September Board Meeting Input

[Gary Seldon]

Greetings Dear Co-operators,

Deep thanks and gratitude to each of you for your efforts!
I have critical input to offer on two of the items on tonight’s agenda. Please consider it as you can.

Item #12: Between-Meeting Decision-Making Process
The Bylaws define how the Board holds meetings, meetings that include members.The Bylaws define how decisions to administer our Co-op are made at those meetings. The Bylaw Executive Committee section lays out another decision making process, a process which I read to only be only for emergency decisions. Considering these aspects, I think the Bylaws require that the Board make non-emergency decisions at Board Meetings. Board Meetings where members can attend and vote, I’d advocate that having the right to vote implies that members can participate as well!

I think the recommended “any action permitted“ language is far too broad. The recommendation would allow any board action to take effect before any notice to membership of the matter under consideration, without any consideration of member input on the matter, and would also allow the possibility of there being no record available to membership of any of this.

The respect I have for the BDC members would be hard to overstate. Considering that I find it a sad irony that this recommendation comes from the BDC, a committee that as far as I know, I am on. But somehow, undoubtedly due to a simple oversight I’d not heard of the BDC meeting addressing the issue prior to looking at the packet on the Member Forum. So in effect, this active committed Co-op member’s concerned view about not changing the process in a way that will decrease transparency to members, was excluded. Maybe “left off” would be a friendlier, more cooperative way to put it!

A way to improve the recommended language would be to add a requirement that the entire action item written exchange happen on our website’s Member Forum, so it would be available to members.

Item #19: Healthy Food Access Committee Charter Change Proposal
RE the Committee Composition section: “Visitors are welcome to participate in HFAC meetings except for the final step of decision making.” Co-op members have the Bylaw protected right vote at Board meetings, I don’t think our Committees or their Charters should allow less, a reduction to member rights. … The only requirement is to be a Co-op member.

Thanks for your consideration, and my apologies for serving this up so close to meeting time.
Good luck with the meeting, Gary

Ps I’ll post this on the Member Forum on general principle.

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