Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How do we hold each other accountable?

[Kathleen Walsh (walsh]

When Columbia Ecovillage was in the planning stage, the community placed 
a dollar amount on the cost of a participation hour: $20.  Although we 
may begin to actually charge households if they do not follow through on 
their commitment to participate in running the community (meals, 
cleaning, etc.), we do not do so now because we have a high rate of 
completion.   Some members actually offer to do the hours for others at 
a competitive rate(less than $20 per hour).  In this way folks who need 
work get it, and people who need hours to be completed can do so without 
paying the $20 per hour:  It's a locally-based economy "win-win" for us.

Don't folks who join know the expectations?  If someone is truly 
over-whelmed by circumstances beyond his or her control (new baby, loss 
of job, for example) folks at CEV give others who need them hours they 
have worked for.  There are plenty of retired and/or more comfortable 
people at CEV who willingly support those who need it.  What erodes the 
sense of community are people who don't participate, don't acknowledge 
the commitment they made upon joining, and don't  problem-solve if they 
need to, but just assume they are exempt from participation for whatever 
reason seems reasonable to them.

Kathleen Walsh
Columbia Ecovillage, Portland Oregon


David L. Mandel wrote:
> No matter how you spin it -- penalty, fee, refund, consequence ... -- there's a problem with the "work 
> or pay" model if you aspire to have a community that's seriously diverse in members' economic means. If 
> I have a demanding but highly paid job, I may rationally decide that my time is more valuable than my money 
> and therefore choose to pay, or not get the refund, or whatever, while letting others do the work. My 
> low-paid neighbor may have job and/or family responsibilities that are at least as demanding, meanwhile, but 
> she doesn't really have that choice if she needs every $ for necessities. Forget the word "fair." 
> Is that the kind of dynamic you want in your community? Like everyone else, we have had great difficulties 
> finding ways to get the work done without resentments. But while it has been proposed, we have so far 
> refrained from institutionalizing "work or pay."
> David
> Southside Park, Sacramento.
>
> --- On Sun, 7/25/10, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> wrote:
>
> From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ How do we hold each other accountable?
> To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Date: Sunday, July 25, 2010, 9:17 AM
>
>
>
> On Jul 25, 2010, at 11:33 AM, Elizabeth Magill wrote:
>
>   
> > I've heard of having a fee everyone pays, and that fee is refunded if
> > they do a certain amount of work. That makes  sense to me.
> >     
>
> I like this best -- its impersonal and equally applied.
>
> A resident has to actively engage in order to be reimbursed. I also  
> think this amount added to the condo fee would be good so it doesn't  
> have to be collected as a separate fee. It's automatic.
>
> And with a time limit for refunds.
>
> Everyone pays. Passive, no refund. Active, refund.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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