Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cats and dogs and sociocracy, and a copy of our pet policy

[Richard L Kohlhaas (rlkohl]

Before we moved into Casa Verde, we had many discussions about a pet policy and 
a smoking policy.  We were finally able 
to agree that pets would not be allowed to smoke anywhere on the property.  


-------------------------
Dick Kohlhaas  
Member of Colorado Springs Cohousing Community at Casa Verde Commons
34 households on 4 acres  1.5 miles from center of city.  Built in 2002.
 www.casaverde.us


From:                   Jerry Koch-Gonzalez <jerry [at] sociocracyforall.org>
Date sent:              Mon, 18 Oct 2021 20:28:19 -0400
To:                     Cohousing-L <cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org>
Subject:                [C-L]_ cats and dogs and sociocracy, and a copy of our 
pet policy
Send reply to:          cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org

> In my opinion, the outdoor cat issue was the most painful one we've
> had to deal with in our 27-yer history. We switched from consensus to
> dynamic governance/sociocracy about 8 years ago and only then were we
> able to resolve the tensions. Not likely we could have resolved it in
> meetings of the whole community of 40-50 people deciding by consensus.
> When we shifted to sociocracy, our Community Life Circle took on the
> responsibility for the pet policy. The 6 or 7 of us in the ComLife
> Circle surveyed, interviewed, researched and drafted a proposal. We
> shared that proposal with the whole community, got some feedback, made
> some minor revisions, and we, the Circle not the whole community, made
> the decision on the new policy. That was 7 years ago and not a meow
> since then. We tackled the dog policy and that also worked out without
> problems until someone brought in a too-lively dog a couple of years
> ago. We then added an enforceable accountability mechanism to the
> policy which led to more training of the dog and its owners. These
> aren't perfect policies but the policies and the process by which we
> created them have served the community well. If you want to hear more
> about sociocracy in community, come to the Sociocracy in Community
> Conference on November 20.  More info and the schedule is on the
> website:
> https://www.sociocracyforall.org/sociocracy-in-communities-conference-
> 2021 If you are wondering about the policies we adopted, you will find
> it below.
> 
> Jerry Koch-Gonzalez
> Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Massachusetts
>