September 2004 Area and Board Of Directors Minutes and financial statement, Portland Area of Narcotics Anonymous

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September Area Minutes         September BOD Minutes

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Minutes of the Board of Directors

Of the Portland Area Service Committee

September 19^th, 2004

The meeting began at 2:30pm with the Serenity Prayer.1

Committees represented: Hotline, Chair and Vice Chair.

                                                     Public Information, Chair, Treasurer and Web Master.

                                                     Activities, Vice Chair and Treasurer.

                                                     PASC Chair and Secretary.

The Primary Purpose of holding the BOD meeting outside of Area is to devote more time

to the sub-committees and finding out how and in what way we can better meet their needs.

The Public Information committee informed us of their intent to motion for an increase in their monthly allotment to meet the expenses of the committee.  Some examples are: increased rent, copies, supplies, postage, a new poster sign for their booth, I.P.’s to stock the booth.  They want to begin mailing the I.P. “A Resource in Your Community” quarterly.  Their motion will be to request $125.00. 

                The Board requests that they account for all expenditures both in and out of pocket.  Advised that the more accurate their accounting the more likely the committee will receive support for their motion. 

                The committee explained that they had amended their Guidelines to read: “return forms to a member of the Public Information committee or to the PO Box address” listed on the form, NOT the PASC Secretary.

                They are also planning a Presentation Training Session to be held after the regular Hospitals and Institutions meeting (Friday, September, 24^th).    The goal is to create a Presentation Panel, consisting of one man and one woman,  to schedule public speaking events. 

Public Information and Hotline have combined their business meeting time and day and meet on the 3^rd Friday of the month at the Paulist Center at 7:00 pm. 

The Activities sub-committee provided financial records for the past three months (June, July & August) that they plan to submit at the September Area meeting.  The committee said they will need to reserve $1900.00 for the 2005 Beverly Beach campout.  

                The Hotline committee will need to submit another motion in September for $325.00 to continue to provide the Area with a hotline service.  The Chair will continue to conduct research with other phone service providers to compare prices and service.  The committee will provide the Area with a questionnaire to gather Area input to determine if a Helpline is preferred over a Hotline.  Currently, the answering service owns our phone number and if we change providers, we will lose the phone number.  If we want to reduce the cost of the current service to the Area and return to the original cost of $75.00 per month, each phone shift worker will need to begin transferring the Hotline number manually with each change.

The Web Master reports that a “Member Info Page” is planned for our site. He also offered to publish Hotline shift openings on the Website.

The plan for the web page is to set up links for “Public” and “Member” information that will be easily accessible with the fewest number of “clicks”.

                The PASC Secretary reported that we will soon be able to mail at the non-profit bulk mail rate.  The P.I. committee ensures we will have enough pieces to mail.  Mail is sorted by zip code and should be brought to the Area meeting. 

There was open discussion about the WSO accepting donations on their web site.  Most of us felt there is no way to control outside donations from non-members.  We encourage everyone with an opinion to send an e-mail to the WSO and let them know what you think about this. Monies were provided to the PCRCNAXIII 2006 committee as passed by motion.

The meeting adjourned at 4:20 pm and closed with the Serenity Prayer.

This record has not yet been amended or accepted by a vote of the PASC fellowship

Portland Area Service Committee

Meeting of Narcotics Anonymous

4069 NE MLK jr. Blvd

Portland, OR   97211

September 25^th, 2004

The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm.  The meeting opened with a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer for those who cared to join in.

The 12 Traditions were read by: Tony.

The 12 Concepts were read by: Terry.

The 9th Concept was read by: Chris.

The Dedication to Service was read by: Jesse.

Roll Call of the BOD

12 answered the roll.

Roll Call of Groups and Mail Call

48 groups answered the roll.

Count of voting GSRs to establish a quorum

No count was taken at this time in the meeting.  Quorum was established at 24.

