Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: hiring labor

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Casey -- just trying to get clear --  do you know anything of his background
or experience?  Something else must be operating here.  (Obviously.)  Is he
preventing the community from moving forward or just expressing his feelings
and preferences?  Sometimes I find that people just want to be heard.
Sometimes really, really listening to those we have most trouble listening
to will yield unexpected insights and solutions.

We had a situation in a meeting recently where we were at the point of
consensus on the use of the CH (after many, many weeks of discussion) and
one member right at the end questioned why we were putting in certain
requirements.  It was unclear what was troubling the member (at least it was
to me.)  A small group met w/ the member during the meeting break and was
able to voice the member's concern resulting in a contribution to the
proposal previously missing.  And I really think that came from intense,
active, listening by the small group.

Just curious...did he build his own house?  Who built your community's
infrastructure? (water, sewer, septic, electric...whatever grid you are on
or its alternative.)  Did he object to the use of manual labor during
development and construction?  Maybe there's something that makes manual
labor during construction applaudable but something changes for him once
moved in and responsible.

Ann Zabaldo

Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC. -- America's
Hometown!
zabaldo [at] earthlink.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Casey Morrigan" <cjmorr [at] pacbell.net>
To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 11:03 PM
Subject: RE: [C-L]_hiring labor


> Well, that is a great question that I don't know the whole answer to.
Here
> is a partial answer.  He does not like to pay others to do work because it
> reinforces classism and an unequal relationship between the wage payer and
> the wage earner.  And that we should as a community be willing to get our
> hands dirty and do the manual labor required to make the place run.  There
> is more to it but that is my summary.  Uncomfortable was my euphemism, not
> his.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org
> [mailto:cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org]On Behalf Of Ann Zabaldo
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 6:24 PM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_hiring labor
>
>
> Casey -- what does the community member mean when he says he is
> "uncomfortable" w/ hiring people for manual labor?
>
> Ann Zabaldo
>
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC. -- America's
> Hometown!
> zabaldo [at] earthlink.net
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Casey Morrigan" <cjmorr [at] pacbell.net>
> To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 9:01 PM
> Subject: [C-L]_hiring labor
>
>
> > Anyone have any ideas about this new thread that is probably old?
> >
> > We are trying to make up our community minds about budgeting for hired
> > labor.  We have one community member that is uncomfortable with hiring
> > people to do manual labor on site (landscaping, cleaning, digging). So
> > uncomfortable that he's not sure he can live with it in the budget.
> >
> > How have others addressed this and resolved it?  I am not a neutral
party
> in
> > the discussion.  I cannot figure out how to get the work done, because
we
> > have lived here three years and neglected lots of stuff and over-relied
> and
> > burnt out a coupla resident people who overdid this work. So I am stuck
> > regarding a solution.
> >
> > Casey Morrigan
> > Two Acre Wood
> > Sebastopol, California
> >
> >
> >
> >
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