Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Conflict Resolution

[Kevin Wolf (kjwolf]

I am a proponent of a backup super majority voting process because there
can be occasions where non-rational, even mentally ill people are part of
the group and block consensus without reason.  It was a scare in this area
that helped us both develop or fall back procedure and determine that we
needed to clarify who had voting rights. (We have a fair number of new
people coming into the community every year and community members bringing
in significant others into the community.  It was the later situation that
spooked us into getting these issues clarified and in writing.   An
organization can be in a lot of trouble with a pure consensus, no vote
process and not a good definition of who has the right to block decisions
on such important things as what determines membership and whether there is
a way to get around a single person blocking a decision.  You can see how
problematic this can become.  

Kevin  

Kevin Wolf and Associates       - Consensus-based Facilitation
724 N Street                            - Internet Consulting
Davis, CA 95616                       - Strategic and Watershed Planning 
kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us             - Facilitation training
Phone 530-758-4211         
Fax   530-758-2338           
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/kjwolf