|
|
| Back to the Table of Contents |
Co-op’ers elect five
to Board, hear update on new store plans
Godfrey, Graham, Huttner, Mousseau, Pedrick win director seats
|
by Deborah Trupin
|
The
Honest Weight Food Co-op held its Annual Meeting on Sunday evening,
April 27. About 100 members gathered in Albany at the First Unitarian
Universalist Society to enjoy a dessert potluck, vote on a proposed
change to the Membership Manual, elect new Board members and hear a
progress report on the new store site. Outgoing Board president Lynne
Lekakis and outgoing vice president Susan Weinrich facilitated the
meeting.
|
| Orientation Change Fails |
The
proposed change to the Membership Manual would eliminate the
requirement that everyone attend an orientation meeting as part of the
process of joining the Co-op, while encouraging all new shareholders to
attend. An orientation would continue to be required before
shareholders could become working members. Susan presented the Board’s
thinking: As HWFC prepares to move, it is important to attract more
shareholders. At an earlier meeting, several people argued that the
orientation session was a deterrent to joining the Co-op.
Allan McClintock, a long-time HWFC member who has led orientations for
25 years, explained his opposition to the change. He found the proposal
troubling, and expressed concern that this change was not in accordance
with the Fifth Cooperative Principle (on education). He also saw
orientations as a tool for building community. Other members spoke both
for and against the proposed change; some members suggested options for
making orientation easier for potential shareholders. After about 45
minutes of discussion, members voted by a small margin to reject the
proposed change.
|
| Five
Directors Elected |
Lynne
Lekakis facilitated the Board elections. She reminded members that
there were fi ve open seats on the Board and introduced the directors
whose terms were continuing: Lenore Gensburg, Carolyn Maroney, Jim
Monsonis and Ray Ratte. A candidate had to receive a plurality of the
votes of those present to be elected. Lynne introduced the four (of
six) candidates in attendance: John Godfrey, Lorrie Graham, Ted
Mousseau and Greg Pedrick. After a call for nominations from the floor
(there were none), the candidates introduced themselves.
• John Godfrey, the current Board treasurer, was running for a second
term because he wants to see the building project through to completion.
• Lorrie Graham has been an HWFC member for three years and wants to
become more involved, believing that HWFC is a good investment of her
time.
• Ted Mousseau moved to Albany about six months ago with his wife, who
has shopped at HWFC for 20 years. He is very impessed with HWFC after
working in the office with Nate Horwitz and the management team.
• Greg Pedrick came to Albany in 2005 and joined the Co-op as soon as
he found it. He had also served on another co-op board in the ’90s.
Greg works in the Bulk section and enjoys educating people about the
products available there.
• Bruce Huttner was unable to attend the meeting, so Lynne read his bio
and candidate’s statement. Bruce has worked as a cashier, stocker and
bagger, and previously served on the HWFC Board.
• Paul Winkeller had announced his candidacy, but neither attended the
meeting nor submitted a statement. Questions for the candidates were
submitted in writing during the meeting. Members’ questions and
candidate’s responses are summarized in the official minutes of the
meeting, available at the Co-op.
When the votes were counted, John Godfrey, Lorrie Graham, Bruce
Huttner, Ted Mousseau and Greg Pedrick were elected to the HWFC Board.
|
| The
New Store |
Finally,
Lynne presented a site update on behalf of the Facilities committee.
The Co-op has hired 3t Architects for the new store project. 3t, who
worked with HWFC on the preliminary project phase, are certified under
the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) program. The Co-op has also selected John Bishop,
of Bishop Beaudry, as construction manger. He will be responsible for
overall supervision of the building project. Lynne addressed the
challenge of deciding whether to renovate the existing building on
Watervliet Avenue, or to build anew. There are LEED standards for both
approaches, and the Facilities committee is working to learn as much as
they can before making a recommendation to the membership. Lynne and
Board member Jim Monsonis said the Facilities committee is developing a
process to determine exactly what members will need to vote on, and
when. If the project is to be successful, Jim noted, we must recognize
that the entire membership cannot be involved in all of the many
decisions that need to be made.
The next membership meeting, tentatively set for June, will focus on
upcoming site issues. HWFC members should watch their email and postal
mail for a meeting announcement and updates on the new store.
The meeting concluded with a round of applause for Lynne Lekakis, in
appreciation for her many accomplishments during two terms as Board
president — thus starting a new year for the Co-op on an upbeat note.
|
|
|
|
