Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: enforcement of cohousing rules within your community

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Nov 7, 2015, at 8:21 AM, castrohom--- via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> I am particularly interested in - and grateful for - and dismayed by this 
> thread of frustration around agreements.

> I wonder if the word ‘enforcement’ is a somewhat of a problem - it comes with 
> such a lot of baggage and implications - prosecuting/policing, 
> compelling/coercing, overbearing/persecutory ‘parent’ figures and so on.

We are too late down the road of “policies” and “guidelines” but I suggest 
calling all policies, agreements, community rules, etc., community agreements.

Then you can say, we agreed as a community that this what we choose to. Then it 
becomes an issue of respecting agreements and all residents doing what they 
agreed to do. If they want to change the agreement, they should develop a 
new/amended agreement and bring it forward for consent.

We have provisions in some agreements that people who want exceptions can 
request it by posting it on the tvc-members list and other members have the 
right to object. No objections, no problem.

DC condo law requires that potential buyers receive a copy of all the community 
agreements, budgets, etc.(a resale packet), before they purchase their units. 
By purchasing a unit they agree to abide by them. Other jurisdictions may have 
different or no laws about this but it would be a good idea to include it in 
the bylaws if they have nothing. States must have some required agreement to 
follow the bylaws since those control the functioning of the condominium.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Sociocracy: A Deeper Democracy
http://www.sociocracy.info