years in recovery, such as Salvador.

He wants to speak in Spanish. Some options proposed at the Board Meeting about how to ensure that as many people as possible could benefit from Salvador’s talks included:

Simultaneous translation via electronic media Separate Spanish and English speakers in two rooms with live translation

Yara wants to help bridge the gap between the Spanish and English communities (in CoDA). The Spanish groups will pay Salvador’s way to the retreat from Mexico City.

Yara wanted to bring the situation of his speaking in Spanish and his being from another 12-step group (not CoDA) to the Board’s attention. After some discussion the Board Meeting attendees voted to have the retreat committee move forward on incorporating Salvador as a speaker or workshop leader. Bob made a motion in the affirmative. Dave H. seconded the motion. Motion passed with one abstention.

State Assembly - Houston

Cindi S. presented a recap of the 2013 CoDA Texas State Assembly, which took place last October in Dallas.

Approximately 35 people attended CoDA TX State Assembly. Thirteen workshops were conducted. The Spanish section was well received. Credit cards were accepted for the first time, and it was worth the nominal fee involved. Even so, the next State Assembly will not accept credit cards.

If CoDA (e.g., a meeting, an event, etc.) wants to use “the Square” (which enables credit cards to be read/swiped using a Smart phone), the app is available for download from the iTunes store, and the user can simply request that “the Square” hardware be mailed to her/him.

Hosting and running State Assembly was stressful. There were lots of issues to resolve during the course of the weekend (e.g., the meeting rooms originally assigned were changed to a smaller room). Unfortunately, the other group in those meeting rooms played loud music that


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interrupted the flow of our discussion; and our lunch order was late and didn’t included the vegetarian options we ordered. The committee did a wonderful job handling all of the issues. The majority, if not all, of the problems were behind the scenes and did not seem to impact attendees. The overall input by attendees was that the organizers of State Assembly did a great job.

OLD BUSINESS

Alternate delegates for Conference

Cindi was concerned that Texas did not have any alternate delegates. . Karen stated that the Texas board can elect someone to be an alternate, if need be.

Action Item: Karen will find out whether there is an issue with board members’ volunteering as an alternate delegates. Tina brought up that it might be difficult for her to get time off from work for conference next year.

Action Item: Karen will let Tina and Denny know when the VEI motions are posted online.

Tina and Denny can go online any time to register for Conference. Given that the registration is now handled online, it might be easier for the delegates to register themselves and get reimbursed. If they want the Treasurer to register for them, then they will have to provide the necessary information.

NEW BUSINESS

Martina and Karen plan on reviewing old CoDA Texas Treasurers’ info today and responsibly discarding all non-essential information.

Karen asked whether there was any interest in and possible benefit from developing a Facebook page for CoDA Texas: After a brief discussion, the idea was tabled.

VE Issues

o "Oughts" and "Shoulds" in Steps and TraditionsCindi S. wanted to discuss the issue of the usage of “ought” and “should” in CoDA steps and traditions. All of our steps, traditions, etc. are based on those in AA.

According to Karen, the Steps and Traditions are foundational documents; she has seen resistance to altering those at the Conference level. It is also possible that CoDA would have to ask AA for permission to change the wording; AA has not been receptive to that idea in the past. Cindi withdrew the idea. No VE issues were generated.

Karen stated that she had read that the CoDA World lawyer told the CoDA Board that CoDA has too much money for a nonprofit organization.

Karen created a summary document of highlights from the last Quarterly Service Report that was sent out before the Board meeting:


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4th quarter QSR highlights:

CoDA World gets the majority of its committee and Board volunteers from the delegates who attend Conference. There is the hope (if not expectation) that conference delegates will volunteer at the world level (see the last page of this document).

Children Attending Retreat

Children have not attended CoDA TX retreats in the past. Cindi said she wanted to address this issue due to interest expressed in the idea by some members of the fellowship.

The question posed was: Why are we at the retreat in the first place?

