District 8 holds elections for MAWS Delegates

At the next District 8 Meeting on Wednesday, February 15th, at 8:00pm, at the GLBT Center, 208 West 13th Street, Manhattan (see Lobby for Room #), we will be electing two Delegates to attend the 2011 MAWS Conference. All MA members can vote in the election for the MAWS Delegates. Therefore we encourage all members to attend this meeting. After and during vote counting, District 8 will use the remaining time to hold the regular Board Meeting, which all Members are always invited to attend.

Download Flyer to handout at Meetings

The MAWS Conference is a weekend of business meetings. It is Memorial Day weekend every year, which this year is Friday May 27th thru Monday May 30th. This year it is in Los Angeles.

District 8 will elect two Delegates and an alternate to represent us. We will be using the "3rd Legacy Procedure" (see info on voting in 3rd panel on this page)

Eligibility to be a District 8 Delegate is 2 years continuous clean time. There are NO NOMINATIONS.  Any member who wants to be considered must submit there own name in person at the Election on Wednesday, February 16th, or if you cannot attend the Election, but  want to be considered, you may contact District 8 by e-mail delegate@ma-newyork.org no later than Tuesday, February 15th, and your name will be included in the election.

Both Delegates become voting members of the Board of District 8 and are expected to attend the monthly meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.  In addition to representing District 8 at the Conference in Los Angeles, Delegates will be the liaison between MAWS and District 8 throughout the year.  All potential Delegates please review the “Delegate Orientation” which is posted on the right and which outlines the Delegate’s duties.

All MA members present may vote.  Please announce this at all Meetings.

District 8 and MAWS

The Fellowship of Marijuana Anonymous (MA) is served by the non-profit corporation called Marijuana Anonymous World Services (MAWS). MAWS' purpose is to provide services necessary for the fellowship of MA to function. Similarly, District 8 strives to serve the MA meetings in the New York Metropolitan area. District 8 is one of fifteen MA Districts that have chosen to support the broader services offered by MAWS. There are numerous individual meetings all over the world, as well as individuals, that may at any time make use of the services offered by MAWS.

 

 

 

ALL POTENTIAL DELEGATES, PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION FROM MAWS ABOUT DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITIES

(Download as a PDF)

Delegate Orientation

The Conference Body can be thought of as an overall committee with several sub-committees and Chair people. We (Trustees and Delegates) are all both on a sub-committee and on the overall committee for the next twelve months.

In the upcoming Committee meeting session, you will have a chance to discuss the inter-communication method, the management of the sub-committee work and what your own personal sub-committee participation may entail over the next twelve months. This can vary from sub-committee to sub-committee.

We, the overall Conference Body or committee at large, communicate with each other throughout the year via the Conference Yahoo Group, which you should all be on by now. General announcements, reminders and important documents that are meant for distribution to the fellowship at large may be posted, as they become available, to the Yahoo Group by Trustees, Delegates, Committee Chair people and our Office Manager. This info is meant to be distributed at your District Service Committee meetings so your GSRs can distribute it to the individual meetings. As Delegates, it is your responsibility to participate in your monthly District meetings, disburse the information you receive on the Yahoo Group since the last District meeting, and gather information from your District to report to MAWS via the Yahoo Group. There will always be at least one posting to take to the monthly District meeting, the monthly accounting for MAWS.

The following is an outline to help you, as a Delegate, manage your usage of the Yahoo Group. It is not an all inclusive list. It is designed to be a guideline for what to expect and what is available to you.

  1. By the 15th of every month, MAWS' accounting for the previous month is posted. This should be distributed at the monthly District Service Committee meeting.
  2. A new version of the Service Manual will be posted soon after it has been revised to reflect the changes made to it this weekend. Please notify your District Service Committee as soon as this becomes available so that your District can keep its reference copy of the Service Manual up to date.
  3. The Minutes of this Conference will be posted within a few months of the close of the Conference. These minutes will be approved at next year;s Conference, so if you have any amendments, please post them in a timely manner to the Yahoo Group and make sure next year's Delegates follow up with your amendments. The Conference minutes can be shared with your District as well.
  4. The Minutes of the quarterly Trustee calls in August, November and February, will be posted shortly after each call. These minutes should be distributed at the monthly District Service Committee meeting.
  5. Information for the annual World Convention (usually in February) may be posted periodically if there is info to be distributed throughout the fellowship.
  6. Announcements, reminders, instructions and pertinent documents for next year's Conference will be posted throughout the year. A majority of these items are posted in the months leading up to the Conference. Examples: Conference deadlines (for motion submissions, Delegate registration, etc), the Agenda Items packet, how and when to submit your District's report, etc.
  7. The Yahoo Group may also be used by the Delegates and Trustees for question and answer, discussion, exchange of information, and polling on various issues.
  8. Delegates may post any questions, concerns, requests for help, or useful information they may have about Conference committee, sub-committee work or any other topic. Furthermore questions, concerns, or requests for help that arise at the monthly District meeting may be posted as well. These topics can then be properly addressed by the appropriate Trustee, Chair person, sub-committee or the Office Manager.