New GSR Orientation

Tresurer’s Report, Sunny

Please see attached reports.  Note: The reports included in these minutes have been updated since the meeting was held and differ slightly in the figures from the reports passed out at the meeting.  These reports are being sent out in both email and hard copy form.)

Secretary Report, Mary E.

Hope No Dope motioned to suspend the reading of the minutes, seconded by the Solution group, passed by general consent.

Rick motioned to accept the minutes as is, seconded by Higher Empowered, motion passed by general consent.

            A reminder to all Sub-Com Chairs to submit a written report to both myself and the Treasurer.  If your report is in electronic format, please forward to my email address.  You may do this at the time your report it completed so you don’t forget about it. We are posting the minutes on our website and I am also emailing them to about 24 GSR’s.  If I don’t have them in electronic form your report may not be included in the minutes.

            A sign up sheet is available to interested members who would like to receive an electronic copy of the minutes.  They are also available on our website. 

            Everyone should have received an electronic copy of the PAAS bylaws and we will vote on Motion #59 today.

            I submitted the application to the post office for non-profit mailing rates.  Additional info includes:

                        1.  The information I provided last month about the cost of the initial start

                             up fee of $150.00 is incorrect.  There is a one-time fee of $150.0 and

                             an annual cost thereafter of $150.00.  These fees are for the purchase

                             of a mailing permit.  Alternatively, without a permit, we will have to

                             use a mailing service and pay an additional fee to the service.  This

                             amount is unknown at this time.

                        2.  We should be approved sometime in October and be able to mail in

                              November.  I will need to meet with the sub-com Chairs to explain

                              the proper way to address and sort mail.  All sub-coms will be listed

                              as members of the PASC.  Only authorized board members will sub-

                              mail to the post office.

A reminder to all of you that the Secretary position will be open in March of 2005.  Suki informed me that she is willing to continue to assist the Secretary but is unwilling to accept a nomination to the position.

Set date and time of next by-laws ad hoc committee meeting for October 17^th, 2004, my house, 3:00 pm.

Chair report, Colin W.

We held the BOD meeting at my house this month with a barbecue.  Not as many sub-committee chairs were present as was hoped.  The reasoning behind this meeting was so we could devote more attention to learning where and how the board could be of further assistance to the Area sub-committees.  This is something we want to continue to do in the future in the hope of strengthening unity within the area and the services we want to provide to the group members.

Open Forum

Ron apologized for announcing the non-NA related recovery event regarding the bridge.

            A member brought up knowledge of a group that came to area to obtain a starter kit and did but it couldn’t be verified that the group had ever existed.  They wanted to know how we want to address this issue in the future but there was little discussion about it.

            No bid was prepared for the Regional Conference in 2005 for the last Regional Assembly.  Thom said he would like to try t prepare a bid today and may submit a motion to that effect.

            A member wanted to know if the Area would like to consider the formation of a new sub-committee that would be entirely devoted to planning events.

            We Do Recover from Carver, OR, is planning a Spiritual Breakfast in November and will provide flyers to the Area at the October Area meeting.

Vice Chair, Colin W, conducts sub-committee reports

Activities sub-committee, Bea W.

The committee will make a donation to the area this month.  Bowling will begin again on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the alley on 82nd Avenue, across the street from Madison High school.  A dance is planned for October 30th.  Please see the Activities at a Glance calendar for more info.

Hospitals & Institutions sub-committee, Rick P.

This month H&I did 55 commitments, we missed 4 and 6 were cancelled.  We saw 942 addicts.  Due to lack of interest, the Multnomah County Work Release Center commitment is suspended until further notice.

Hotline sub-committee, Linda R.

