Sept 4th Board Meeting: Attendance and Participation

We sincerely thank all of our dedicated member-owners who registered, attended, and shared their voices at this week’s Board Meeting—your participation helps shape the future of our co-op.

We had a total of 34 members in attendance at various times of the meeting, this does not include the 11 staff members in attendance. We did have four members who had tried to join but were disconnected due to technical issues. We invite these members to join us next month if they are able. Ten people spoke during the 20-minute public comment period, seven of whom had registered in advance, while three others spoke due to extra time. We asked three additional speakers to either submit their comments in writing or return next month after reaching 23 minutes, our previously determined member comment period.

During the meeting, we had elections to temporarily appoint new officers until January 2025 when the board typically chooses their officers each year. Two new board members were nominated for officer roles—one for Vice President and one for Secretary. Due to their recent appointments and our preference for prior experience before serving as officers, they were not voted in at this time but are eligible to take on these roles in the new year. Our common practice is to allow new board members to get acclimated to our policies and procedures before taking on an officer role, as this has resulted in overwhelm and turnover in the past.

Also, because three of our board members are new, the positions of (Secretary and a committee chair) are being temporarily filled by an experienced *Emeritus member to help onboard and get our new board members ready to take on these roles in January.

* An emeritus member is a person who was previously seated on the board but has transitioned off. This volunteer position has no voting abilities but helps with sharing the workload.