Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Affordability?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Mar 16, 2007, at 3:28 PM, Brian Bartholomew wrote:

> If you don't mind my asking, in the countertop example, according to
> the rules you were operating under at the time, did you actually have
> the option of holding everyone to either provide the other color or go
> bankrupt attempting to deliver on a contractual promise?  Or could
> this have been formally voted away?

Yes, I had the option since I had been offered the option of a "cool" 
color but it would have caused grief for the developer who was getting 
squeezed on all sides. I wasn't in the room but he apparently got tears 
in his eyes when we said we would let this one go. Ours was his first 
cohousing development and he had been MUCH more liberal with options 
when he should have been.

> How strong is the requirement for consent in consensus?  If when push
> comes to shove consensus decisions are merely political promises,

There are no guarantees in life. When you commit to group living you 
commit to what is best for the group. That is why you want to be sure 
the diversity you support is a diversity based on some common needs, 
not just values/wishes but values/needs. If  you need or want a 
community that is rural to save money and you thus need a van to 
commute to save energy and further money, then you need to build that 
in early so the people who are attracted to your community also have 
that as a value/need.

If home schooling is a value and a requirement for you, you need to 
attract others to your community who want that also. These are basic 
things that you can't just add later. Otherwise, they may develop, but 
they may not.

> If a builder promises to provide double pane windows and he installs
> single (a real, local example), you can go after him to hold him to
> his word.  But if a majority-voting coho agrees to provide a van and
> you count on it, is there any recourse?  Unfortunately, the message
> I'm getting here is that consensus can't be trusted for interior
> decoration, much less things impacting personal financial survival.

Consensus is consensus. It's a group of people consenting to a policy. 
But circumstances change. What we believe today may turn out to be not 
true tomorrow. Thus a new consensus decision will be required.

Even if you have a legal agreement and you go to court, you can't 
depend on the developer having any money to fix what he or she did 
wrong.

The best we can do is be honest and diligent. Do the research. Make the 
best decisions you can today. Tomorrow you will have to make new ones. 
No decision making process will change that.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org