The following are minutes of the business meeting held June 6, 1987 at the Bozeman convention. The minutes were taken and prepared by Jean P. of Nashville.

The meeting opened at about 4:30 PM. Dave B., Los Angeles, acted as chairman. Eight items were brought before the meeting. It had already been announced that this was to be a closed SA meeting and that only SA members with 30 days or more sobriety could vote.

At the lunch meeting earlier that day, Roy K., Simi Valley, announced that he is withdrawing as manager of the Central Office, although he is willing to continue as trusted servant if that is the fellowship’s will. He suggested that two committees be formed. One, composed mostly perhaps of So. Calif members, would oversee the Central Office operations; the other would draw on the national fellowship and would be responsible for suggesting a procedure for discerning our national group conscience. These committees would report to the international convention in Los Angeles in December. The convention would then specifically vote on whether to adopt the recommended national group conscience procedure for a trial period. The first two business meeting items followed up on these suggestions.

1. Sylvia J. of Oklahoma City moved that Roy nominate the committee to work out a procedure for discerning national group conscience, with the provision that the committee draw on all regions of SA and that all members have at least a year of sobriety. Jim E., Minneapolis, added that the committee should be answerable to the fellowship as a whole and should report to the convention in December. John A. of Baltimore proposed that the committee should elect its own chairperson, once it (the committee as a whole) has been nominated by Roy. Both suggestions were accepted as friendly amendments. After some discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

2. Bob K. of Marquette, MI moved that Roy also appoint a committee to oversee operations of the Central Office in Simi Valley and report to the convention in December. This motion also carried unanimously.

3. Rochester, NY, presented its bid for the July 1988 international convention and also asked for guidance as to which of two hotels should be selected. After some discussion, it was suggested that the decision should be up to the host group. The bid itself was enthusiastically accepted.

4. Dave B. asked for a confirming vote on our decision at the last convention to move the dates of the conventions to the second weekends in July and December, respectively. The dates were voted on separately, and both carried. Thus, starting with July 1988, international conventions will be held the second weekends in July and December.

5. Terry M., Los Angeles, reported on SA’s financial status and presented the report appended to these minutes. He pointed out that whereas, if our expenses had stayed where they were, we could have expected to break even for at least a year, the new expenses that will follow on moving the Central Office from Roy’s garage to commercial office quarters in Simi Valley, plus changes in the secretarial situation will put us back into the red, if income is as projected. He added that the most effective and consistent source of funds for SA world services so far has been the passing of the second basket, which an increasing number of groups have been doing. Terry encouraged us to keep it up.

1. Jesse L., Bozeman, moved that in each issue of the Essay, or quarterly, we be given a report on SA’s financial status, including a report of what each group has contributed and a breakdown of income and expenditures. This motion passed unanimously.

6. Terry also reported that the December convention is coming along nicely (Los Angeles, December 4, 5, 6). At this point, it appears that registration and rooms (per night) will each run about $45.

7. John H., NYC, raised a question for our group conscience. SA in NYC has been given the opportunity to advertise for free in the New York Almanac, which contains information on a number of self-help groups. However, some members of the NYC Intergroup were uncomfortable with doing so, and the Intergroup decided to seek guidance from the larger fellowship represented at the Bozeman convention. John therefore asked us to consider this question: “Is advertising of this sort in accord with the traditions as they are understood in this fellowship?”

1. After some discussion, it was decided that we were not comfortable with trying to decide the question as formulated. Accordingly, it was reformulated as follows: “What is our group conscience with respect to the NYC SA group advertising in the NY Almanac?” One member suggested that the SA policy that appears to be emerging is that passive listing is in accord with the traditions, while aggressive advertising is more questionable. This seemed to be the consensus of most of us, although we did not vote on it in particular. John H. then said that what he gathered was that our sense was that passive listing in the NYC Almanac was okay. This statement of the group conscience was then confirmed by vote.

8. Harvey A. of Nashville suggested that in future conventions we begin meetings by reading from SA literature, including the sobriety imperative, and generally that we bring these meetings more into accord with the SA Meeting Guide that most of the groups around the country are using. His suggestions were noted, but no vote was taken.

We adjourned at about 5:30.