It looks like we may have missed the track in January.
For the past 54 years, Area 72 has printed and mailed a newsletter to its membership. It is a well-established tradition with a rich history that has carried, and continues to carry, some special little bit of Area 72 A.A. into people’s homes, our homegroups, intergroups and central offices, institutional facilities, and far off places.
Our Area’s history is filled with the newsletter. The word appears in our Area Handbook 75 times. We’ve purchased equipment for the newsletter, then sold it because we thought we shouldn’t own anything. Then we bought equipment again. We’ve made decisions about what should or should not be printed in the newsletter, and changed our minds. We’ve printed outrageous articles and plenty of boring ones. We decided to translate a number of printings per year for our Spanish reading members.
Throughout these 54 years, the groups have continued to expect, pay for, and receive 12 printed newsletters per year. And we’ve done so intentionally. In 1983, and again in 2010, the Area Assembly heard motions to reduce the number of mailings down from 12. Both motions were rejected by the groups.
So why then did our Area Committee decide, at the January Area Business meeting of this year, to reduce the number of printed mailings from 12 to four? It is my belief that this decision unintentionally ran afoul with our groups, and that what our Area does or does not do with our newsletter is a decision only the groups can make. This was a significant change that I believe was made without full understanding of its implications or alignment with the expressed wishes of the groups.
It appeared to me that this decision stemmed from a combination of factors. The incoming 2025 Area budget contained a significantly reduced newsletter budget and multiple Area Leader Servants spoke against the newsletter. While some of the Committee agreed or disagreed, for many I suspect that it was natural to follow the lead that appeared to be forming in the moment. After all, it was their very first meeting as an Area Committee. This is an example of why our Area has moved toward decision making by way of discussion topics prior to motion forming. They give us the time necessary for an informed group conscience.
Certainly it’s true that there is a newsletter issue (no pun intended). It has become very large, and it is very costly. Having received the newsletter for 25 years, it seems that it has slowly grown into a phonebook. Maybe we need a conversation about the scope and intention of the newsletter. Maybe our incoming newsletter editor could exert some of her delegated authority to bring the newsletter back down to a manageable size. After all, her title is Newsletter Editor, not Newsletter Printer. I know her personally. She is a very smart and responsible person. I trust her.
In any case, while there is a conundrum to resolve with the size and cost of the newsletter, changes to the number of printed mailings should be decided only by the collected Group Conscience of our Area’s Groups. After all, it’s their newsletter and ultimately it is their decision.
Love all you weirdos.
Alan
Past Delegate 2019/2020
