Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: meeting minutes

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

I think the question is, What, exactly, has been agreed to unanimously?  If it 
is a finalized text — like, the two page policy on outdoor cats — then the 
decision record must point straight to that text, and reference “Outdoor Cat 
Policy, version 3b, 2 pp dated 9 Sep 2015”, or whatever it is.  Is this 
bureaucratic overkill?  Not in my community, where multiple versions of a 
proposal evolve over time, and people come to meetings carrying copies from two 
versions back, with the last page missing.  And the one consensed is not the 
same one posted on the website.

But in some cases, the agreement is simply talked through, in the moment.  
People are nodding and completing each other’s sentences … but there isn’t a 
definitive written text everyone can look at together.  This is where the 
secretary steps in, and offers his/her best, good faith understanding of what’s 
being talked about.  And that’s what goes in the minutes.  Maybe the front end 
of the minutes has a “summary” of this decision, but the summary must point 
straight to the unabridged text, e.g., “… as detailed on page 2 <of these 
minutes> …”.

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Sep 9, 2015, at 3:53 PM, Muriel Kranowski <murielk [at] vt.edu> wrote:
> 
> If an issue is up for a consensus decision and the outcome is "Unanimously
> agreed to", or "Sent back to the committee", or whatever, I don't see what
> could be confusing about saying that in a meeting summary.
>