Process minutes: 2008-12-08

Agenda:

Process Cmtee meeting
12/8/2008
7-8pm, CH sitting room

Agenda
1. Checkins
2. Monkey review
3. Quorum discussion next steps
4. Next work season
5. Next meeting

Minutes:

Process Cmtee meeting
12/8/2008
7-8pm, CH sitting room

Present: Gail, Catherine, Jillian

2. Monkeys/Cooler/Freezer items from previous meetings:

MONKEY and COOLER: Process to ask minute takers to come to a process meeting
at the start of each work term to talk about the full minute taker job
description, and talk about the using names issue so they are aware of some
of nuances.

COOLER:
Discussion about how CRC members are chosen, is that working ok?

COOLER: Naming names in committee meeting minutes, periodically reread
current guidelines, make sure they're ok for both committees and plenary

Ongoing MONKEY: CRC should talk about the fact that they can't all to rotate
off at the same time. What are the current CRC members each thinking about
their terms, who is willing to continue? If everyone wants to continue for a
while that's great, its just that when folks do want to rotate off it needs
to be staggered.

Re-MONKEY: Catherine will put out an email about Member Resources to talk
about the library: if anyone has come across a book or game that the think
would be of use to GOers and good to have in the Community library to let
process know, could be related to all kinds of topics (gardening, cooking,
energy, etc) not just process.

Re-MONKEY: Catherine will check in with the two groups of folks who said
they'd be willing to work on the kids and the CH issues and bring it back to
the community.

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MONKEYS from the previous meeting, 11/11/2008

DONE: MONKEY: Willie will send out a note to "talk" letting people know
about the cool new functions, and also will ask if people have any requests
for changes/development.

Re-MONKEY: Jillian will check in with current BOA enterer about printing out
the agreements to put in the printer binder of BOA.

Re-MONKEY: Jillian will check in with membership cmtee to see if the
printout of BOA agreements that's in the sitting room is still useful. It
will never be as up to date at the electronic version.

Re-MONKEY: Gail will email renters to make sure they know, that they are
encouraged to participate fully in meetings, that their voice counts as much
as anyone else's, there are very few decisions they can't be part of. (This
should be spelled out in the levels of membership agreement.)

ONGOING MONKEY: when there are new people send them an invite to come to
community meetings.

-----------------

MONKEYS from this meeting 12/8/2008

MONKEY: Jillian will remind infoco that: Facilitators should (1) send out
agenda at least 2 days ahead and then a reminder on the day of the meeting,
and (2) consider putting a slip of paper in every mailbox about the meeting
as well, at least a day ahead. Just to see if it helps.

MONKEY: ? will check in with membership and see if they'd like to come to
the January Process meeting, 2nd Tues, 7-8pm, to talk about their new member
and potential new member procedures - what is the buddy job description,
what is covered about expectations around meetings.

MONKEY: Jillian will draft a quorum preproposal in case there's room on
12/15.

MONKEY: Catherine will check with Susan Kennard to make sure 2nd Tuesdays
works for her, 7-8pm.

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3. Quorum discussion next steps

We read the minutes from the Nov 17, 2008 community discussion.

Pretty wide-ranging. Suggestion to lower quorum to 40% of units; suggestion
to have different quorum requirements for different kinds of decisions;
suggestion to have people have to sit down in a chair at least once for them
to be counted in quorum; suggestion that people have to be in the room at
the time of a decision to be counted toward quorum, or at least for part of
that item's discussion; suggestion to get rid of quorum altogether;
suggestion to lower the 37 unit total at the start of the year by talking
with households who did not come at all the previous year and see if they
intend not to continue the following year. Quite a mix!

General sense that just grabbing people from childcare is not a great idea.
And yet a sense of not wanting to tie the community's hands, a practical
need for the community to get things done.

A clear sense that going by unit not by individual is fine.

Its all the persons LIVING in one unit count for one is how we've been
doing it as far as how we've been counting "unit". (Ie, Tammy is a unit,
Eric is a unit, Sarah and Mel are a unit, Jane is a unit, Emily is a unit,
Susan/Joel/Robert/Mandy are a unit, etc.) This is not about how *we
actually MAKE decisions* - in the discussion and decision, every single
voice counts - this is just about making a provision so a certain minimum
number of households are in the room.

Some people seemed to like the idea of lowering the unit total at the start
of the year by the number of households who will never come. It's tricky
though - we *really* don't want to have this happen much or for people to
feel like its ok to opt out. That gets right into fairness issues and at
the core of what our responsibilities are in choosing to live here and what
makes us different from a condo association.

Whatever we do lets not make it too complex or unwieldy or unclear.

The idea of 40% seemed like a good idea consider - since that's the reality
of what we've been obtaining at meetings recently.

Should we try 40% of the practical total (34 households?) and say we need
those people in the room at the time of the decision?

At the same time, process or the facils could commit to trying putting a
piece of paper in every inbox about the meeting, a day ahead.

A sense in the meeting that people have an expectation that if people aren't
coming its because they trust the group. But others get upset that that is
not fair - we're all supposed to be there, it is a fundamental part of what
we agree to when we buy a unit in cohousing.

It didn't seem like there was a surge of energy from people in the meeting
around everyone working on getting neighbors to come who rarely or never
come.

Facilitators should send out agenda at least 2 days ahead and then a
reminder on the day of.

MONKEY: Jillian will remind infoco that: Facilitators should (1) send out
agenda at least 2 days ahead and then a reminder on the day of, and (2)
facilitators should consider putting a slip of paper in every mailbox about
the meeting as well, at least a day ahead. Just to see if it helps.

Membership cmtee role too, of educating new people about living here means
being on a board of directors. Hopefully membership is educating new people
before they join and their first six months to a year. Should we ask
membership to meet with process to check in about their process with new
members? Do buddies have a job description, things to cover, number of times
to meet?

MONKEY: ? will check in with membership and see if they'd like to come to
the January Process meeting to talk about their new member and potential new
member procedures, and what is covered about expectations around meetings.

Our next steps? A preproposal.

There was mixed feelings about lowering our number from 37 units or from
50%-plus-1 - some felt it was practical, others felt we should try harder.

There's nothing sacred about 51% - its just the number we're used to in the
context of majority voting.

Seems like we may not need the complexity of different levels of quorum for
different kinds of decisions - goal to try to keep as simple as we can while
meeting the needs.

My first choice would just be to try it at 40% and not lowering the total
from 37, since lowering it might seem like too much accomodation. And say
that you have to be sitting for at least part of the discussion for that
item that is up for decision. So quorum check would be at the start of that
discussion.

MONKEY: Jillian will draft a quorum preproposal in case there's room on
12/15.


4. Anything we need to do for the next work season?

Workers - minute taker and facilitator and alternative meeting schedule-pref
sheets are coming to Jillian. Infoco will schedule this next week at their
meeting on 12/17.

Alternative meetings - Elph wanted the first one and Pam wanted the last
one. The other two were Dale and Catherine.

MONKEY: Catherine: check with Susan Kennard to make sure 2nd Tuesdays works
for her, 7-8pm.

Jim G is the new BOA person starting in January.


5. Next meeting
2nd Tuesday in January 1/13/09, 7-8pm.

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