Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities

[normangauss (normangauss]

Kevin:

     I gather that screening is a useful practice in regard to prospects.
We did not ask  screening questions when we were trying to get the last of
our new units sold.  We were so concerned about selling out, that anyone
that signed the papers was in.  They signed an agreement about living as an
integral part of our community but I doubt that they gave it much thought.
As a result, we have a few members who do not have a goal of cooperative
community building.  They are more concerned with imposing their needs or
goals upon the community, whether the community is comfortable with it or
not.

    Thank you for the suggestion about screening.  We have two units for
sale now, and I think that screening will help us prevent the mess that we
are in.

Norm Gauss
Oak Creek Commons
Paso Robles, CA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Wolf" <kevin [at] wolfandassociates.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 6:47 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities


> Norman
> Goals also need to be prioritized. Are safety goals more important
> than ecological ones? Is an affordable goal more important than a
> kids goal?  It will be difficult but not impossible to agree on the
> top 3-6 primary goals of the community that never used priority goals
> as a screen for who moved  in.  With such a  list and some guiding
> principles, a community can gain the foundation needed for consensus.
> It is always easier to have these agreed upon at the beginning than
> after members have bought their units.
>
> Kevin
> -- 
> ****************
> Kevin Wolf
> N Street Cohousing Community member
> http://members.dcn.org/nstreet
> 724 N St, Davis, CA  95616
> 530-758-4211
> kevin [at] wolfandassociates.com
>
> To download my facilitation manual or other free material on
> consensus decision making, visit
> http://www.wolfandassociates.com/facilitation/index.htm
>
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