Two important motions from the May 29, 1994 meeting of the Central Office Oversight Committee (COOC):

MOTION: Moved that the COOC agrees to move the Central Office from Simi Valley, California. Carried unanimously. (Margo C./Paul S.)

MOTION: After the COOC reviewed several possible locations, Nashville, Tennessee became the prime area of consideration due to the high concentration of SA members, much long-term sobriety, and a proven track record of service. The COOC proposes that the Central Office be moved to Nashville and that a COOC subcommittee present a moving plan at the Portland International SA conference. Carried unanimously. (Jim C./Margo C.)

One member pointed out that we can invite participation and response from the Fellowship. He asked that we make it clear that Nashville meets a variety of requirements and that other possible sites would, too. Another member pointed out that if the services are available, SAs will probably support wherever the Central Office is located. The Chair pointed out that the COOC has the authority to make such a decision. We will certainly announce it in Portland and in the Essay.

Notes From Central Office

Any loners who wish to correspond with other loners can write to the Central Office and we will arrange to give your address to other willing members, and, we still need contact people (name and phone number) for new inquirers to call. The listing on page 11 is printed so that all readers can see the locations in which contact people are needed. The table shows, by state, the first three numbers of the postal Zip Code areas in which we have no contact person. If you live in one of the Zip Code areas that are not represented on the list, please consider becoming a contact person. Be assured that only first names and telephone numbers will be given out.

SA Fellowship Service Structure Adopted

In order to be more effective in the task of the Twelfth Step and First Tradition of carrying the message to the suffering sexaholic, the fellowship appointed a committee to recommend a service structure appropriate for Sexaholics Anonymous. The resulting recommendation was adopted at the business meeting held at the international conference of Sexaholics Anonymous in Rochester, NY on January 15, 1994 and is here presented for the information of the whole fellowship. [See Flow Chart.]

This service structure has evolved over the past two and one-half years with the prayerful consultation of members of SA and with the contributions from several other 12-Step fellowships. This structure has been designed with SA’s unique purpose and requirements and is reflective of SA’s current development. We recognize that as the SA Fellowship grows we hope that the service structure will be flexible and yield to further growth and the changes it will bring. Toward that end it is the responsibility of the Oversight Committee to oversee and inventory the service structure every five years and recommend changes to the structure. 

The individual SA Group is the basic unit of the Service Structure. Each SA Group sends an Intergroup Representative (IGR) to the local Intergroup meeting, which meets regularly (perhaps monthly). 

An Intergroup is formed when there are several SA groups in a geographic area. This Intergroup helps with the service work, i.e., establishes phone lines with answering service, develops 12-Step procedures, tabulates local meeting lists, provides communication and information on a local level, etc. Each Intergroup would select, among its trusted servants, one Regional Delegate (RD) to attend an Annual Regional Assembly. 

Regions are established as follows (schedule currently in use by this Study Committee and the Central Office Oversight Committee): 

Northwest: AK, Yukon, NT, BC, ALTA, WA, MT, OR, ID
Southwest: CA, HI, NV, UT, AZ
North-Midwest: SASK, MAN, ND, SD, MN, WY, NE, IA, WI, MI, IL
South-Midwest: CO, KS, MO, NM, OK, AR, TX, LA
Northeast: QUE, ONT, NB, ME, VT, NH, NY, CT, RI, MA 
Mid-Atlantic: PA, DC, MD, NJ, OH, VA, WV, DE
Southeast: IN, KY, TN, NC, SC, MS, AL, FL, PR
International 

The Regional Delegate’s term of service would be established by the individual Intergroup, with a recommended term of two years minimum. The sobriety recommendation for a Regional Delegate is established at a minimum of two years SA sobriety. It is recommended that the Regional Delegate be elected by January 1995 and that an annual Regional Assembly meet at some time in 1995. 

The Regional Delegates meet annually in their regions to discuss and deal with matters affecting the SA Groups and SA Fellowship in their regions. They select one of their number as the Oversight Representative (OR) to the Annual Oversight Assembly.

The Annual Oversight Assembly would consist, therefore, of the Regional Delegates from each of the Regions above. The International SA Fellowship could also send a Representative, selected through a process to be self-determined, to the Annual Oversight Assembly. The Assembly would concentrate on matters affecting the growth and functioning of the SA Fellowship as a whole. The first Assembly would also nominate and elect the first Oversight Committee (OC), consisting of nine “Overseers”: five sexaholics and four non-sexaholics. One of the SA Overseers must be elected from the greater Los Angeles area because of proximity to the Central Office. 

Note: AA experience has shown the desirability of non-sexaholic representation. This lends a broader perspective to the workings of the Oversight Committee and also allows representation of SA to the media without anonymity problems. 

The sobriety requirement for sexaholic members of the Oversight Committee is five years of SA sobriety. 

The first group of Overseers would serve staggered terms of two to five years. Future Annual Oversight Assemblies would select replacements for the original group as their terms expire. Replacements would serve for five years. 

The Overseers would meet as a group three times each year. One meeting would be at each of the semi-annual International Conferences and another five or six day meeting at Simi Valley in conjunction with the Annual Oversight Assembly to be held in the spring or fall each year. We recommend that the first Annual Oversight Assembly be held in 1996. 

The Oversight Committee will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the SA Central Office through the local OC member. The Oversight Committee will be charged with carrying out the agenda of the Annual Oversight Assembly.

The Overseers will elect their own officers, including a Chair, a Vice-Chair, Secretary(s) and a Treasurer. They will accomplish their work through a committee structure. Some of their committees might be the Central Office Management Committee, the Translations Committee, the Finance Committee, the Publications Committee, the Prisons Committee, and the Tapes Committee, etc. 

Each Oversight Committee will consist of two Overseers, two Oversight Representatives and one local Simi Valley/Los Angeles area SA member. 

As the SA Fellowship grows and expands, additional Oversight Representatives might be added to the Annual Oversight Assembly and the Oversight Committee might be increased. 

As noted in the text of the SA Service Structure, there are specific time frames for development of the elements of the Service Structure. The first time reference in the text is January 1995, one year from now, when a Regional Delegate needs to be chosen by the local intergroup to attend the Annual Regional Assembly in 1995. Therefore, the first task is to form local intergroups if not already formed. Each SA group and/or individual member (loner) should contact other SA groups in their area to arrange the formation of an Intergroup. For guidelines on forming Intergroups please contact Bill T. via the Central Office, P.O. Box 300, Simi Valley, CA 93062. Then it will be the task of each Intergroup to contact the other Intergroups within their region to plan the Annual Regional Assembly in 1995. For further information on existing Intergroups in your region contact Pat at Central Office in Simi Valley, CA. 

With your involvement in forming this basic service structure, Sexaholics Anonymous can unify to carry the message to the still-suffering sexaholic.