Report by the Central Office Oversight Committee

At the San Diego International Conference business meeting, the Central Office Oversight Committee reported that the committee meets monthly by conference phone call. There have been nine such meetings. Each meeting has an agenda and is limited to one to one-and-a-half hours. The COOC has managed Central Office business since the departure of Roy K. as administrator.

According to the report, “Overall we believe we have improved the efficiency and decision making of Central Office operations. Due to the ebb and flow of contributions from groups and individuals, we have had to monitor expenses, ensure that literature inventory is sold, and ask the fellowship to continue or increase donations. We are seeking more involvement in CO operations by sexaholics in the Los Angeles area as well as world-wide as time goes by.

“The COOC should continue to represent each region and each region should develop its own means to replace a COOC member as necessary. Larry M. and Harry B. will develop a proposal concerning replacement of COOC members. The requirement for service on this committee is two years of SA sobriety, as voted at the Chicago International Conference in June 1991. COOC members should make reports to their region through whatever mechanisms possible, including local conferences and intergroups. They should consider themselves representatives of the Central Office.

“The fellowship should be aware that with the growing need for SA, the drop in cash flow to the Central Office is a serious problem for operations. Groups and intergroups need to send in regular donations to ensure that the Central Office is self-supporting through our own contributions.”

At the business meeting, a motion was passed that authorized the COOC to continue to function, at least until February 1993. The General Service Board Study Committee also will continue to work toward the development of a service proposal for the fellowship as a whole.

Jim O. of COOC, and Pat, our non-sexaholic Central Office administrator, presented a financial report to the fellowship. According to the report, the Essay mailing list is up by 1,300 names for the past year to make a total of about 3,200. “Contributions are down by $8,200 for the year. Our overall income is down from that of three years ago. Net Central Office income has been running at a deficit of between $1,000 and $2,000 a year for the past three years. Fortunately, total expenses for 1991 also were down by $9,400. The Essay costs about $20,000 per year. The mailing list is constantly updated. Names are promptly added and deleted, as directed.”

While meeting at San Diego, the COOC recommended that the Essay continue to be made available to all members free of charge and that, due to the high cost of printing and distributing the Essay, a request for a voluntary annual subscription of $10 or more be included in each issue. To save funds, the COOC will no longer have white covers put on the SA “full cover” big book, as it has done in the past. The Central Office will ship the “full cover” versions until our stocks are down and we can afford to reprint the White Book. Finally, Jim O. and James M. are developing a proposal to establish a prudent reserve fund for the SA Central Office.

[The COOC is pleased to hear from the SA membership. Either contact us in our regions or write to us in care of the Central Office in Simi Valley.]

A Plea in San Diego

At the San Diego convention in January, Roy K. suggested that in gratitude for the guidance and presence of God, and the Unity of Spirit currently being experienced in SA, groups consider passing a second basket at each meeting, the proceeds to be earmarked for the Central Office. This would show in a tangible way each group’s support for the purpose of the SA fellowship—to carry its message to the sexaholic who still suffers. He said this was the first time he had ever made such a direct plea, and he was doing so now as just another member of SA, not as a representative of the Central Office.

The Central Office Oversight Committee has advised that at present, only 30 percent of the expense of carrying out our purpose at the national and international level is covered by 7th Tradition donations from individual groups, a considerable decline. The remaining 70 percent is covered by the profit realized on the sale of SA literature. Roy suggested that this is not a healthy situation, and he told of another Twelve-Step group which is presently threatened with bankruptcy as a result of a situation in which income from individual group support of the world service office fell to only five percent of the total.

Roy believes that our fellowship should strive to support the Central Office through individual group contributions, as our 7th Tradition suggests. Then it might be possible to decrease the price of SA literature, making it available to more people, and we would experience the joy of being truly self-supporting.

Study Committee Asks for Feedback

The General Service Board Study Committee is interested in hearing from members of SA who may have ideas that they would like to share for the eventual utilization of a General Service Board. Share with us how you’ve adapted other 12-Step service structures into your local intergroup. Let us know what’s working and what’s not working. Also, why would a general service structure in SA be necessary, or unnecessary, from your perspective? Please send your comments to the SA Central Office, Attn.: Service Board Study Committee, P.O. Box 300, Simi Valley, CA 93062.

Notes From Central Office

Please help us reduce inventory by asking for full-cover books… And, please note that any orders for literature must be sent to us in U.S. funds, especially orders from Canada.