Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Conflict Resolution and Mediation Policies (Jean Weiss)

[Leah (drsweetie]

Funny you should ask about this. The "legal committee" here at Fordyce Street 
Cohousing in Ashland Oregon has been working hard on our "compliance policy" 
for a few months now. Here is the latest version. One of the controversies is 
the name. One member thinks it sounds too authoritarian to call it compliance 
but we plan to use this for significant conflicts of interest between the group 
and an individual and think that it needs a name that indicates the severity of 
the situation when we have to pull this out. It is one of those things like 
your fire extinguisher. It's nice to have but you hope you never have to use it:
   
  COMPLIANCE PROCESS
   
  If an individual or household is in non-compliance with the rules and 
expectations of the community, the following process will be initiated.
   
  A good faith attempt to resolve the situation will be made, through 
discussion between the individual or household and the relevant committee.   If 
the committee is unsatisfied with the response of those who are not in 
compliance, they may bring the matter to a general business meeting.
   
  At a general business meeting, an individual or committee may request that 
the community enforce a rule.  If the community agrees that the matter is a 
serious concern to the entire community (rather than a concern between 
individuals, or individual households), and no solution to the non-compliance 
situation is agreed upon at the business meeting, the group may refer the 
matter back to the relevant committee and concerned party, for further 
discussion, in which case the Compliance Process would begin again, should 
those discussions fail to arrive at a solution. If the committee and the 
individual cannot reach a decision, the following process would be initiated:
   
  The individual or household whose compliance is in question cannot block a 
consensus decision that the matter is a serious concern to the community.
   
  If the group finds that further solution-seeking discussion between the 
relevant committee and individual(s) of concern will likely be unproductive, 
the HOA will proceed with the compliance process as a group, in the form of a 
special meeting.  The Facilitation Committee will (comma) via postal mail, send 
out a notice of a special meeting, at least ten (10) days before the date of 
the meeting.
   
  At the special meeting the individual or household of concern will have the 
opportunity to provide pertinent information.  After providing such 
information, the party or parties of concern, and members of their household, 
will leave the meeting.  The rest of the community will then determine a 
consequence
   
  Upon the determination of the consequence, the individual or household may, 
at their own expense, request mediation with the community.
   
  If the individual or household in question does not comply with the remedy 
the mediator determines, or if mediation is unsuccessful, the consequence 
previously determined by the community will hold.  
   
  The individual or household may then request arbitration with the community.  
The determination of the arbitrator is binding.  The arbitrator will determine 
which party or parties are responsible for paying the costs of arbitration.
              
  
                                                                    
   

 
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