Cohousing-L Mailing List: Concensus and Lenders

[C2pattee (C2pattee]

I'm on the Board of Directors of a women's music festival (the Northeast 
Women's Music Retreat - NEWMR), that incorporated as a not for profit 
organization after we received a large bequest "to buy land for a [permanent 
home] for a women's music festival".  Coming out of that good old Women's 
Liberation tradition, we wrote consensus into our bylaws - and it has created 
endless problems.  

Consensus is a good way to work through the decision making process, and I 
continue to believe in this approach for groups seeking to build a community. 
 The problem with consensus comes when you need to make a decision, and a 
small number of individuals block or endlessly delay action. 

My feeling now is that consensus should be an agreed-upon group process, but 
that bylaws should be written in plain English, include the 'boilerplate' 
required by the authorizing legal entity, and contain a clear voting method 
to resolve those decisions that can't be settled by consensus, and will have 
legal and/or financial repercussions if they aren't settled.   Good contracts 
make good communities

Christine Pattee
Greater Hartford CT Cohousing
c2pattee [at] aol.com