Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Women's Suffrage and Coho Membership

[WOLF1GDSFM (WOLF1GDSFM]

Becky Schaller wrote:

<< Should we start putting money away to fix the roof on the common
house five or ten years from now?   These kinds of votes are one vote
for one household.  Renters don't vote.

The other kind of issues have to do with the day to day running of the
community.  How many meals should we cook and eat in the common
house?  Renters do vote on these issues. >>

This is a reasonable approach.

I am dismayed that this is being debated as a "Women's Suffrage" issue.
As a single woman, I have saved (and rented) all my life (which is
probably more than half over) until finally I was able to buy this unit.  To
put renters on equal footing with owners for expensive items which will
have consequences for years to come could put me at a definite
disadvantage, and I AM a woman.

Renters can move away when the lease is up.  Owners have to sell.  I
am not very experienced with this, but it appears that selling is usually
quite a bit more difficult than moving to a different rental unit.  It also
seems that selling would be even more difficult if the unit were burdened
with expensive long-term encumbrances.

Those who will have to bear the brunt of the consequences should be
those to decide.  They can be women or men.  This is not a women's
suffrage issue.

Jan Ankney
Sunward Cohousing
Ann Arbor, Michigan