Re: Associate membership policies | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Martha Wagner (wordbizpdx![]() |
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Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 22:03:08 -0800 (PST) |
Thanks for responding to my question about Associate Membership policies, Douglas and Jim. Neither of you specified what the fees are for various categories of non-owner membership, but I am also curious to know what costs the fees cover in your community and whether fees go to your HOA general fund. Martha Wagner Portland, OR http://columbiaecovillage.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 07:09:15 -0800 From: "Douglas G. Larson" <ddhle [at] earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 121, Issue 30 To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> Message-ID: <BA27C3677A66461E8903198922806548@DGLPrimaryPC> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" <Does your community have an associate membership policy that?s been in effect for at least two or three years? In my community, we don't have such a policy yet, but would like to know what other <communities have done to formalize welcoming relationships with neighbors as well as former owners and renters. Here are some questions we have: <Do your associate members pay a one-time or annual fee per individual or family? <If there is a fee, what does the fee entitle them to? <Is there a screening process used for people wanting to become associate members? <Can associate members participate in work parties, cooking, etc., and if so, do you have them sign a liability waiver? <Are they welcome to attend your meetings, and if so, do they participate in discussion and decision-making? <Have problems arisen with your policy or is it working well? Here at Songaia we have had an associate member policy for several years. I don't recall exactly when we adopted it but it was at least 4 years ago. It may have been 5 or 6 years ago. We spent many, many hours drafting and discussing our policy taking about a year to do so. We have 3 levels of associates with renters being a 4th level. Each level carries a fee with it though for level 1, the lowest and most restrictive level (with the fewest privleges), we ask for a donation. Each higher level carries higher fees and more rights, privileges and responsibilities that go with it. The full details of our policy are too complex to type here. I can send you a copy if you are interested. As for problems, we have had a few, though I don't recall the nature of them just now. They were small problems as I recall. We revising the policy now, though that is because we are adopting a larger structure to encompass not only Songaia but out two neighboring communities. The most significant parts of the revision have to do with renters. I don't recall all of the proposed revisions just now. We have quite a few associate members. I don't know the exact number but its over 20. Of that number only about 7 or 8 come around on a regular basis. The rest come occasionally. Douglas Larson Songaia Cohousing, Bothell, Washington ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:24:42 -0500 From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Experiences in handling difficult issues To: Cohousing-L Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> Message-ID: <19AE8E6C-F5E2-40BA-BB3C-D6B7D3BE301F [at] sharonvillines.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Feb 20, 2014, at 2:40 PM, Willow Murphy <willowm7 [at] gmail.com> wrote: > We are especially concerned about times when some members have strong > feelings and concerns against a proposal and others have "facts" to support > it, which we have recently experienced. This has brought up the tough issue > of whether we value facts over what are believed to be legitimate concerns, > or vice versa. Concerns may be devalued, because there aren't as many facts > to back them up. The question of caring about our neighbors feelings came > up, the > question of either group "forcing their will" on the other, the importance of > saving money over health concerns or the reverse, and how to find what really > IS best for the community as a whole? Some decisions are hard and no process will make them easier. In the end, you have to make the decision and do a review of its success. By measuring the actual against the aim, then you know what changes to make to move toward success. Shorten the time period of the proposal and add evaluation criteria. These criteria should address the concerns and the facts. Most facts have a context so they may not be facts in your context. There is a huge movement now to reexamine the many research studies that purport to prove things that turn out to be bad studies or misinterpreted or reported results. The recent shocker is that the evidence for the great cholesterol scare evidence was made up and there is no correlation between red meat and heart disease. So treat facts with care, but I'm always amazed at how many people are perfectly comfortable ignoring facts. That'w where measurement comes in. Measure in your own community. The "forcing your will" on others goes both ways. The people who don't want to move forward are forcing their will on those who do. Don't fall for the guilt trip. Stick with the facts as you know them and can measure them. My personal feeling is that the "community as a whole" is only in the eyes of the individual, and groups of individual. No matter what the issue is some will feel more or less strongly about it. I am fairly sure that no matter what the issue is, I could find someone in the community who would argue with me about it, even issues on which no one objected. The best solution, I think, is to respect the concerns of all sides, pro and con, and work out a way forward. Moving forward is important. Moving forward is the only way to measure whether the proposal is a good one or bad one. Even if you don't go forward, you can measure the results of not moving forward and try again. Does my community do this? Of course not. It takes too much attention. But we are getting much better at it. After 14 years, the most difficult decisions never come up for a decision because we can't figure out how to propose a solution. Like bike storage, workshare -- the big things. We haven't had a proposal come forward in a long time that wasn't accepted. But some are stuck in the pre-meeting stage. And some dissatisfactions just bubble about. Sharon ---- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 16:02:29 -0500 From: Jim Snyder-Grant <jimsg [at] newview.org> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ associate membership policies To: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> Message-ID: <CAE08cf=31=q+DsbP1j-b9ib8ce+HPmZBJGhhu=+Hd0fqw+UddA [at] mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi Martha (et al): Here are links to our policies. http://newview.org/Joining.htm These outline our policies. We've used this form of them for at least 10 years. They seem to work fine. We make a distinction between those who live right near by, within walking distance, who participate a lot (with very few limits) and pay a fairly substantial fixed annual fee; and others who typically live farther away and participate sometimes (with more limits), and pay less, and on a sliding scale We don't use liability waivers: I believe our generic liability policy provides sufficient protection, and liability waivers aren't as protective as people think (I can't bind my heirs from suing you for wrongful death for example). -Jim Jim Snyder-Grant Home: 978 266-9409 Cell: 508 572-2985 18 Half Moon Hill Acton MA 01720
- Re: associate membership policies, (continued)
- Re: associate membership policies R Philip Dowds, March 3 2014
- Re: associate membership policies Mary Ann Clark, March 3 2014
- Re: associate membership policies Jim Snyder-Grant, February 28 2014
- Re: associate membership policies drmaryann49, March 1 2014
- Re: Associate membership policies Martha Wagner, March 1 2014
-
Associate Membership Policies Susan Hyne, March 2 2014
- Re: Associate Membership Policies Mary Kaplan, March 3 2014
- Re: associate membership policies Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah, March 4 2014
- Re: Associate Membership Policies Fred H Olson, March 5 2014
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