Yara has made it clear to her group that the retreat is not an appropriate event for children.

Cindi says the campout is the place for people to take children.

At the moment, with the resources available, it is not viable for CoDA TX to include children at the retreat. If there is interest and dedicated people willing to volunteer to coordinate a retreat or other activity to include children, a committee could be formed to do the footwork to organize and execute the retreat/activity.

There was discussion about posting handouts from workshops on the CoDA TX web site as archival material.

Action Item: Karen will check with the webmaster to see if this is feasible. Addendum: The webmaster said there was room and she would be happy to post the information.

OTHER VOLUNTEER POSITIONS

Newsletter Report: Karen G. stated that a new editor is needed and that Marilyn sent word that she is considering being the newsletter editor.

The current secretary said that if no one had stepped up by the time her term as secretary ended, she would take on that role.

Mailing list – Karen G.: We need a volunteer for the email messenger coordinator. This positions sends out emails at the request of the board and updates email addresses for the Gmail list. Must have a computer and Internet access.

Yara volunteered to help the Email messenger manager collect some articles and translate from Spanish to English. I offered to train her on how to use Gmail.

CLOSING

Meeting closed around 4:00 with the Serenity Prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Kate H., Secretary


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PROPOSED CODA TEXAS 2014 BUDGET

Proposed Donations

2014 Spring Retreat (26 attendees @ $140.00)3,640.0

0Scholarship fund (rollover from 2013) 205.002014 State Assembly (25 attendees @ $35.00) 875.00

2014 Tradition #71,400.0

0

Total Proposed Donations6,120.0

0

Proposed Expenses

P. O. Box Rental 52.00Newsletter Mailings 275.00

CoDA Service Conference

(Jr & Sr delegates @$850 each)1,700.0

0(Jr & Sr delegates registration@$75 each) 150.00

Total Service Conference Expenses1,850.0

0

Website Expenses Domain Renewal 10.00 Annual Web Service 75.00 Total Website Expenses 85.00

CoDA Texas - Spring Retreat - 2014

Hotel Exp (26 attendees @ $130)3,380.0

0 Misc 100.00

Total Spring Retreat3,480.0

0

CoDA Texas State Assembly Meeting rooms 600.00CoDA Texas State Assembly Officer rooms 600.00

1,200.00

Total Proposed Expenses6,942.0

0

Proposed Expenses over Proposed Donations -822.00


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4TH Q QSR HIGHLIGHTSBOARD REPORT Board hired a management company (SOS-Association Management Solutions) to help them

become more efficient, organized and professional as an organization. This management company is also helping them with the web redevelopment design project. Plan to

interview proponents in Jan. SOS pointed out the potential conflict of interest in having the webmaster and a board member

being a married couple. The Board member will not be involved in any discussions or votes related to the website project.

Creating Policies and Procedure Manual for CoDA to include board and committee manuals. CoDA has over $400,000. Cease and desist letter sent to Mexico for copyright and trademark infringements. Created limited Royalty-free publication agreement that gives authorization to one or more

individuals per country to make copies and trademark the publications.

LITERATUREThree projects:

Taking group or committee inventory Working the steps in a group Revisions to Peeling the Onion

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE Member countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Italy, Switzerland,

Russian Federation, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, UK, and the USA. Spent a lot of time doing behind the scenes research on how to communicate with each other.

Found a voice over internet protocol software that allows interested countries to participate for free. Cost is $50/month. Found scheduling software that does time conversions. Members span more than 12 hours of time difference.

SPANISH OUTREACHHas requested a meeting room for workshops in Spanish at Convention.

TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Spanish book is 98% completed. They hope to send the book to print soon. Committee has identified issues for/related to translation

o need to translate contracts in the language of the Countryo need to assist Countries in making legal entities and/or assistance in organizingo when above is not possible develop a contract designed for individuals


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o some countries have their own literature and not CoDA’s


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