The following three important Delegate's duties are taken directly from the Service Manual and have not been covered so far.

  1. Inform MAWS Office Manager of meeting changes. [so the website can stay updated]
  2. Be liaison between MAWS Treasurer and District Treasurer. [relay requests and replies]
  3. After the Conference, the Delegate returns home to report on the Conference.

Please remember that your term as Delegates began at the opening of this Conference and it ends next year when the Conference begins and the new Delegates' term begins. The months leading up to every Conference can be full of many tasks to complete and much correspondence to be addressed. It will be your responsibility as the outgoing Delegates next year to ensure that these tasks are completed and these correspondences are properly addressed.

Here is a partial list of your responsibilities leading up to next year's Conference:

When new Delegates are elected prior to the Conference, they can be thought of as "Delegates in training." They should be added to the Yahoo Group as soon as possible and can assist you on any level that you both decide is appropriate.  However, keep in mind that it is still your responsibility to make sure any Conference related work is completed up until the beginning of next year's Conference.

The MAWS Services Manual defines the Conference as:

“The Marijuana Anonymous World Service Conference is the forum at which group conscience throughout MA is expressed, and decisions are made that affect MA as a whole. The Conference is also where much of MAWS work is performed.

Trustees and committee chairs are selected at the MAWS Conference. The Conference also provides the opportunity to meet MA members from other districts and share experience, strength and hope. This sharing provides the unity that binds all members to our common purpose.”

3rd Legacy Procedure

The Third Legacy Procedure is the method used for selection of Delegates and Trustees.  The purpose of the special procedure is to eliminate, as much as possible, the role of personality, ego, and competition in the process of selection of Delegates and Trustees.

 In the traditional electoral process, a candidate declares or is nominated for office and then actively campaigns for the position.  The candidate invests an often considerable personal interest in obtaining the position.  The successful candidate experiences ego gratification; the unsuccessful candidate experiences personal rejection.

For the recovering addicts in MA, the traditional electoral process is risky, and has the potential to damage the unity that is an important part of our recovery program.  Our Third Legacy procedure removes, as much as possible, the elements of declaration and competition for our trusted servant office.

The Third Legacy Procedure is as follows:

RULES AND PROCEDURES

1. The names of persons who meet the requirements for the service commitment are placed on an eligibility list.

 2. Candidates may strike their name from the list at any time

 3. To vote, each voting member writes the names of their chosen candidates (from the current eligibility list) on a secret ballot.

4. For each round of voting, voters must write the exact number of names as there are positions to be filled (i.e., if there are three Trustee positions available, voting members must write the names of three candidates on their ballot).  As positions are filled, the number of names required on each ballot will change.

5. Errors made by voters regarding 3 or 4 above shall require that the vote be discarded, and a new vote taken.

THE PROCESS

1. The FIRST VOTE is taken.  Any person receiving two-thirds or more of the votes is elected.  (N.B.: This vote may result in no one being elected.)

2. A SECOND VOTE is taken (if required).  Any person receiving two-thirds or more votes is elected.  If all available positions are not filled, „automatic withdrawals” begin.  The names of candidates receiving ONE-FIFTH or fewer of the votes are removed from the eligibility list.  However, the number of candidates remaining must not be less than the number of positions still available plus one.  (Candidates receiving the most votes are retained to satisfy this requirement.  There may be cases where candidates who did not receive one-fifth of the votes remain on the list.)

3. A THIRD VOTE is taken (if required).  Any person receiving two-thirds or more of the votes is elected.  If all available positions are not filled, the names of candidates receiving ONE-THIRD or fewer of the votes of the votes are removed from the eligibility list.  However, the number of candidates remaining must not be less than the number of positions still available plus one.  (Candidates who received the most votes are retained to satisfy this requirement.  There may be cases where the candidates who did not receive one-third of the votes remain on the list.)

4. A FOURTH VOTE is taken (if required).  Any person receiving two-thirds or more of the votes is elected.  If, at this point, positions remain unfilled, the names of candidates receiving ONE_THIRD or fewer of the votes are removed from the eligibility list.  However, the number of candidates remaining must not be less than the number of positions still available plus one.  (Candidates who received the most votes are retained to satisfy this requirement.  There may be cases where candidates who did not receive one-third of the votes remain on the list. The chairperson then entertains a motion to:

a) stop balloting and draw remaining names from the hat; or b) conduct and fifth and final vote.

If (4a) above carries, the remaining names go into a hat, and positions are filled in the order that the names are drawn:

5. If (4b) carries, a FINAL VOTE is taken.  Any person receiving two-thirds or more of the votes is elected.  If no election is made, remaining names go into the hat, and positions are filled in the order that the names are drawn.