MINUTES OF THE 2005
ISO OF SAA, INC.
DELEGATE MEETING
HELD IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Friday

1. Acting as temporary chair as set out in Article III, Section 1, of the bylaws, Roger B., chair of the International Service Organization of SAA, Inc., Board of Trustees, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. with a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

2. Volunteers from among the delegates read the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions of SAA and the Twelve Concepts for World Service of AA. These were followed by self-introductions by all in attendance.

3. At the request of the ISO Board, Jim L. served as parliamentarian for the 2005 Delegate Meeting.

4. Ken S. explained to the delegates the procedures and ground rules that would be used during the meeting.

5. Shelley K. moved to elect Roger B. as permanent chair of the Delegate Meeting. Elizabeth N. seconded the motion. Robert S. moved that nominations for permanent chair of the Delegate Meeting be closed. Bob D. seconded the motion. By acclamation, Roger B. was elected to chair the 2005 Delegate Meeting.

6. Francie E. made a motion to accept the business procedures as presented in the 2005 Call to Convention. Randy W. seconded the motion, which, by voice vote, passed with a clear consensus.

Annual Report

7. Don K. introduced a motion to accept the 2005 Annual Report as presented. Susan W. seconded the motion. The 2005 Annual Report was then presented by the following:

Board Report Roger B.

Interfellowship Relations Report Francie E.

Intergroup Communications Report Carla P.

International Development Report Jerry B.

International Office Report Jerry B.

Internet Outreach Report Bob D.

Office Oversight Don K.

Outreach Report Ed B.

Prison Outreach Report Tim E.

Women’s Outreach Judy N.

Literature Committee Report Jeff W.

Financial Report: Don K.

Office Audit Report Don K.

The Annual Report was accepted by unanimous vote.

8. After Jerry B. presented the proposed 2006 Budget and had answered questions, Ed B. moved to approve the proposed budget. Rick D. seconded the motion, which prevailed by a substantial majority.

9. At 11:55 a.m. the chair recessed the meeting for lunch.

10. Roger B. reconvened the meeting at 1:35 p.m. and made a final call for Additional Business.

11. Tim E. nominated Don K. for election to a one-year term as an at-large member of the Board of Trustees. Robert S. seconded the motion, which passed with the support of all except for seven delegates who abstained.

Old Business

12. Change To ISO Bylaws, Article I, Section 2 Jerry B. entered a motion “To amend Article I, Section 2, of the ISO bylaws, changing the office and principal place of business of this corporation from 1003 Studewood Street, Houston, Texas 77008 to 3890D North Freeway, Houston, Texas 77022.”

Tim E. seconded the motion.

Without discussion, the motion passed with 85 voting for and none voting against.

Note: Having been passed by the delegates at two consecutive meetings, the ISO bylaws are thereby amended to reflect the change.

13. Change To Bylaws, Article V, Section 3 Jeff W. moved "That Article V, Section 3 of the ISO of SAA, Inc. bylaws be amended to read: ‘The Literature Committee shall have supervisory authority over the content of all ISO publications. It shall not, however, enter into any contracts, exceed the budget voted it by the preceding international convention, own any copyrights, grant permission to anyone to use ISO copyrighted materials, or in any other way act as a business corporation. The Literature Committee or its representatives appointed to subcommittees for specific tasks shall always be consulted by the Board for advice and input in any business matters relating to ISO publications.’"

Susan W. seconded the motion.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, the motion passed by consensus, with 77 voting for, 16 voting against, and four abstaining.

Note: Having been passed by the delegates for two consecutive years, the ISO bylaws are thereby amended to reflect the change.

14. Change To ISO Bylaws, Article III, Section 3 Chris D. moved “To amend the bylaws, Article III, Section 3, to read as follows: ‘Recommendations approved by a majority of the delegates and authorized alternates voting at an international convention must be followed by the ISO Board of SAA, unless such recommendations are deemed to be unfeasible because of financial or administrative concerns, i.e., the ISO does not have the funds to follow the recommendation, or does not have the means or equipment to put it into action without damaging its ability to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. If the Board deems such a recommendation to be unfeasible, it will present a detailed report to the delegates at the next international convention explaining why the recommendation could not be followed, and be available to answer questions from the delegates regarding this report. In its deliberations the Board shall ever bear in mind that the ultimate authority and power in SAA lies in the body of the fellowship, and the Board acts as the Trusted Servant of the fellowship.’"

