Question (???)

[Gmoney]

Hi Family,

Two months ago, my home group had our semi-annual service position rotation. A senior member of our group was selected to take over as the treasurer and was given the group's funds, treasurer's workbook, and receipts. The week following our newly assigned duties was the last time this member has attended and the rent for using the facility is past due. I was confronted by the manager and asked when the rent would be paid, and I assured them that it would be this week.

I called our treasurer on Thursday (today is Sunday), not to beat them up with the fact that they've neglected their duty, but to find out if there was a problem or if they were sick. They said that they had been very sick and didn't want to spread their germs at the meeting, but insisted that they were feeling much better and would attend our meeting today. They also said that they would be going to pay the rent on Friday and would bring our supplies (coffee, etc...) when they came Sunday.

Needless to say, they didn't show up nor did they call anyone saying they wouldn't show up. I've never been the type to jump to the conclusion that an addict is using just because they're unmanageable - and I really doubt if that's the case. This addict has over 13 years clean, but something just isn't right about their absence and excuses. I mean, two of their sponsees are also members of our group and they never once mentioned that this member was sick.

What do you think?
What would you do?
What can be done?

[best]

I was treasurer for a club I belonged to.
It was my turn, no one else wanted the position.
I didn't mismanage... I just didn't have the right skills for the job.
To be sure that things went right, I must have added in a weeks pay of my own because I lost receipts. At best guess from a self audit we did, I put back more then twice what was thought missing and then turned over the books.
Some of us are just not good balancing our check books. We should do the right thing and step aside or people should fill us in where we are weak and remove us from the postion. Some are just not ment to be treasurers.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by GarryW

What do you think?
What would you do?
What can be done?

I think if you don't pay your rent soon you may be asked to leave and you don't want that.

What I would do is I would pay your treasurer a house visit and find out just how sick he is and if and how you might be able to help him and also to make provisional arrangements for someone else to assume the treasury position.

What can be done is that if there is not sufficient funds available to pay your rent then an emergency meeting needs to be called with all the members and find out how best you can come up with the money to pay the rent.Forget about coffee and biscuits for now. Your immediate concern is to keep a roof over your heads.

[dalin]

yes first things first.
i agree with my freinds that just shared.
clean time is awesome(i got 13 in jan)
but i know in my recovery i have seen addicts be given alot of tasks because they had cleantime.i have also seen both sides,sometimes good,sometimes disasterouse results.
for me i would pray about it
then check on your treasurer.it may be something small
or it could be a problem,but you wont know till you know
take care.......let us know what happens

[Gmoney]

Thanks for your input.

I'm thinking I need to provide a bit of background info, although I really did want to stay away from sharing anything personal. Yet, my reasons for asking for input was to double-check my own thinking and make sure I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill or placing unrealistic expectations.

I joined this group 6 years ago, and as it stands, I'm the only remaining member of the old group. Some relocated, some went back to using, and others joined other groups. For a good while, I wore most of the hats: coffee maker, greeter, treasurer and GSR. As newer members joined, I was relieved to have someone else share the responsibility, but over the years I've remained a fixture of this group. The only position I couldn't "give away" was the job of treasurer. Like Best said...nobody else wanted it. Since I've always been good with managing money (except in the bitter ends) and keeping figures and books, I kept doing it for over 5 years with no complaints. The only position I never held was that of secretary and I really wanted to give that a try. To be honest, I thought by giving up the treasurer's position I'd be that much closer to making room for others to serve.You know...there's an old saying about how senior members need to "get out of the way" and allow others to serve?

Now that I've done it, it seems like nothing is going right. Everybody seems out of sync. The greeter comes late. The coffee maker leaves early. The GSR doesn't show up. My sponsor suggested that we have a group conscience and see if everyone was more comfortable in their old positions because things clicked before. He also said that we should review the service guidelines because somewhere in it there's mention of positions being filled by those "most qualified" (actually, I think he has it confused with the 12 Concepts). If this is the case, we may have to suggest our treasurer resign because she doesn't work or have adequate means to replace misused funds. I guess we should have thought about that before we voted her in.

Just dropping by her house isn't something I'm willing to do. I'll go ahead and pay the rent and get what we need. The donations we've collected since her absence isn't quite enough, but I'll make up the difference. I personally believe that she should have been responsible enough to at least call someone or resign on her own. She's been around long enough to know what she's doing isn't right. Two months?? Come on...

[SaTiT]

mmm..You might try getting a refund from the area.

