Re: Policies for guests on property
From: Doug Huston (hustonashlandcoho.com)
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2014 22:54:22 -0700 (PDT)
Amen to all that Ann poses. I’ll especially underline her questions about what 
motivates this….and will what you obtain in a background check really provide 
progress towards resolving the   issue that motivates the proposition of 
getting background check info? 
As a mental health professional who also works a fair amount with law 
enforcement, I imagine there are lots of misconceptions members will have in 
the meaning they might read into the information obtained in a background check.
At the risk of sounding snotty, I believe there are likely lots of critical 
thinking errors that may already exist in proposing this, and more that may 
emerge once you have the desired background info. I do confess I don’t know 
exactly what one sees in a background check. I imagine the context and details 
are not included. I know a police force that interviews 
ex-wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends and what they say can result in not 
moving forward in hiring - even without a "criminal background.” Who in your 
group wants their neighbors to hear what your exes have to say about them?
Will there be a temporal criteria for when the incident or crime occurred: what 
if said person was nineteen? What if the incident happened 30 years ago?
What if they went through “treatment?” What if the treatment generally has a 
questionable track record for effectiveness (substance abuse treatment, 
batterer intervention treatment, sex offender, etc.)? But what if the treatment 
‘worked’ for the specific individual in question? How would you determine that? 
Are you willing to use black and white thinking about certain crimes i.e. if 
you did x or y it’s absolutely unacceptable for you to live in our community? 
Do you want to take each situation on a case by case basis? Who will want to be 
on that committee? If it was a white collar financial crime, will that be 
exclusionary criteria for the person to be in a position of handling finances? 
I’m just guessing here that the crimes that have the most ‘juice’ for persons 
proposing this are violent ones. And to project further - sex crimes. Are you 
willing to excuse the man who was 21 and had consensual sex with his 16 year 
old boyfriend in a rural community in the 70s? What about the child welfare 
investigation or charge that were brought against your would-be neighbor for a 
single incident for which the were mortified and contrite and occurred years 
ago? How about the man who amidst an argument left the room and slammed the 
door in anger not realizing his girlfriend was following him and as a result he 
broke her toe and had a domestic violence charge (maybe even a felony)? Or more 
typically, what if the domestic violence charges were against a woman who had 
really committed retaliatory or pre-emptive violence in a relationship in which 
she had been beat up many times previously and this was a strategy that made 
the violence less worse - but law enforcement viewed her actions as a crime? 
What if the domestic violence was more “expressive “ than “instrumental” as 
some research has distinguished? What if the crime was vehicular manslaughter 
and drug-related and the person has spent the rest of their lives since helping 
others stay clean and sober and helps with restorative justice circles? What if 
the crime of record showed it was a misdemeanor but turned out to be much more 
heinous than another’s felony? You know, class and money makes a difference in 
the criminal justice system.
Some of these are composites of people I’ve met and other are not made up at 
all. 
What about the people who did “bad” things who didn’t get caught and you don’t 
know about it? What if a person has committed transgressions which are not 
crimes, but social taboos or judeo-christian “sins” (e.g. sloth, avarice, 
greed, infidelity, wrath, etc.) and how the heck will you measure those? What 
about your neighbors who have an active substance abuse problem that hasn’t 
been addressed and hasn’t really erupted yet? Does the person in recovery that 
began with mandated treatment have a leg up on them? What if the crime occurs 
while they live in your community - and they don’t have to do jail time? 
Just a few thoughts on this Saturday morning that turned into Saturday night.

- Doug Huston (Ashland Cohousing Community Oregon)

On Apr 5, 2014, at 8:14 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> John —- this has come up on this list in the past.  Have you checked the 
> archives?  You can check by key word.
> 
> What is propelling this discussion of background checks?  Have you had a 
> problem w/ people joining your group in the past?  What are some of the 
> issues being raised?
> 
> Speaking personally, I cannot imagine doing a background check on a future 
> neighbor.  That kind of thinking destroys everything I consider to be sacred 
> about and the promise of cohousing.  It’s worse than a gated community.  
> While surely we all get “characters” in our communities … how would we ever 
> avoid that?
> 
> If you are worried about sexual predators you can check w/ on line services 
> for that.   
> 
> What will be the criteria for accepting or rejecting a household based on a 
> background check?  Multiple marriages?  Sticky divorces? Not paying bills on 
> time? (I’ve missed payments.)   Back taxes owed?   (I got walloped one year 
> for not taking out enough taxes so I owed a bundled.  Paid it off over time.) 
>  Served time for drug abuse?  Lost job?  (How many of us have been in THAT 
> situation?)
> 
> Doing a “background” check is going to uncover a whole lot of information hat 
> you may not even be considering.  Are you REALLY comfortable knowing this 
> info about your neighbors?  Who will see this information?  Everyone 
> currently “in” the group?  
> 
> Here’s a guideline:  Are the persons currently in the group going to have 
> background checks?   Is everyone in the group comfortable with having 
> everyone else “know their business?”   If you find out something about the 
> people currently in your group are you booting them out?   
> 
>> From a strictly marketing and outreach perspective … my mind boggles at what 
>> the branding would be:
> 
> Join our cohousing community!
> Know your neighbors!
> Background check required!
> 
> I’m not being glib — I think this is a serious issue.  Where in your outreach 
> process are you going to tell prospective members they have to have a 
> background check?  First meeting? Who would come back?   Second meeting?  
> Once they are really invested in the community and suddenly are informed of 
> this?  How many pissed off people will you have?  It would feel like “bait 
> and switch” to me.  
> 
> If fear is driving your community at this stage then fear may end up driving 
> your future.   The norms and conditions you establish early on are difficult 
> to change later.  Really difficult.
> 
> I acknowledge people’s need for safety.  Will background checks provide that?
> 
> I’d be looking at what’s going on in the group rather than what’s going on  
> “out there.”
> 
> Best --
> 
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church VA
> 703-688-2646
> 
> On Apr 5, 2014, at 10:00 AM, johnrichmond50 <johnrichmond50 [at] hotmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Hello folks - a belated thank you to those who responded to the questions 
>> regarding electoral representation. 
>> 
>> Another question - there is a groundswell within our group in favor of 
>> background checks for future residents and renters. Given that, what are the 
>> policies of your communities regarding checks on guests on your properties? 
>> If there's something we're missing with checks on residents you can address 
>> that too.
>> 
>> Thank you, Happy Saturday -
>> 
>> John Richmond
>> Richmond Cohousing
>> Sent from my Galaxy S®III
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> 
> 
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