Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Consensus and Voting

[Dan Everett (dme]

At Kenney Ridge we use consensus as a matter of course. Our bylaws provide that
if consensus cannot be reached, we can pass the proposal by a vote at the
next meeting (to give time for folks to talk and think about it).

For some touchy items, the bylaws require a super-majority vote:

        To raise assessments: a two-thirds vote
        To discipline a member: a nine-tenths vote
        To sell off community property: theoretically impossible!

It is recommended that you make it difficult for a majority to sell off
your community assets. 

In the two and a half years I have been in this community, so far we have
made all our decisions by consensus -- we have not yet needed to resort to 
a vote.

Oh, and you may have noticed that consensus makes for longer meetings! Get
used to delegating problems to committees -- the full group will still have
to approve the committee recommendation, but in my experience this takes
a lot less time.

Cheers
Dan Everett
Kenney Ridge Community
Athens GA USA