Clarification on Minutes Review Report at March 2 Meeting

Submitted by Brenda Willman

CLARIFICATION ON MY MARCH 2, 2021 REPORT ON MINUTES DEFICIENCES AND APPEAL TO MEMBERSHIP ON RETIREMENT FROM COOP LIFE – FROM BRENDA WILLMAN

Fellow coopers: It was revealed to me on March 12, 2021 that the set of minutes I spent time reviewing was not a complete set of minutes from 2008 – 2021, thus my findings were incorrect.

I was not aware that I had not been provided all of the minutes I had asked for, having repeatedly commented that I needed to see all of the minutes from 2008 and going forward to be thorough. I put that in writing.

Had the fact that I was working with an incomplete set of minutes been pointed out to me at the March 2, 2021 meeting, I would have been sufficiently chagrined, and embarrassed as well, so as to have withdrawn the findings and gone back to the drawing board with a full complement of minutes. I will admit to my own shortcoming that I would have been put off as well, as I don’t like to present incomplete findings due to no fault of my own.

I received a comment, at the same time I learned that the minutes were a subset of the total, that it had been my intention to point out that people “were wrong” on March 2. I know why I introduced my findings - because of my genuine desire to alert my fellow members to what I thought was a severe deficiency – and I wanted to alert you all prior to commencing any discussion about minutes and prior to commencing any discussion about the ESSAY ON MINUTES penned by our Chair. At no time did I infer that the present board or anyone else caused the deficiencies. I was not personally involved in a finger-pointing exercise, and if anyone read that into my making the point of information, I cannot help that. I cannot comprehend why anyone would believe that I would deliberately blame the present board for missing minutes which were recorded (or not) well before their time. It is not logical, and if I am anything, I am logical and extremely detail oriented when doing that kind of work. (15 missing sets of minutes for sure, plus all of 2011, part of 2020 and all of 2021 is a lot of missing minutes, and at least 18 sets of minutes maybe not subsequently approved – THAT is what I wanted the membership to hear and act upon).

I have decided to completely withdraw from participating in any future coop life. I have asked the present chair (as de facto person to approach) to be excused from volunteering. I am no longer able to shoulder bullying, the frequent misrepresentation of my motives to others and to my face, and the resulting animosity. I also consider that I was part of the entire Newsletter Committee that was replaced, and that recently I was refused participation on the minute review project, so I cannot see how my participation will be suitable or welcome on any project or committee.

I have given much over the course of 31 years, and many of you are not aware of the volume of work I have done. I appeal to the membership at large to not take action against me (termination of membership) for failing to meet any volunteer requirements now and in the future. Thank you.

Co-operatative Housing Federation of Canada AGM Report

Submitted by Sarah Reimer

The following is a written version of the presentation given at the Summer GM by Sarah Reimer

“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit” – an ancient Greek proverb.

This saying featured strongly in both the presentations and the theme, culture and spirit of the CHF AGM in Victoria. We, the co-op movement as a whole, seems to be at a unique crossroads where we will find ourselves faced with choices that will greatly impact future generations of co-op members.

We’re stronger together- that’s the essence of the whole co-op movement- what struck me at the AGM, in the workshops and networking was that this is not only true on a per co-op/ individual member basis, but as a movement too. Seeing the variety of co-ops represented and hearing about their creative solutions put our co-op into a clearer perspective for me. I was particularly impressed by the work done by CHF, namely the successful lobbying they’ve been championing which has brought the co-op model to the table at the federal level. I also learned more about the land trust movement, which also shows that by joining forces with other co-ops, we, as a whole, have the opportunity to become a force to be reckoned with.

Vision and purpose of co-op housing as presented at CHF AGM- we were challenged with working to create opportunities and develop sustainable systems of governance and housing to ensure that co-op housing expands in scope, cultural awareness, and helps to solve housing crisis for variety of people.

CHF and its members pledged to uphold and work towards UN’s 17 sustainable development goals in 4 broad areas of eradicating poverty, improving access to basic goods and services (in our case, housing), protecting the environment (by making our co-ops increasingly green) and by building a more sustainable food system (in the form of permaculture projects on our land).

I had the privilege to attend three amazing workshops, one about boards and their structure, function and procedures, another about funding opportunities and practical solutions around increasing our ‘green’ness; one presenter focussed on the value of updating or renewing items, even something as simple as dual flush toilets en masse, rather than piecemeal as this makes available refunds/ rebates etc not otherwise available. I also took full advantage of networking opportunities and met key people around new and innovative funding options; discovering in the process that, in many ways, we are like other co-ops, but we are also amazing; we have a lot of hidden strengths and live-in assets yet to be fully appreciated. There’s a lot we can learn from organisations like CHF and SACHA; yet I was amazed at how ‘on the ball’ we are. A funding option which had been released less than a month prior and was news to me, was already known to the planning and development committee, who were already working to position us to access that resource. It was great to be able to see some of the pieces of the puzzle together, against our own unique backdrop.

I made some amazing connections, the full value of which hasn’t yet been realised; I look forward to continuing those relationships for the betterment of Sunnyhill and for the co-op movement as a whole.

My biggest takeaway is that co-op housing isn’t, nor can it be, simply about our current housing stock and current members; it is and must also be about who still needs a co-op unit and who will be housed in our units in 10, 15, and even 50 years; we need to make decisions now to enable us to secure co-op housing in perpetuity.

The Agency for Co-operative Housing 2016 Reports

Submitted by the Office

On June 2nd 2017, Sunnyhill received our "Annual Compliance Review for Your Fiscal Year Ended (31 December 2016)," "Co-op Data Report for Your Co-op," and "Composite Risk-Rating and Trend (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2016)".

When reading the documents it is important to remember that not all Co-ops have professional management and that is the main reason that SHC administrative spending is higher than other housing Co-ops.

You can download the reports here.