Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Alternatives to consensus decision making

[Joani Blank (jeblank]

Ann,

You asked:

>Have any of you heard if there are any cohousing communities in any
>stage of development which do NOT use some form of consensus decision
>making? If you belong to a cohousing community which does NOT use consensus,
>what kind of decision making do you use?

I'm curious why you are asking (although, knowing you, I think I can
guess). What is also interesting to know is how many times have groups
which DO use consensus had to go to fall-back voting. I'm pleased to say
that in 8+ years (including 6+  years living in our community), we have
only had to resort to a vote on one occaision. 

I believe virtually all groups have fall-back provisions that trigger a
vote if consensus cannot be reached after a prescribed amount of time or
number of meetings. It would be interesting to learn what those provisions
are in different groups, how many times the group has had to resort to a
vote, and eventually, what were the issues that triggered the votes. 

Joani Blank
Doyle Street CoHousing (currently) and Old Oakland CoHousing / Swan's
Market (future)