A Director's
Chair:
Is Momma Happy???
by Howard
Brendt
I have previously referred to the Coop staff as "Momma." The expression goes: "If Momma ain't happy - ain't nobody happy." It's not good grammar, but it makes a very clear statement.
During my first term on the Board, a Coop produce employee complained to me about the General Manager, saying we should have workplace democracy. A fellow Board member told me that I was not re-elected last April because it was felt that I was a supporter of the General Manager. As fate would have it, quite a few Board members resigned, forcing a September special election. Once again, I was given a chance to serve the Coop.
I, along with my fellow Board members, realized it was necessary to involve the senior staff in decision making, instead of having decisions imposed on them from the General Manager. Thus was born the Thursday lunch group, an ongoing staff-board dialogue to come up with a more cooperative-type management structure. This has given birth to the Collective Management Team, which is made up of 10 department heads and the Operations and Administrative Coordinator (OAC).
The OAC recently hired jointly by the Board and management team is Cindy Lolik, who she started work on Tuesday, March 4, after an orientation by Nate. The OAC is a manager on equal footing with the management team. This is a bold experiment that we all hope will work well.
I
want to thank our management team and my fellow Board members for their ongoing hard work and dedication. Lynne Lekakis, our Board president, has put so much energy and time into this project - we thought she was living at the Coop.
I ask my fellow Coop members: Will you join the Board in its quest by running for election this April, at the Annual Meeting? We need dedicated people to continue our work, people who want "Momma" and the entire Coop community to be happy. Board candidate forms can be picked up at the service desk.
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