Unlike the disgruntled members of the Putney Food Co-op who leapt to unwarranted conclusions of sinister conspiracy about a perfectly innocent effort to simplify their co-op's bylaws (“Losing our principles,” Viewpoint, Jan. 14), the organizers of the Brattleboro Food Co-op Shareholder Forum raise some profound issues (“Disheartened that our co-op speaks with one voice and listens with one ear,” Jan. 28) that deserve full and serious consideration - not just at their co-op but at all food co-ops.
And while I have written here that I had no dog in the fight at Putney, I have a deep interest in what is happening in Brattleboro as someone who believes strongly in the efficacy of the Policy Governance model for co-op boards.
I learned about the model by spending 10 years on the board of the bi-state Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society, and I continue to work within the model as a member of the board of the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction. As an attorney who helps co-ops and their organizers, I recommend the model enthusiastically to my clients as a means of focusing the process of governance on what really matters.
The notion that a board should “speak with one voice” is indeed an important aspect of Policy Governance. Miriam Carver, who created Policy Governance along with her husband, John Carver, has offered this succinct definition of the concept: “The board's authority is a group authority. While board members will and should bring dissenting views to the board, the board speaks authoritatively only when it has resolved, through voting or some other mechanism, the official position of the group. The board can change its official position, but individual board members cannot.”...
I have no dog in this fight - I don't belong to the Putney Food Co-op and I live almost an hour away, so I seldom shop there. But as a lawyer who specializes in helping co-ops, I have to say that this commentary reflects some significant misunderstandings. The...
Our state owes my Vermont Law School (VLS) colleagues and their co-conspirators hearty thanks for the publicity stunt they staged this week. Although the complaint they filed with the Federal Trade Commission accuses Green Mountain Power of deceptive trade practices, it is the contradiction at the heart of our...
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: Although seeking to understand rather than demonize criminals is one mark of a compassionate and thoughtful newspaper, your feature section about the murder of Michael Martin has done a grievous disservice to the Brattleboro Food Co-op, the people who lead it and, by extension, the community that owns this important institution. Given that Martin is not here to defend the manner in which he discharged his responsibilities as the co-op's store...
Upwards of 800 million people around the world have a direct ownership stake in the secret success story of the global economy - and, fortunately, greater metropolitan Brattleboro has more than its share of them. That success story is, of course, the cooperative movement. The latest tangible evidence of that success in Windham County is the new headquarters of the Brattleboro Food Co-op. It is no coincidence that this beautiful and life-affirming addition to downtown Brattleboro comes as the United...