This month’s hotline committee business meeting was held, on September 17, 2004 at 7:00 pm at 2408 SE 16th Avenue.  There were 7 people in attendance.    Our next meeting will be October 22, 2004. Shelly compiled information from other answering services in the Portland area that may be possibilities for Hotline services.  I will be making another emergency motion to cover the cost of the answering service for October 2004.  I have requested an itemized list of operator minutes from the service however; this has not yet been received.  The report I received had an obvious error reporting our operator minutes at 1,300 for the month of September.  The General Manager I have been working with has left the company which is making it difficult to get the information requested.  I did inform the service that we will not pay the bill for September services until they can substantiate the minutes used.  Currently, there is disagreement within the committee as to what the area wants from the hotline.  Does the area want a hotline or a helpline??  A hotline would ALWAYS be answered by a recovering addict and a helpline would be answered by voicemail.  The cost for a hotline the way it is being run at present will cost between $250 -$350 a month.  Voicemail on the other hand would cost $50 - $100 a month.  We can also save money by the shift workers forwarding the hotline themselves, however at least half the current members are NOT willing to do this.  Please discuss these options with your groups as next month the committee will be presenting the options with the exact costs that the area has to choose from. If you have any ideas or suggestions please come to the next business meeting on the 22nd of October at 2408 SE 16th Avenue.  The final decision will be made by the groups. There was a short discussion on adopting By – Laws for the committee which will be addressed in more length after the more pressing issue of the hotline answering issue is resolved.  Also, after this issue is decided we will be scheduling training for all committee members.  We currently have six open shifts.  Please help support the hotline, our committee is in need of addicts willing to be of service.  Thank you, Linda R.

Literature sub-committee, Jeff S.

We had $2130.95 in sales for August and our WSO order was $2039.18.  We spent $75.00 on construction materials for storage of the literature at this facility but it has not yet been completed.  Please only take 1-2 order forms so everyone can have one.  We are looking into posting the order form on the website but it isn’t available at this time.

Outreach sub-committee, Lawrence J.

Nanette is doing a great job keeping track of all new groups. The web page from P.I. is appreciated and we’re working on developing it.  We welcome Lily, from the former Gorge area and the group, “Rebel with a Cause”.  The new schedule form is being distributed and collected.

Public Information sub committee, Jim B.

Prior to the area meeting, the Ad-Hoc Committee for the web site met for the first time to brainstorm and establish criteria for guidelines.  We did the P.I. booth at the Grace Presb. Church on Sept. 18th., where the Nooner meets, and answered a lot of questions, handed out a lot of schedules and info pamphlets, as well as the opportunity to make contact with that community.  This is the first time P.I. has represented one of our meetings and we feel it was a success.  Attached is a web report that breaks down and categorizes the hits that we get in a month.  On the web site the group update form is available to submit, or print in pdf, and we also have grouped the meetings in to geographical areas such as N.W. meetings, S.W. meetings, S.E. meetings, etc.  This should better clarify our meetings locations as well as help the hotline workers, who use the web, to quickly inform the caller to a meeting in their location.  We are going to look into doing this with the schedule as well.  Last night, after H&I, we had our first presentation training orientation, and feel we are now able to audit our mailing list and offer our services in the area of public presentations.  Soon we hope to have a full four-hour training that will include food, as well as cover every aspect of our presentation training.  We are pleased though that we now have a working presentation panel, and the support of other experienced members in the area of public speaking. Thank you, Jim B. 

Additional information provided by the co-web master, Dennis P.

Hi, I’m Dennis, I’m an addict and the co-webmaster of Portlandna.com.

I want to tell everyone here today about our website. 

            Since its implementation over 3 months ago, many changes have occurred which affect Portland Area NA. 

The online meeting schedules can be updated daily and all meeting information is checked for information accuracy.  In doing so, it has come to our attention that there is a lot of incomplete information about meetings out there.  I would encourage all groups to fill out the meeting schedule change & application form either on paper or online as an online form is now available.  Street addresses of your meetings will be required if your meeting is to be published on the website, cross streets won’t be enough as street maps are in the works.  A printable schedule is now available online in .pdf format, you may require a .pdf reader to view & print the file.