Susan W. seconded the motion.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, the motion passed but failed to gain consensus, with 51 voting for, 45 voting against, and five abstaining. The minority was given an opportunity to speak.

After the minority opinion had been heard, a second vote was taken, and the motion failed, with 47 voting for, 51 voting against, and four abstaining.

New Business

15. Tools of Recovery On behalf of the Literature Committee, Jeff W. moved “That Tools of Recovery be approved by the Conference.”

Randy W. seconded the motion. During a period of questions prior to debate, Jonathan C. introduced a motion to table and received a second from Dorothy B. The motion to table failed, with 39 voting for, 57 voting against, and six abstaining.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, a vote was taken, and Tools of Recovery gained Conference Approved status by consensus, with 72 voting for, 22 voting against, and seven abstaining.

Note: Having gained Conference Approved status, Tools of Recovery will be published in its revised form, with the words “Conference Approved” printed on the cover.

16. Change To ISO Bylaws, Article III, Section 3 Jerry be made a motion “To amend the ISO bylaws, Article III, Section 3, to read as follows: ‘Recommendations approved by a majority of the delegates and authorized alternates voting at an international convention must be considered by the ISO Board of SAA in conference with the champion(s) who placed each recommendation before the delegates or with a person or persons designated by the champion(s). In its deliberations the Board shall ever bear in mind that the ultimate authority and power in SAA lies in the body of the fellowship, and the Board acts as the Trusted Servant of the fellowship. In the year following the recommendations, each champion(s) or a person designated by the champion(s) will report to the delegates the results of the Board’s consideration. If the Board had not followed the delegates’ recommendation, the champion(s) or a person designated by the champion will have the option to immediately again place the recommendation or a modified version of it before the delegates.’”

Francie E. seconded the motion. During a period of questioning prior to debate, the motioner and seconder accepted a friendly amendment to delete the words “immediately again” from the last line of the motion.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, the motion failed by consensus, with 24 voting for, 74 voting against, and six abstaining.

Additional Business

17. Seven items of additional business were submitted. After the champions had presented their motions, the dele-gates broke into ten groups to prioritize the items in order to determine order of consideration.

18. There being no time to consider Additional Business, at 5:05 p.m. the meeting recessed until 8:00 a.m., Saturday.

Saturday

19. Roger B., 2005 Delegate Meeting chair reconvened the meeting by calling it to order at 8:03 a.m. with a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

20. Volunteers from among the delegates read the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions of SAA. These were followed by self-introductions by all in attendance.

New Business (Continued)

21. Sale Of Non-SAA Literature On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Tim E. made a motion “That the ISO discontinue sales of non-SAA literature as existing stock is exhausted.”

Jeff W. seconded the motion.

Prior to debate pro and con, Rick D. moved to table the motion until the 2006 Delegate Meeting. Tom W. seconded the motion. The motion to table failed, with 24 voting for, 57 voting against, and one abstaining.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, the motion passed but failed to gain consensus, with 47 voting for, 41 voting against, and seven abstaining. The minority was given the opportunity to speak.

After the minority opinion had been heard, a second vote was taken and the motion failed, with 47 voting for, 48 voting against, and two abstaining.

22. Handling Of Information About Ongoing Sexual Abuse Of Minors Patrick W. moved “That a committee be formed, made up of at least 51% of SAA members who have sexually abused minors as a part of their acting out behaviors, to further evaluate and make recommendations to revise the current ISO Board Policy regarding Handling of Information About Ongoing Sexual Abuse of Minors; and that all members of this committee have a minimum of one year of continuous abstinence from all inner circle behaviors and have completed all Twelve Steps with a sponsor (at least once).”

George J. seconded the motion.

After opinion pro and con had been heard, the motion passed by consensus, with 82 voting for, nine voting against, and five abstaining.

Note: According to ISO bylaws, the Board of Trustees must consider this delegate recommendation.

23. There being no time left for further business, the 2005 Delegate Meeting adjourned with the Serenity Prayer at 9:55 a.m.

Shelley K.

Secretary

Board of Trustees

Jerry B.

Recording Secretary

ISO of SAA, Inc.