Dear Food Co-op Member-Owner,

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 finds you in good health and doing well.

We have some wonderful news since our last update in August. The Food Co-op has:

• more than 7,800 active member-owners,

• a team of approximately 107 employees which makes the Food Co-op one of the larger employers contributing every day to our local economy,

• given a bonus to team members reflective of record sales last year,

• over $79,000 in the Farmers Fund that has been collected from member-owners, and

• 43 applicants for grants from the Farmers Fund to help local farmers.

The Co-op has also experienced some notable challenges that have been reflected in news stories regarding board-related matters. In the latter part of 2024, local activist groups called for a boycott of the Co-op, because they disagreed with the decision of the then-seated (July 2024) board to remove a board member. In connection with these disagreements, the board has lengthened the time period for public comments at public board meetings and is discussing ways to address some of the concerns raised. The changes in Co-op Board leadership have delayed some of our deeper engagement with community members that we hope will continue at a reasonable pace and in balance with election preparation.

Changes in Co-op leadership

Three board members, including Board President, Owen Rowe, have resigned for various reasons, some of which have been published in the local newspaper.

Owen resigned from the Food Co-op Board, effective January 1, 2025. Debra Kronenberg resigned on December 5, 2025, and Diana Grunow resigned on January 12, 2025.

We remain grateful to Owen for his leadership, enthusiasm, and counsel on behalf of the Co-op, both as vice president and president during his tenure as a board member. He led our efforts to revise our mission statement, our values statements and our Ends, the overarching goals of the Co-op. Owen was a mainstay of the board for many years. We wish him well in his future endeavors. We are grateful as well to Debra and Diana for their service on the board.

Another board member, Sasha Kaplan resigned from the Treasurer role and Community Education Committee Chair and remains on the board.

Due to the resignations and changes, the board met in January 2025 and unanimously appointed Monica le Roux as a board member who will serve as both the Vice President and Treasurer through the upcoming elections. Monica has previously served as Board President of the Food Co-op and was a board member for eight years. She is an Account Services Manager at the county public library. Dave Dunn was appointed as secretary. Many thanks to Lisa Barclay for volunteering her services in that role when needed.

The January board meeting was canceled in order to provide time to re-organize the board and to ensure that the board has adequate membership to reach quorums consistently and operate.

The next board meeting will be held February 5, 2025.

Board Member Rufina Garay is now Acting Board President until the upcoming election of new Board members by Food Co-op member-owners. Rufina has been involved with supporting the community in many ways, including as a:

• Farmers Market board member

• Food System Resiliency Task Force member

• Demo chef for the Farmers Market, and

• Lawyer who helped to preserve over 100 acres of farmland and served under-represented clients during the pandemic

We are grateful that former Board President Monica le Roux has agreed to return to the board for a limited time to help the board through this transition period and to provide necessary mentoring and training. She and Rufina will work closely together.

Board elections coming soon in April instead of June

Monica’s appointment brings the board membership up to the minimum of five required by our Bylaws, but the minimum is not preferred. The board could appoint more people to the board and wait until June for the customary time period for Food Co-op elections, but the option of having elections occur in April seemed a better choice to ensure stability of the board and security of quorums for voting through an increase in elected members to the maximum. This alternative would also allow new board members to have intensive training to take on board responsibilities by the May board meeting.

We are looking for people who work well as part of a team, actively listen and respect differing viewpoints, and can comply with the fiduciary and legal duties of board members. Candidate information, requirements, and election schedule are now on the website. Requirements and candidate statements must be completed by March 10 and the vote will be from March 26 to April 9.

Other board news

The next few months will be mostly taken up with the board elections and essential board business, including monitoring reports; but we will be making plans for future work, including listening sessions and meetings with community members. We will also resume the Study and Engagement section of board meetings, where we learn from organizations in the community about their work and concerns. We will also be finalizing our choice of a consultant to help the board with its DEIAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging) work.

Store news from the General Manager

Our management team attended a skill building workshop that focuses on increasing mutual understanding, sensitivity and respect among team members. And we are working with Kevin Henry, whose focus is on building bridges to engagement through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

A staff-led committee is attending a six-session “Inclusion Inspiration Lab” crafted for co-op grocery operations focused on practical applications of inclusion into the Co-op store and workplace. As part of that process, we are also considering how we can make our product selection more reflective of the changing diversity of our members and their food choices. We’ll be looking for new items that fit our high product standards but also are reflective of different cuisines and cultures.

As always, we want to thank our member-owners for supporting the Co-op. It’s your passion, principles, and commitment to community that make our store a different—and better—place to shop. Together, we really are stronger.

In Cooperation,

Rufina, Monica, Sasha, Logan, Lisa and Dave, Your Food Co-op Board and

Kenna, General Manager