PASO meeting minutes, financial reports and other important information for GSR’s and groups are now being published on the site so if you didn’t receive your monthly mailing, please check the website for the latest information.  You can access the website from any library or public computer if you don’t have one.

There is now a Member Information section, which contains valuable information for your groups such as area email addresses, service opportunities, events, birthdays, update forms, and a calendar.

The website Adhoc committee meetings will be posted on the website calendar as the locations will change each meeting. Anyone with interest in our electronic future is welcome to attend.  The next meeting will be held at 187 NE 5^th Ave in Canby on October 9th at 2pm.  Driving directions will be available online.

I           am striving to make our site the most useful for us, the general public, and the addict who still suffers, to carry the NA message to all.  Thanks, Dennis

RCM report, J.B.

RCM report: 1) Our next Regional Service Conference (RSC) will be held on Oct. 16th in Klammath Falls, Or. Sub-committees will meet at 8:30 A.M. and attendance is strongly encouraged. The one day event will be held at the "Old Riverside School". 2) The Ad-hoc committee our area set up to submit a bid for Spring RSC '05 hasn't yet completed its work but intends to have it completed prior to the Oct. RSC. 3) The nomination of Claire K. as Regional 2nd Alternate Delegate to World will be submitted at the Oct. RSC. 4) Registration for the World Convention #31 was available at the PASC and is available online at www.na.org 5) GSR's are advised to check and make sure their Group's information is correct online with the World Group report form. 6) Those interested in service on a World level and have 5 or more years clean time are strongly encouraged to fill out a World Pool Information Form. This can be done online and takes about 45 minutes. In gratitude and service, JB

PASO sub-committee, Ron C.

We are waiting for the result of the vote on Motion #70 before taking further action.  We made the deposit on the proposed location site and will return the deposit if necessary after the vote is taken today.

Additional Treasurer’s report provided by Joan T.

Request that reports be placed with the other Area flyers provided at Area so they are more noticeable.  I will continue to prepare the Area reports but cannot attend the Area meetings.

PCRCNA XIII 2006, reported by Claire K.

We are selling raffle tickets for $2.00 each, prize is 2 free registrations and hotel room.  A fund-raising dance will be held October 9^th with speakers.  The logos for the convention contest will be drawn during the dance on October 9^th.

A Spiritual Breakfast will be held November 6^th at 8:30 am, location to be announced at the October PASC meeting, flyers will be available at that time.

The committee still needs people to head up our special needs, billeting, outreach and marathon meeting factions. 

We could also use assistance with budgeting.

Our next business meeting will be October 17^th, at 12:30 pm in room HCC-8 at Providence hospital on NE Glisan St, in Portland.  We hope to see you there.

New GSR Recognition

                        Here & Now                             LouAnne P.                  Alt. GSR

                        Solution Sisters                          Vanessa H.                  GSR

                        Rush Hour                             Jesse P.                                 GSR

                        Early Riser                            Brian H.                    Alt. GSR

                        Steppin’To Live             Jessica C.                     GSR

                        We Do Recover                                    Keli R.                          GSR

                        Rebels with a Cause                 Lilly E.                          GSR

                        Love & Joy                               Aaron P.                     GSR

We welcome them and ask that they keep coming back!

Break 3:45-4:00 pm

Reopen meeting with a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer for those who cared to join in. 

At this time a count of voting GSRs was taken.  Result: 31.

Unfinished Business

Motion #57, submitted by What It Is, directs the Area to hire an accountant to perform an audit of the Area’s finances. It was decided in August to table the motion for a month for the purpose of researching the cost to the area for this motion.  The maker did not provide this information and instead requested that the motion be withdrawn from consideration.

Motion #59, submitted by Aaron R. Approves the PAAS by-laws.  Motion passed by general consent.

Motion #66, submitted by the RCM-J.B., Changes Area by-laws; increases the quarterly donation from PASC to Region from $50.00 to $75.00.  Result of vote: 24 For, 7 Opposed, 3 Abstentions, motion passes.

