Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Counting votes

[drmaryann49 (drmaryann49]

Here at Manzanita Village, we have two inter-locking governance structures. We 
are chartered by the state as a homeowners association (HOA). Decisions of the 
HOA are voted on by homeowners with each lot having one vote. (This means, for 
example, that my husband and I only have a single vote between us.)

According to our rules the only items that are taken to the HOA are 1) raising 
dues, 2) doing a special assessment, 3) electing the HOA board of directors, 4) 
revising the Bylaws and CC&Rs. 

All other decisions are decided in Plenary. Every adult who lives on site, 
homeowners, renters, and other adults are members of the Village. We also have 
a small number (currently 5) of adults who live off-site who are members. We 
use consensus for all Plenary decisions. Everyone who is a member can 
participate in these decisions. 

In several cases, for example raising dues, revising the Bylaws and CC&R, or 
electing the HOA board, the members of the HOA are actually ratifying decisions 
already discussed and approved at a Plenary session although in theory the 
homeowners could override the Plenary. That would be difficult since the 
majority of people at any Plenary session are homeowner/members.

Mary Ann
Manzanita Village
where winter temperatures have returned but we can’t complain when we see 
what’s happening in other parts of the country

On Feb 3, 2014, at 3:41 PM, johnrichmond50 <johnrichmond50 [at] hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> 
> Another question: How do you count people who are from multiple 
> unrelated-adult households in your community?  Do you have one vote per 
> household, each person having one vote/voice,  or do you do something 
> different? I would think that this would have more application to communities 
> that use a modified consensus or super-majority system as we do, but you 
> never know. ..
> 
> Thanks
> John Richmond,  Richmond Cohousing
> 
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy S®III
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 

—

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only 
end of life. -- Robert Louis Stevenson

Mary Ann Clark                                                  drmaryann49 
[at] mac.com
Check out DrMaryAnn's Academy at http://drmaryann.wordpress.com/