Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Quorums - value of

[O3C11N6G (normangauss]

Sharon:

If voting is used, then a decision using a 51% quorum can be passed by 26% 
yeas, and 25% nos.  That still means having a 51% quorum.  Now if it happens 
that a very small minority opposes a proposal, then of course, a vote of 26% 
yeas and 5% nos will pass the proposal.  If there is a foregone conclusion 
that the proposal is likely to pass by a wide margin, having a 51% quorum is 
meaningless.  However, the convention in parliamentary procedure is to have 
more than 50% present at the time of the vote.  That is why legislatures in 
this country typically need a quorum before voting.

In the case where consensus is used, general agreement by every one 
attending a meeting is the goal.  This is where the concept of a quorum is 
meaningful.

Your claim that consensus is not used by HOAs is confusing.  Do you mean 
non-cohousing HOAs?  I thought that the norm for HOAs was to have the Board 
of Directors make the decisions with no opportunity at all for the members 
to vote on issues.

In my community, there is no sympathy for anyone known to oppose a proposal, 
but not in attendance.  The attitude is that those people don't count 
because they chose not to attend the meeting.

Also, the goal of facilitators in my community is to get consensus on the 
first try, especially if it is not of far-reaching significance.  If there 
is only one person opposed, pressure is applied by the rest of the attendees 
to get that person to change her/his mind.  If that person resists, she/he 
becomes a pariah.

Mob rule frequently rears its ugly head when one person raises an opposing 
argument.  If the poor soul persists, she/he will likely be threatened with 
an override by voting.

Norm G.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sharon Villines" <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Quorums - value of
> Hypothetically ignored people are hard to address. The issue is have
> people actually been ignored? If the board backs up the membership
> meeting vote, then these homeowners would not be being ignored just
> because they missed one meeting. They can still go to the Board.
>
> In our community, we have delayed issues if there are members who
> request it because they cannot attend. We rarely decide anything in
> one meeting so people have ample time to weigh in. I can't imagine a
> consensus decision being made when people  knew someone objected but
> couldn't be at the meeting. There would have to be other circumstances.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
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