Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Work or Pay Systems - Authorization

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jul 17, 2008, at 7:08 PM, OC611NGC wrote:

> Our community has instituted an authorization policy.  No task shall  
> be
> recognized as legitimate unless authorized by an overseeing committee.

Our community would never allow this. The full membership is the  
decision making body here, so any committee that proposed this would  
be out on their ear. No one would go along with it.

Of the tasks you mentioned about people doing things in such a way as  
to damage things, when that happens here an email goes out pointing  
out the damage and why it happened, and asking people to consult so  
and so if they need help.

We have someone in charge of most of our community processes, places,  
and equipment, so if anyone decided to water the CH plants, for  
example, the person in charge would notice and put out an email  
suggesting a better solution or informing people that she takes care  
of this.

We do a pretty good job of avoiding Gestapo like rules and yet taking  
good care of the facilities. Sometimes I wish we were better at having  
a more orderly and thrifty workshop, for example, but on the whole few  
things are broken or damaged out of inappropriate use. Neglect,  
perhaps, but not purposeful. That also goes back to skills -- where a  
community has people with specific skills and knowledge different  
things are possible.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org