Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Flawed membership process

[Elizabeth B. V. Urner (ebv]

When we were buying into Rosewind this exact situation happened (two households
promised sole remaining lot).  We were actually all at a retreat when it became
clear that we both wanted to buy the lot.  The members sent the interested
households out of the meeting with an escort who walked us all over the place,
apologizing profusely.  Meanwhile, the group had (apparently, I wasn't there,
obviously) a VERY contentious and unhappy meeting, trying to figure out who
"won."  The two households finally banished our escort, went for a 5-minute walk
in the woods, and came out with one having decided to defer.  If we'd done this
sooner, I think it would've saved the group a lot of unhappiness.  So, one
solution might be to let the conflicting interest see if THEY can arrive at a
solution.  People often surprise themselves.

On the other hand, we eventually backed out of our lot purchase, and the other
person never did buy a lot, so maybe it wasn't that successful.  I think this 
is a
harder struggle for the GROUP than for the prospective members.


Libby Urner
Arcadia Farm Cohousing
Port Townsend WA
www.arcadia-farm.org

where we're re-grouping after losing a founding family, and looking for new 
blood