Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Thank you!! Was Expulsion Policy

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

I didn’t respond earlier because I find this topic both fraught with legalities 
and off the topic of what a new community can benefit from discussing. Along 
with consent decision-making, I have come to favor the option of a backup vote 
partly because it discourages a household with a Trumpist Intent from joining 
or even one without such intent being obstructionist. 

Angry people vote for people like Trump and listen to Steve Bannon. To realize 
that someone like them might move into cohousing seems extreme but there have 
been people like that who have dropped out of cohousing groups because group 
didn’t agree to something they wanted and have continued to be angry at 
cohousing for decades. But they dropped out when it took years to develop a 
community so the situation became clear over time.

What if the person joins during the final desperate phase of having to sell one 
more unit to get a construction loan? Or buys in later? Trump looked attractive 
to a lot of people for a long time. Even Hillary said, "He gives good parties." 
and she went to them. 

But if we felt that we had to have specific rules to address every possible 
negative situation we would never get built. 
The group of stargazers would never be large enough to move forward. One group 
that I watched form and dissipate was one that wanted all the rules in place 
first. Joining would have felt like being handed a set of rules the size of an 
unabridged dictionary. They were good rules and the instigators worked very 
well with the city to get zoning exceptions and alternative building materials 
approved. But people didn’t want to join a dictionary. 

If you have a general policy that allows a supermajority to make a decision in 
any situation, then you probably have all the protection you need. You won’t 
have to agonize over being sure you have every instance specified. The only 
exception to this might be something related to a quirk in the state law or the 
land but your lawyer can alert you to that.

Consensus, or working toward consensus, only works if people have a common aim. 
Everyone is going sort of in the same direction. People also have to be willing 
and able to spend the time necessary to work out a mutually satisfactory 
decision. Lots of people are not willing to do that. As soon as someone 
disagrees with them, they leave the room.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
"Reality is something you rise above." Liza Minnelli

> On Nov 12, 2023, at 8:13 AM, Arthur Herold <herold [at] nexicom.net> wrote:
> 
> Grateful thanks to all who responded to my post about developing an Expulsion 
> Policy!  We are sorting through and considering all of your information.
> 
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