[Businessmtg] elected position discussion

[Linda F]

Hi everyone,

Thanks Lynne for your questions to prompt the discussion along.  Here are
my thoughts:

1. There is support for reducing the previous ASP service for elected
trusted servants from 1 year to 6 months, although some would prefer the
List Admin, Secretary or Treasurer to still have 1 year prior ASP service.

***Question for further discussion: Why would people be in favor of 1 year
Vs 6 months for specific positions?

I was encouraged to get involved in service pretty quickly, so I'm in favor
of lowering the previous ASP service requirement for elected trusted
servants.  I do think that it would be good to keep the 1 year requirement
for the List Admin and Secretary, because those positions communicate to
the wider ASP community who we are and how this group works.  I do think
the other positions can probably get a good enough sense of how ASP works
for the purposes of carrying out their role with just a 6 month
requirement.

I would like to suggest, though, that actively participating in the
business meeting (taking part in discussions) is a form of service, and
could be counted towards meeting the required amount of time.  That way,
we're not limited to only considering time in an appointed position.  Right
now, because there is a limited number of appointed positions, there will
always be a very small pool of possible candidates for moving further up
the service ranks.  Participating in the Business Meeting opens up the pool
of possible candidates for moving into elected servant positions.

2. There is support for including other Al anon service as part of the
service requirement in addition to or in lieu of time at ASP (multiple
combinations have been suggested).

***Question for further discussion: Why was prior Al anon service not
originally part of the requirements for ASP elected trusted servants? What
are the pros and cons of this?

I do think that counting other Al-Anon service can help us make it easier
to get people involved.  I also think that there needs to be a minimum
amount of time at ASP, though, so that people are familiar with the flavor
of this particular group and it doesn't get diluted.  I personally think a
combination of service from within ASP and outside is helpful to keep us
from the "that's the way we've always done it" syndrome.

3. There is a suggestion to count participation in the business meeting
toward the ASP service requirement for elected trusted servants.

***Question for discussion: Has this been considered previously? What are
the pros and cons of this?

I think that active participation in the business meeting (participating in
discussions) should be a requirement for becoming an elected trusted
servant.  The business meeting is really where we get to understand how ASP
works.  It's super easy to be on ASP and never visit the website or get to
understand its workings; that's true too of just signing up for the
business meeting but never participating in discussions.

Back to what I said in question 1: I think that we should count months
actively participating in the business meeting discussions towards meeting
some of the time requirements to be eligible for an elected service
position.

4. There is concern that the 3 year commitment for elected trusted servants
is too long and could put off prospective people who might otherwise apply.

***Question for further discussion: What is the reason for the 3 year
commitment and what are the pros and cons of lowering this?

The pro of lowering the 3 year commitment is that may encourage more people
to apply for one of these positions.  I also believe that having more
people involved in service is healthier for a group.  I agree with
Marilyn's suggestion of a 2 year commitment, since people probably need a
minimum of a year to settle into their roles before rotating out.

5. There is a suggestion to lower the ASP participation requirements for
the appointed positions to allow a possible faster path to service as an
elected trusted servant.

***Question for further discussion: I think there might be conflicting
guidelines for this between 1 year and 6 months. Could someone who has been
here for a long time offer some clarity?

It sounds like we've clarified that ASP suggests minimum 6 month
participation to be eligible for a service position.

HUGS (Helping Us Gain Serenity), Linda