Cohousing-L Mailing List: Consensus fallback procedure

[Dan Everett (drdan]

At Kenney Ridge we have a fallback procedure (two meetings without
consensus, third meeting 75% vote) which has been used exactly once,
in our first few months of operations, when a stubborn member dug
in her heels on an issue. Since then we've all learned that a lot
more give and take is necessary to maintain a caring community.
(Although we still value that member's stubborness, especially when
she is doing battle with local toxic polluters!)

Consensus is a very idealistic procedure which 9 out of 10 people
will tell you cannot possibly work. It slows us down for sure, but
it's invaluable for building community.

Dan Everett
Kenney Ridge Community
Athens, GA USA