Cohousing-L Mailing List: Steering Committees

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

RoseWind Cohousing has a Steering Committee of 5 members, on rotating 
terms (so there is always overlap of at least 2 members from the previous 
committee). They meet twice a month, between our monthly business 
meetings. 

Unlike our other committees and task forces, which are made up of whoever 
volunteers, the SC is sort of elected. What we do is this. A nominating 
committee coordinates the first part: each member is invited to submit a 
list of any and all people they think would be good choices for this job, 
and well as indicating to the committee whether they themselves would 
accept a nomination if asked. 

>From the resulting data, the nominating committee lists all who are both 
willing and have been nominated repeatedly (I forget, but the ones whose 
names have come up the most). The results have so far been sufficient to 
fill the vacancies, and may have included a couple more names. We then do 
a secret ballot. This has always gotten us a good slate. 

The main job of the SC is coordination, agenda setting, and keeping 
things from falling through the cracks. So a concern is raised, and they 
refer it to an appropriate committee or task force, or note if there is 
none and make a suggestion, for example, that a task force be created. 
Proposals for consideration at the meeting are submitted to the SC. They 
coordinate with the Facilitation Team also, in setting meeting agendas. 
They publish minutes of their meetings, and include the announcements of 
coming items on the meeting calendar -- discussion circles etc. 

They also administer the contingency funds of the annual operating 
budget. 

Occasionally they have taken actions on behalf of the group, with 
endorsement for the action after the fact. It has always been 
common-sense ok, but has raised some eyebrows. We need to revise their 
committee mission, if they really have any authority to do more than 
coordinate. This past year they in effect appointed themselves as a task 
force to revise our budgeting process, calling for committee submissions, 
discussion circles and so forth. With hindsight, it would have been more 
appropriate for them to officially create a task force for this purpose, 
even if they were the membership, with the approval of the whole group. 

RoseWind has many grassroots types and it did not sit well with some that 
the Steering Committee was steering so actively. Perhaps we should call 
them the Coordinating Committee? A few of our older male members like 
hierarchical government; most of us are afraid of giving too much power 
to individuals, afraid it may encourage the "masses" to feel like they 
needn't participate. 

We've had a steering committee for about 4 years, and it has been very 
useful. 

It is also useful that someone made each committee fill out a form 
indicating what they saw as the mission and responsibilities of their 
committee. So it is in writing somewhere what each committee is 
"supposed" to do. Nobody has challenged any of these, but they could. 

Lynn Nadeau
RoseWind update: Our one resale has dropped the price to $299K for a big 
custom home -- a good value, real-estate-wise. 
http://wwwjohnlscott.com/41031
Our recently finished common house is getting used a lot and we love it. 
Habitat for Humanity has the foundations poured on their 2 houses here, 
with framing this week. Our resident flock of pink flamingos was summoned 
and is doing sentinel duty roping off the newly-seeded lawn north of the 
common house. 



Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.olypen.com/sstowell/rosewind
http://www.ptguide.com

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