You know.. we put money in the basket to support NA services locally world wide.
As I understand it, the area or commitee was set up to serve and help
addicts. I belive keeping meetings doors open is better than a BQ.
I think your meeting is part of the world...lol

Basically Gary
i had to pick up a meeting becuase the treasure and grs relapsed.
All of the literature, money, chips, keys..everything was gone.
I had to approch the area for help.

[Chance]

Oh yes the Treasure thinggiieee

We have had problems through most of the time with people really wanting to hold positions in the group. I think that most of the time people really don't want to get involved where it does take a lot of time to be of service, but yet most of them don't realize the benefit from it all either.

One thing that we do is that we always have two people with access to the bank. The reason being is just what you have stated. I think that this has helped with most of it but it still is a pain because both parties have to give permission to access the money from the group. The reason that we decided to do this is to protect the group from unauthorized usage of the money.

I know that our group right now is really lacking funds. We are almost a year as a group and yet all the original members of that group are gone, through moving on, relapse, whatever. The only one left is me. But we still have a good meeting happening. I know that they have clean time requirements for most positions, however if the group doesn't have that much time then we need to see if the other members might be available and want to do service for the group.

A couple of months ago we registered the group and a lady that only had 5 months of clean time stepped up to the treasure position. This lady has a heck of a Program not only in my mind but the minds of many around here. I think sometimes that those who have a fire for recovery might serve the positions better. IMO it isn't always about quantity even though that is important it is also about quality.

With Love and Respect

Vic

[Gmoney]

Thanks Vic and everyone...

I should point out that clean time wasn't an issue in this case. Our group is small and we only have one member with less than a year. For me, it's more a matter of acknowledging the difference between desire to serve and ability to serve. Just because a person wants to do a job doesn't mean they're capable of doing it.

[Thundar301]

I agree 2 months of no show and excuses, rent not paid , shows clean time has little to do with real RECOVERY, this is old behaviour ,an addicts thinking, and trust your gut feeling something is out of whack here! she might not be able to do the position or have the inner self to resign, you might have to,, in no better terms, call her on her BS . tough spot to be in for sure G. good luck , just keep the meeting going , Dean

"live each new day as it is a new life"

[dalin]

gary we have the same thing going on in our area.
one of the guys that i temp sponsored his first couple months till he could find a permanant was our treasurer.
my sponsee,another member,with a year less clean time now(he has 2...the old treasurer 3)well anyway this guy has come up short.
we have replaced him(he changed homegroups)
so this drama sounds familiar.
just always double check your suspicions

[REZ]

We had our secretary have a similar problem. Haven't seen him since he stopped going to meetings and was rumored to be sick. I've known people who were at death's door and still came to meetings, which is the least he should've done. If it walks like a duck, it probably is a duck.

[Gmoney]

*I've known people who were at death's door and still came to meetings, which is the least he should've done. If it walks like a duck, it probably is a duck.*

I gotta agree. Not that I'm suggesting that she's using, mind you. But like I said before... with her having two sponsees in the group and NOBODY ever mentioning that she was sick. It just doesn't make sense. We all have each other's phone numbers and the least she could've done was called and said she wasn't going to make it. Then we could've made arrangements to get the money and handle our business. On top of that...she's showed up sick before, if only to leave early!! Being responsible is a huge part of doing service and recovery, but one thing is for sure...the show must go on.

[Gmoney]

Another month has passed since I originally asked for opinions on this topic and I thought I'd fill you in on what has happened. The treasurer still hasn't attended our meeting and still hasn't turned over the group's collected donations. We had a group conscience and re-shuffled our home group service positions. Our rent has been paid and supplies needed purchased. The old treasurer sent word by one of her sponsees that she would show up last week...but she didn't. And what's so unfortunate about the whole thing is that it was that sponsee's 2 year anniversary!! Needless to say, she was very disappointed that her sponsor didn't show up to present her with her two year coin...let alone be present for support.

I think we all learned a lesson from this.

TFLMS,
GarryW

[REZ]

This is pretty bad. I'm glad that group has been able to move on.

[Peter]

That's right Garry. we take our lessons and move on. I am happy to know your meeting have recuperated nicely.

[Gmoney]

Yeah...it's very unfortunate. And I gotta say that I'm disappointed in her because I know she knows better. Yet...the show has to go on and we did what we had to do. I guess it's true that no matter how long we stay clean, we can still become unmanageable (if we're not vigilant).

thanks again.