Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Consensus and voting bylaws

[Michael Barrett (mbarrett]

Willow,
I don't know your jurisdiction either but here in Virginia only the CC&Rs 
(Covenants, Conditions and
Restrictions) need to be filed with the County.  The Bylaws do not - and we have revised them twice 
(though with a final attorney review)

State HOA regulations frequently refer to HOA Boards. Cohousing communities tend to abhor Boards. 
Here at Shadowlake Village  (www.shadowlakevillage.org) we do not have one. To align with VA State 
law (and with the attorney's advice) our bylaws state that:

The power and decision-making authority of the Board of Directors resides in 
and is exercised by the
plenary as described in these Bylaws.
where the plenary is defined as:   Members who are physically present at 
plenary meetings and who
will make community decisions at those meetings as described in the 
Decision-Making section of these
Bylaws.

Michael at Shadowlake Village, Blackburg, VA - where at last the housing market 
has been picking up
with an influx of new young families.  Yippee!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "R Philip Dowds" <rpdowds [at] comcast.net>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Cc: <cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 7:07 AM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Consensus and voting bylaws


> Two comments:
>
> I don't know your jurisdiction, but your state likely has enabling legislation 
> for condos or HOAs,
> and this legislation probably spells out strict notice and voting rules for 
> certain decisions,
> like Board elections or special assessments.  To stay legal, you should comply 
> with BOTH state
> regs AND your own consensus practices whenever you attempt a decision governed 
> by state regs
> (which may not be many decisions, just "big" ones about money).
>
> Also, consider putting your consensus rules and methods into something like an 
> "Appendix A /
> Consensus Manual", and referencing that Manual in your Bylaws.  That way, when 
> you re-think and
> revise your consensus practices (and you will), you don't have to go to the 
> Registry and re-file
> the Bylaws.
>
> RPD
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jan 9, 2013, at 12:29 AM, Willow Murphy <willowm7 [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Question:  How have other cohousing communities dealt with the process of
> > reconciling voting bylaws and the primary commitment to use consensus,
> > based on trust and hearing every voice?   What has been your process?
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