The Operating Committee of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Intergroup is composed of 10 members of Alcoholics Anonymous, nine of whom are elected from among the Intergroup Representatives of the AA Groups from the nine service Districts in the Greater Toronto Area. To qualify to be a member of the Operating Committee, each candidate must have a minimum of one year of sobriety and should also have a minimum of six consecutive months as an Intergroup Rep. Alternate Reps. may not be members of the Operating Committee. (Note: this paragraph and what follows comprise an informal discussion of the nature and duties of the GTA Intergroup Operating Committee. Click here for the more formal wording from the Procedures and Guidelines of GTA Intergroup)
The Operating Committee is composed of nine voting members and one non-voting member. The nine voting members include the Chair, first vice-chair, second vice chair, three Senior Members, and three Junior Members. The non-voting member, nominally "the Treasurer," is a representative of the Finance Committee (the committee's Chair or delegate).
The term of service for a member of the Operating Committee may be as long as two years. Eighteen months are spent as an active member of the Operating Committee - in blocks of six months each, as Junior, then Senior, then Executive member of the committee. The Operating Committee Chair may spend an additional six months of service as an advisor to the Operating Committee (as past Chair), or in other capacities (such as being a member of the committees organizing Info AA Day and the ORC).
There are procedures in place to handle interim vacancies on the committee (see the Procedures & Guidelines excerpts). Each six months, however, the three executive members rotate out, the seniors become execs., the juniors become seniors, and three new juniors are elected from among the Intergroup Reps. The Chair is chosen, by the Reps., from the three executive members with the vote totals determining who is to be first and second vice-chair.
Once the executive members rotate off the Operating Committee, they may not come back to the Intergroup Floor, as an Intergroup Rep., for a period of 24 months.
The Chair of the Operating Committee runs the meetings of both the Operating Committee and the Intergroup Floor. S/He is also automatically a voting member of all Intergroup service committees. When it's time for the Chair to rotate out, s/he automatically becomes a member of the ORC (Ontario Regional Conference) committee.
At least one member is responsible for setting up the hall for the monthly Intergroup Meeting and seeing to it that all documents required are present and that the coffee is made. S/he is the Reception Coordinator.
In addition to attending meetings of the Operating Committee and the Intergroup Floor (usually one meeting each per month), members of the Operating Committee also attend a quarterly meeting with the Districts to where members of each service level share information about current activities.
As well, each member of the Operating Committee attends several meetings each month of Intergroup's service committees in a liaison role. This may involve simply observing procedures and acting as a conduit of information in both directions, or it could also include full participation in the committee's work (at the discretion of each committee). The number of committees served by each Operating Committee member varies, but can range from one to three or more each month.
During meetings of the Intergroup Floor, Operating Committee members, in their liaison role, present reports on committee activities to the floor and either answer questions about the committees' activities, or take the questions back to the committees for answers to come at a later meeting.
The Operating Committee appoints the chairpersons of all GTA Intergroup Subcommittees (service committees). See the Procedures & Guidelines excerpts.