Participation – Woodsworth Housing Co-operative

Participation: what the bylaws say about members and directors

About Member participation:

In the Occupancy Bylaw, 3.2. Member Involvement
Members must attend all general members’ meetings. Members should take part in the other activities of the co-op.

In the Membership Bylaw: Member Approval and Unit Allocation, 2.2. Membership criteria
Applicants should have:
(a) An understanding of co-operative principles and member participation
(b) A positive attitude towards living in a community with people from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds and have a commitment to treating other members with respect
(c) An interest in contributing to the operation and life of the co-operative
(d) A willingness to accept their responsibilities as co-operative members
(e) Indication of permanency or long-term commitment to the co-operative

In the Organizational Bylaw, 1.5 Electronic Participation
(a) Special meaning
In this By-law “electronically” means transmitting information or data by telephone or in other electronic or technological ways, including phone calls, voicemail, fax, e-mail, automated touch phone system, cell phone, computer or computer networks.

(b) Electronic meetings
When meetings are held electronically or have electronic participation, people who attend electronically must be able to reasonably participate in the meeting. They are considered to be present at the meeting for all purposes including quorum.

In the Organizational Bylaw, 19.9. Members’ Conflict of Interest
At members’ meetings, all members can discuss and vote as they wish, even if they have a conflict of interest. Members are encouraged to declare the conflict of interest before taking part in the discussion. Members should try to act in the best interests of the co-op as a whole.

In the Organizational Bylaw, 4.3 Quorum at Members’ Meetings
(a) Minimum number
Sixty (60) members is the minimum number that must be present for the co-op to hold a legal members’ meeting. This is called a quorum. A quorum must be present at the beginning of the meeting and at the time of any vote. If there is not a quorum, anything done has no official status.
• If there is a secret ballot, a quorum has to be present at the time the ballots are collected, but not when the result is announced.
• When counting quorum, the chair is included if the chair is a member of the co-op.

About Board members’ participation:

In the Organizational Bylaw, 10.2. Performance of Directors’ Duties
Each director must
• attend all board and members’ meetings unless excused by the board based on advance notice of absence or later information if advance notice was not possible
• prepare for all meetings
• comply with the co-op by-laws and with board decisions, and
• comply with the Directors’ Ethical Conduct Agreement and the Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Agreement.

In the Organizational Bylaw, 11.3. Phone or Electronic Meetings
Any or all directors can participate in a board meeting by conference phone or other equipment where all the directors can communicate with each other simultaneously and instantaneously.
A director participating in those ways is considered to be present at the meeting.

In the Organizational Bylaw, Conflict of Interest, 19.5. Rules for Directors
(a) Declaring
If a director has a conflict of interest or is involved in a situation that could become a conflict of interest, the director must declare it in writing before the next board meeting. If the director learns about it at a board meeting, the director must declare it at the meeting.
(b) If in doubt, declare
If a director is not sure whether something would be a conflict of interest, the director must report it to the board in the same way as stated in the previous paragraph. If other directors or members think a director could have a conflict of interest or is involved in a situation that could become a conflict of interest, they should also report it to the board.
(c) Deciding
The board has to decide if there is a conflict of interest and what to do about it. It should be considered at the first meeting after it is declared or reported or the next one after that. The persons who might have a conflict cannot participate in the process of deciding. They cannot be present while the decision is being made. The conflict declaration and the board decision must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. This could be in the confidential minutes if appropriate.

In the Organizational Bylaw, 17.2. Committee Membership
(c) Board members may not participate as a voting member of a committee during their tenure on the Board unless a bylaw states that they can. However, directors may function as a Board liaison to a committee or as a member of an ad hoc committee reporting to the Board of Directors.

In the Organizational Bylaw, Schedule C: Director’s Ethical Conduct Agreement
7. I will attend all board and members’ meetings unless excused by the board based on advance notice of absence.
8. I will prepare for board meetings and act constructively at all board meetings.
9. I will participate in all training programs as decided by the board, including on human rights and Ontario disabilities legislation and I will sign Schedule F Woodsworth Code of Conduct.

About Committees

In the Organizational Bylaw, 17.3. Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Agreement
All committee members must sign a Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Agreement within ten days after they become members. A signed copy must be given to the manager. People who fail to do this are automatically removed from the committee.

Beyond Participation: building a foundation for real member involvement

This article was published by CHF Canada in 2010. While it may be dated, it raises some interesting questions. It also influenced co-ops including Woodsworth to change their participation requirements.

BEYOND PARTICIPATION: Building a Foundation for Real Member Involvement

PART 1

The END of Participation

Hands up if you think members in your co-op don’t participate enough.

It’s a complaint often heard in housing co-ops. But co-ops have been complaining about the same thing for almost 40 years. Why haven’t we solved the problem?

Maybe it’s time to ask whether our current model of member participation in housing co-ops is working. Maybe it’s time to ask some hard questions about how much we expect from our members and whether we’re getting the results we want.

What do we mean by participation?
When co-ops talk about participation, they usually mean the obligation to do some kind of work in running the co-op.

They think of participation as contributing to the daily operation of the co-op by doing chores, joining a committee, or doing some or all of the co-op’s management.

They aren’t talking about the governance role – attending meetings and making decisions. They also don’t call it participation if you pay your housing charges on time, take care of your unit and are considerate of your neighbours.

