Co-op'ers choose new Board at Annual Meeting

Maher-Johnson, Mosley, Phayre elected

by Deborah Trupin

About 70 Honest Weight Food Coop members gathered at Sage College of Albany on Sunday, April 23 for the 2006 Annual Meeting.

Before the meeting, Coop members participated in a World Café, eating food prepared by the HWFC deli and discussing the question, “How do you know you’re in the Honest Weight Food Coop?” Members changed tables every 15 minutes, giving them an opportunity to discuss this question with different groups.

HWFC Board president Lynne Lekakis opened the meeting by asking for the results of the World Café discussions. The responses gave a good sense of Honest Weight. Lynne noted that the Board and Collective Management Team (CMT) conceived of this exercise to get a sense of what is important to HWFC members as we move forward — either with changing the current space and/or getting new space.

Lekakis next recognized and thanked the three departing Board members: Lenore Gensburg, Jim Monsonis and David Seaman. Continuing Board members Howard Brent, George Broeckx, John Godfrey, Lynne Lekakis, Ray Ratte and Susan Weinrich introduced themselves. The first official item of business was the election of new Board members. There were three announced candidates — Louise Maher-Johnson, Dennis Mosley and Dennis Phayre — for the three open seats. Lynne introduced the candidates and distributed the statements and applications prepared by the candidates. There were no nominations from the floor.

Susan Weinrich led the Q&A session for the candidates. In their introductions, Maher-Johnson stressed her safe-food interest and work, while Mosley stressed diversity and outreach. Phayre stressed his history with the Coop and its importance to him, noting that he regards HWFC as the most forward-moving institution in the community and that he wants to help develop a unified vision of the Coop. Members posed numerous questions to the prospective Board members in an hour-long discussion that focused on outreach, expansion and member labor. Before the vote, Weinrich noted that the HWFC bylaws stipulate that a candidate must receive 25% of the votes of members present to be elected. All three candidates were elected.

Lekakis then distributed the Annual Report, noting that Board members and the CMT would be happy to answer any questions at a later date. (The Annual Report was too long to be read during the meeting.)

The Board president summarized the recent strategic planning retreat, which about 30 people (Board, CMT, staff, general members) attended. The goal of the retreat, which followed last year’s vote authorizing the search for a second store, was to try to hone the ideas of what this might mean. The Strategic Planning committee agreed that a second store should be to the north (but within 15 miles) of the current location, zoned for business in a neighborhood as busy as the Central Avenue site, and on a good bus line. A second store location should also have easy highway access and daytime truck access.

Those attending the strategic planning retreat also looked at things that worked and didn’t work for other coops, Lekakis reported. They talked about staying small, in the grocery store world. Lynne noted that the current store has about 5,500 sq. ft. of retail space and may add an additional 4,000 sq. ft. in the current building. (HWFC is negotiating with the landlord.) She also noted that the Coop is considering a complete “reset,” or redesign, of the current store.

The Coop members held a vibrant discussion about the options, challenges and possibilities facing HWFC as it looks at a possible expansion. During his comments before the Board election, Dennis Mosley had expressed an interest in forming relationships with small neighborhood stores (“bodegas”). This generated considerable positive interest and suggestions of other options during the strategic planning report discussion.

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