Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bylaws, Policies & Agreements

[David Heimann (heimann]

Hello Kathy,

	We have developed a "Living There" guide that has policies that 
are short of the Master Deed and the Bylaws level.  We also maintain a 
Decision Log of policies we have adopted by consensus.

	As Ken Winter has said, we also empower our committees to take 
actions on their own within their charters.

Regards,
David Heimann
Jamaica Plain Cohousing


Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:29:50 -0500
From: Ken Winter <ken [at] sunward.org>
To: Cohousing-L List <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Bylaws, Policies & Agreements
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What we have that I think is in the spirit of what you call "policies" is
empowered committees.  Each committee has a charter (established in the
Bylaws or, more often, the Book of Agreements).  Each charter empowers that
committee to take specified actions and decisions on its own, without
requiring the approval of the community.  We also have established conflict
resolution processes, whereby people who think a committee has overstepped
its empowerment or made a bad decision can appeal the committee's action.
When a conflict can't be settled by communication, mediation, and
negotiation, the ultimate court of appeal is the whole community - but most
issues are resolved before they get that far.

That's what we do - theoretically.  The reality is, of course, messier than
that. But to a considerable (and increasing) extent, as we learn from our
messy experience and get better at it, the model does work.

~ Ken, from Sunward Cohousing

On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 6:43 PM, Kathy Icenogle <kathy.icenogle [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> Do any cohousing communities have anything called Policies?
>
> It doesn't seem like a community should have to amend Bylaws or get
> consensus on an Agreement every time there's a need to formalize something
> like a business policy.
>
> Our Condo Declaration (CC&R's) gives our Steering Team the power to adopt
> Policies, with due notice and comment of the community at large... So, I'm
> wondering where policies fit into the cohousing picture...
>
> If you have Policies in your governance, how they are different from
> Agreements?   ( Given the difference in how they're created, it's important
> to be clear on the difference. )
>
> Thanks,
> Kathy
> Washington Village (washington-village.com)
> Boulder, CO