In other words, being just the kind of person everyone wants to have living next door to them doesn’t earn you any “participation points”.

In most cases, co-ops call their members who participate “volunteers”. But it’s usually not voluntary. these tasks are required by the co-op as a condition of membership. There’s nothing voluntary about it.

Co-ops seem to think being a volunteer means not being paid.

But look in any dictionary for the word “volunteer” and you’ll find that being unpaid isn’t the main part of the definition. To “volunteer” is to do something you choose to do — to do it “voluntarily.”

What co-ops call volunteering is really a system of unpaid management. And, if that’s the case, we should ask ourselves whether we are getting the outcomes we need from that management system.

Continue reading “Beyond Participation: building a foundation for real member involvement”

Spring and fall clean-up day guidelines – members, committees, management

Clean-up Days are community events where all members come together to clean-up their own area and their communal areas.

The Clean-up Days will be scheduled for the 1^stSaturday in May and a Saturday in mid-to-late October but not Halloween. Fall clean-up date will be chosen to coincide with garden waste pick-up which is on alternate Wednesdays.

Time 9:30 a.m. – 12 Noon

The Landscape Room is open to give members yard-waste bags, cleaning supplies and equipment.

In appreciation for the members’ participation, the Social Committee serves a buffet of pastries (including gluten-free) and refreshments in the Penthouse at 12 Noon.

Block Committee Responsibilities

The Block Rep Committee puts notices in the Weekly and posts flyers around the co-op regarding the date and time of the event including members’ duties for the mid-rise, ground-level units, the townhouses and alleyways.

The Block Rep Committee instructs the office to order 250 garden waste bags and 15 bottles of all-purpose, bio-degradable cleaner, deliver the order to the Landscape Room and allocate the expense to “Cleaning Supplies, account 411.1”.

Social Committee Responsibilities

The Social Committee reserves the Penthouse Room the whole day for their exclusive use to prepare a buffet of pastries and refreshments and clean-up after.

The Social Committee puts notices in the Weekly and posts flyers around the co-op regarding the location and details of the buffet (including gluten-free items).

In the case of rain, the clean-up will be rescheduled, but the buffet will still take place.

Landscape Committee Responsibilities

The Landscape Committee puts notices in the Weekly and posts flyers around the co-op regarding the availability of waste bags, cleaning supplies, equipment and members’ duties.

In the case of rain, the Landscape Chair will reschedule the clean-up, but the buffet will still take place.

Co-op Management Responsibilities

Subject to the budget, Management arranges for window-washing one week before Clean-up Day including vine clipping around the windows if needed. And the medium-rise carpets should be steam cleaned at least one week after Clean-up Day.

Social audit 1989: Objective 8 – Participation

That members be provided with ample opportunities and encouragement to participate in coop activities and community life at Woodsworth.

FlNDlNGS

1. Five years ago, block reps had a range of duties: welcoming new members, presenting them with an information packet, arranging cleanup details with the staff, delivering the Weekly, and meeting periodically with other block reps. Today, the block rep system appears primarily to sen/e as a delivery mechanism for the Weekly. There is no longer a block rep coordinator and no joint meetings.

2. 51% of all members report knowing the name of their block rep.

3. A review of Board minutes shows that the topic of participation has come up on Board agendas only once (Oct 1987) in the past three years. The issue was on members’ meeting agendas frequently in 1983-84, but has since been an infrequent topic.

4. In June, 1984, the membership passed a participation by-law and policy, making mandatory an average of 4 hours volunteer time per month, with exceptions granted by the Board. The policy is apparently still on the books, but is not enforced.

5. The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto is currently reexamining the clause in the model by-laws making participation mandatory.

6. 85% of all members report that they believe the co-op provides ample opportunities for members to participate in volunteer and social activities.

7. 66% of all members report taking part in last year’s spring clean-up. 51% report attending a social in the penthouse after a members’ meeting. 37% report attending last year’s street dance.

IMPLICATIONS

The block rep system has degenerated from being a major part of the co-op’s infrastructure for supporting participation to being a newsletter delivery service.

Members seem to believe that Woodsworth provides ample opportunities to participate. Participation in spring clean-up and the social after members’ meeting is positive, but street dance attendance does seem to be falling and this should be considered.

The development and enforcement of participation by-laws as a means of increasing participation has not been successful and should be abandoned as a strategy. Maintaining the current level of participation and building on that base should be accomplished by identifying and promoting the benefits (i.e., education and skills enhancement, meeting neighbours, etc.) rather than by devising unenforceable rules and punishment.

RECOMMENDED ACTlONS

1. The production of a revised members’ handbook must be a major priority. The members should budget in 1989-90 an adequate amount of money to support a committee that will hire the necessary help to write, print and distribute one copy of a revised handbook to each coop unit by December 1, 1989. In each following year, a budget and policy should be put in place to ensure regular annual updates for the handbook.

2. The Board should make the rejuvenation of the block rep system a major priority in the coming year.

3. The Board should gather information and report to the membership about other housing co-ops that have hired full or part-time community development workers in order to support participation and volunteer committees.

4. The Board should bring forward to a members’ meeting a plan for designating and honouring a Woodsworth Member of the Year, as a means of rewarding outstanding co-operative spirit within our community.

To: Home page with table of contents for Social Audit 1989