Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: CC&Rs inquiry

[David Heimann (heimann]

Hi Neil,

	Here are our consensus rules, which are within our bylaws (i.e., 
CC&Rs):

Regards,
David Heimann
Jamaica Plain Cohousing
Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA


3. Consensus Procedure

Once a proposal has been introduced, the facilitator of the meeting will 
lead the members in a discussion of the proposal. When the thoughts and 
concerns of all members have been voiced, the facilitator (or another 
member) may attempt to state the evolving consensus and call for a 
?straw poll? (a preliminary vote) to get an early sense of the members? 
positions on the subject under discussion. A straw poll is not binding, 
and is not a group decision. It is just a sense of the positions of 
those present.

Some proposals may be more appropriately considered under procedures 
different from our ordinary consensus process. In such a case, the 
introducing committee must include a specific proposal for the special 
procedures to be used, and the procedural proposal must be consensed 
before any decision is made on the substantive proposal itself.

Discussion should continue to try to resolve any member concerns. 
Facilitators should be encouraged to assist in the emergence of creative 
solutions. In particular, changes that would satisfy any dissenting 
member(s) without dissatisfying the majority should be sought. It is the 
responsibility of the entire group to try and figure out solutions -- it 
should NOT be left to dissenter(s) and/or the facilitator alone.

E-mail is appropriate for discussion of an issue prior to a meeting of 
members, but not for the actual reaching of consensus. It is not an open 
or clear means of communication, and is not available to all. See 
separate guidelines for the use of e-mail.

A meeting where a quorum of members is present or represented by proxy 
may act by achieving consensus on a proposal. If, at any meeting, a 
quorum is not present or represented by proxy, the meeting may continue 
with the consensus procedure and, if a consensus of those present is 
achieved, then some members present may be appointed to later make a 
reasonable attempt to notify enough households in good standing in order 
to have their proxy votes to achieve quorum. If a quorum has been 
achieved through such additional proxy votes, with a majority of 
affirmative votes and no dissenting votes, a consensus will be deemed to 
have been reached on the proposal.

Although the group may choose to do otherwise, we have typically 
indicated our positions as follows:

o  A 'thumbs-up' indicates agreement with the proposal as stated or 
presented.

o  A 'thumbs-sideways' indicates an incomplete agreement or a desire to 
modify the proposal, which does not rise to the level that would cause a 
member to block consensus.

o A 'fist' indicates a serious reservation about the proposal, not 
enough to block consensus but enough to demonstrate significant 
discomfort. A 'fist' voter should be considered a dissenter for the 
purpose above of aiming to satisfy the concerns of a dissenting member 
(i.e., the group must aim to satisfy the concerns of all dissenters).

o A 'thumbs-down' indicates a strong, principled disagreement with the 
proposal, which leads a member to block consensus on the proposal.

It is important to recognize that it is incumbent upon members to use 
thumbs-down judiciously within the consensus process, remembering that 
choosing to block a decision is a very serious action and should only be 
undertaken for principled objections. However, when a member strongly 
believes that the fundamental interests of the group are not being 
served by a particular decision, a thumbs-down may be used as a vote of 
conscience, even if unpopular.

Once the issues involving a proposal and potential solutions to 
disagreements about it have been fully discussed, and if the proposal 
has been considered before or Rapid Decision-Making Procedures are in 
effect, then the facilitator will submit the issue to the members for 
consensus by calling for a final consensus decision. If there is then a 
majority of thumbs-up and no thumbs-down, then the proposal is adopted 
as the group's consensus. If there are thumbs-down or there is not a 
majority of thumbs up, then the proposal will be referred back to the 
introducing committee for reconsideration and possible revision, unless 
Rapid Decision-Making Procedures are in effect.

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Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 13:27:31 -0700
From: Neil Planchon <neil [at] swansway.com>
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_ CC&Rs inquiry
Message-ID: <8DCBF2D1-5EEC-4556-BE3D-25A72ACCE2A0 [at] swansway.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=us-ascii

Hello everyone

Our community is revisiting our CC&Rs. We are curious to hear If any communities 
have incorporated consensus (or other decision making methodologies) into their 
CC&Rs, and if so, what language you ended up using?

I look forward to hearing from some of you!
Thank you
Neil

Swan's Market Cohousing, Oakland CA
https://www.swansway.com <https://www.swansway.com/>

P.S.
What Are Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs) in HOAs?
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-convenants-conditions-restrictions-ccrs-hoas.html