NCCAA
PURPOSE, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS
(Revised March 1998)
Functions of the Northern California Council of
Alcoholics Anonymous
CONFERENCES are held for one purpose:
TO CARRY THE MESSAGE
It is an established fact that those who attend and take an active part in our Conferences have a more positive attitude in their solution of the problem of alcoholism and are aided in acquiring the knowledge needed to arrest this devastating disease.
Some people have a special knack of giving us a message in a way we can understand. Therefore, the speakers, chair people and moderators at the Conference are carefully selected to meet this requirement. Through Conferences we are able to hear speakers that we would never hear otherwise; thus, we get a new perspective of our problem.
Conferences help us attain the “freedom from anxiety” which we did not have during our drinking careers. We learn how to gain a release from tension by learning to overcome the causes of tension. You can get the same results that we have if you will attend and seek understanding. At Conferences we make new friends and get new ideas. As we apply the good ideas to ourselves as individuals, they infiltrate their way into our groups and a better group harmony develops. Finally, intergroup unity becomes a reality. And the result of all this - a greater attraction to AA for those who still suffer. This may sound like a long way around, for we surely come back to the individual because we are enabled to better “Carry the Message.”
The workshops and AA meetings are designed for the individual - to give each member working tools in the effort to stay sober and live a contented life.
NCCAA Structure
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNCIL COUNTY CHAIRPEOPLE AND GROUP DELEGATES
The Northern California Council of Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of all the groups in Northern California north of a line through the southern boundaries of Monterey, Kings, Tulare and Inyo Counties. Not a part of our current fellowship are seven counties that belong to the Nevada Service Area for geographic reasons: Alpine, Inyo, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Plumas and Sierra Counties.
The Council is lead by a Steering Committee comprised of the 41 county chairpeople, representatives from the Intergroup/Central Offices, a representative from the Hospitals and Institutions Committee and from CNIA and CNCA General Service Committees, and the elected and appointed Officers of the Council. The Good News Editor, the Tape Librarian, the Archivist and all past chairpeople and treasurers are also part of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee decides on all housekeeping matters and shares with the group delegates at the Open Delegates’ Meeting all items of importance that need to be voted upon such as future conference sites and the election of the Council Chairperson and the Council Treasurer.
Delegates may be elected by their groups, but most represent their groups simply by attending the conferences. By registering at the conference, delegates are placed on the NCCAA mailing list and receive mailings with information on future conferences. They know in advance the conference site, the speakers, the available hotel rooms and rates, and other pertinent information. They should take this information to the groups they attend and pass out fliers to interested AA members. A delegate should also share about the conference for the benefit of those who were not there in order to attract members to future conferences.
In recent years, county chairpeople have been encouraged to participate by the Council Chairperson because they showed an enthusiastic and committed interest in the welfare of NCCAA. In the counties that host conferences, sometimes the county chairperson is elected by the committee that has hosted the conference. This person is often the chairperson of the next conference to be hosted by the county. The county chairperson, along with the intergroup/central office representative, is the vital link between what goes on at the conference and the groups in his/her home county. They attend the six Steering Committee Meetings and the three Open Delegates’ Meetings held each year, participate by discussion and vote, and then carry all the information back to the groups in their county. Other representatives to the Steering Committee are selected by their respective committees.
Group Delegates should keep their County Chairperson and the Council Chairperson informed of any mailing address changes so that corrections may be made by the Council Recording Secretary. This keeps the NCCAA mailing list up to date and saves the Council the costs of returned mail.
Officers of the Council
The Officers of the Northern California Council of Alcoholics Anonymous are: The Council Chairperson, the Council Treasurer, the Secretary from the Coastal Area, the Secretary from the Interior Area and the Young People’s Secretary. The Council Chairperson and the Council Treasurer are ELECTED offices. The Council Chairperson SELECTS the secretaries with the approval of the Steering Committee and the Council Delegates.
The Council Chairperson
The Council Chairperson is elected at the Spring Conference of the EVEN numbered years and serves a two (2) year term. This office is restricted to no more than two (2) consecutive terms, four (4) years.
It is recommended that the Council Chairperson have a minimum of five (5) years continuous sobriety and a service background.
The Council Chairperson should have the time available to perform the duties of conducting the business of the Council in presenting the three Conferences each year and work closely with the Treasurer and the Secretaries.
The Council Chairperson may delegate any, or all, of the Chairperson’s responsibilities to one or any of the Secretaries, or in cases of necessity - to any responsible AA member. The Council Chairperson shall, however, assume full responsibility for any functions so delegated. If the Chairperson is unable to assume the duties of the Council, one of the Secretaries will act as Chairperson until a special election can be held.
The Secretaries
The newly elected Chairperson will have a reasonable period of time after the election, not to exceed thirty (30) days, to select the Secretary from the Coastal Area, the Secretary from the Interior Area and the Young People’s Secretary. It is recommended that the secretaries have a minimum of two (2) years continuous sobriety and a service background.
The Secretaries shall assist the Chairperson by: (1) maintaining a roster of Steering Committee Members and taking roll at Steering Committee Meetings; (2) recording and maintaining the minutes of all NCCAA Steering Committee and Delegates’ Meetings; (3) registering NCCAA Delegates and maintaining a roster of same; (4) mailing Conference Flyers and Hotel Lists to NCCAA Delegates before each Conference; (5) serving on the Speaker Recommendation Committee which screens the tapes of potential speakers for the main speaker meetings at upcoming Conferences and makes recommendations to the Steering Committee; (6) attending Host Conference Committee Meetings to share information and to lend support to those Committees; (7) purchasing prizes for the free drawing held at each Conference; (8) selecting readers for the Main Speaker Meetings; (9) disseminating written information about upcoming Conferences to newspapers, TV and radio stations, Box 459 and the Grapevine; (10) assisting the Chairperson during Conferences. The duties and responsibilities of the Secretaries are not restricted to those listed above - they may be changed or expanded at the discretion of the Chairperson.
The Council Treasurer
The Council Treasurer is elected at the Spring Conference of the ODD numbered years, and serves a two (2) year term. This office is restricted to no more than two (2) consecutive terms.
It is recommended that the Council Treasurer have a minimum of five (5) years continuous sobriety, a service background, and experience in accounting or bookkeeping.
The Treasurer should have the time available to be responsible for all Council funds and to work very closely with the Council Chairperson. A Financial Report of each Conference is to be prepared and presented at the Pre/Post Conference meeting following the Conference and at the next Conference Steering Committee meeting.
A Financial Statement as June 30 and December 31 of each year is to be prepared. Each of these financial statements will be reviewed and approved at a meeting of all of the officers of the Northern California Council, as soon as possible after completion, and each is to be published in the next available issue of the Good News.
The books of the Council shall be available to any AA member or group for inspection at anytime. The Treasurer may delegate any, or all, of the above responsibilities to one or any of the Secretaries, or in case of necessity, to any responsible AA member. The Treasurer shall, however, assume full responsibility for any functions so delegated. If the Treasurer is unable to assume the duties of the Council, a temporary Treasurer will be selected by the Chairperson until a special election can be held.