Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Who gets to vote?

[Joani Blank (jeblank]

At Doyle Street during almost three years of development and building
(don't get jealous, remember this group started with a site) and six years
of living here, we have only had to resort to a vote once. And we have
dealt with a few issues on which at first we seemed intractably polarized.
So I hope you very rarely if ever have to resort to voting.

On matters that don't involve expenditure of homeowners' money, matters,
say, concerning plans or arrangements you set up for working, playing or
just living together, every adult individual (including renters)
participate equally in the consensus process and in an emergency (and,
goddess forbid, a vote) would be able to block (or vote.) On matters that
involve the expenditure of funds, it's one "vote" per owner household,
though individuals may and do participate fully as individuals in the
consensus deliberations.  Sometimes here only one person from a two-adult
family is present at a meeting where something is being decided.  It is
assumed they represent their spouse (or whomever). If not, then that is for
the two of them to work out at a later date.

Joani Blank
Doyle Street CoHousing/Old Oakland (Swan's Mkt.) Cohousing, Oakland, California