Motion #67, submitted by Brad C.  Changes Area by-laws. Requires funding of travel expenses to Regional meetings for sub-committee Chairs of non-money-making committees, up to $105.00 each.

Chair tabled this motion until the October meeting because of the absence of the maker.

Motion #69, submitted by Claire K., requests seed money for the upcoming PCRCNA XIII in 2006, up to $2000.00.  Funds from the Unity in the Streets activity from 2004 are to be designated for this motion.  Result of vote: 27 For, 3 Opposed, 4 Abstentions, motion passes.

Motion #70, submitted by the PASO sub-committee. Requests approval of the budget submitted in the August report.  Result of vote: 19 For, 10 Opposed, 6 Abstentions, motion passes.

New Business

Please have your groups vote for the motions in red.

If there is no opposition, can Thom M. be allowed to provide a bid to the Region for the spring 2005 RSC?  No opposition was noted.

Note: Prior to the break, a request was made to appoint an interim Treasurer of the PASC.  At this time, the Chair appointed Sunny to the position until one could be elected.

The Chair opened nominations for Treasurer.

New Journey nominated Lynda A. for Treasurer, Hour of Power seconds.  Lynda accepted the nomination.

Lynda spoke of her qualifications:  Treasurer of her home group, New Journey for 1 year, 6 ½ years clean time and is willing to be of service to this body.

Q: Can we vote in October if no other nominations are presented this month?  A: Yes.

Hell to Heaven motions to extend meeting until business is completed, seconded by Hour of Power.  Result of vote: 18 For, 6 Opposed, 1 Abstentions, motion passes.

Productive Members of Society nominates Paul (?) to the position of Vice Chair, seconded by Recovery in the House.  Paul accepts the nomination but does not meet the clean time requirement.  His clean date is December 10, 2001.

He has been the GSR of his home group for 1 ½ years and has a working involvement with the sub-committees.  He is aware that, as the Vice Chair, in the absence of a sub-committee Chair, he will have to assume that responsibility.  He says he is willing to learn the position and to be of service to the body.

Motion #72, submitted by the Hotline subcommittee as an Emergency motion, seconded by Recovery in the House. 

Motion: Emergency motion for $325.00 per month for the upcoming hotline operating budget for October 2004 and November 2004.

Purpose: To provide adequate interim services.

The cost of providing this service has not decreased.

Result of vote: 29 For, 1 Opposed, 0 Abstentions.

Motion #73, submitted by the Public Information sub-committee, seconded by Hell to Heaven.

Motion: By law change: Section Nine, Article A now reads: “Each standing sub-committee except Activities will be allotted up to $75.00 per month for supplies.”  Change will read: “A. Each standing sub-committee, except activities will be allotted up to $125.00 pr month for supplies.”

Purpose: To meet the rising cost (as needed) of running sub-committees, such as rent, miscellaneous supplies etc.

Motion #74, submitted by PAAS, no second was made on this motion.  The Chair ruled the motion out of order because it was poorly written, asked the maker to rewrite the motion.    Maker moved to challenge the Chair’s ruling.  Result of vote: 3 For, 22 Opposed, 6 Abstentions, motion passed, decision of the Chair stands.

Motion #75, submitted by Vanessa, seconded by Hour of Power. 

Motion: Start new meeting, Solution Sisters.  Begins October 1^st, Friday nights 9:00pm at 5641 SE 111^th St, Portland, OR and request a start up kit.

Purpose: Start new meeting.

Result of vote: Motion passed by general consent. 

Motion to close byLinda R., seconded by Recovery in the House.  Motion passed unanimously.  Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm                       

Motion #76, submitted by Learning To Live, seconded by Recovery In The House.

Motion: To change PASC by-laws Section Nine, Article E from $75.00 donation to Region each quarter to $100.00 per quarter.

Purpose: To foster unity between our Area and the Region by increasing the flow of funds.