by Jeannine Bindl, Board Member
Happy New Year! Thank you for your support in 2019; we are eager to see what fun and challenging work we will accomplish together in 2020. The new year starts out busy for your Board. In addition to our January 21st Board meeting, January also marks the beginning of the excitement we alluded to last month: listening sessions. What are we listening to, you ask? Your feedback on our bylaws!
Bylaw feedback
The Co-op has and abides by a set of bylaws, or rules, set by Owners to guide how the business is run. They are extremely important. Our bylaws help prioritize Owners’ values and make sure we are running the business legally.
The Board of Directors, elected by Owners, is responsible for reviewing the bylaws. It is our job to ensure the bylaws continue to be an appropriate representation of how Owners want the Co-op to run. The last time our bylaws were reviewed as a whole was in 2008, prior to opening our second store, Willy West. The Board’s Policy Committee and various Co-op managers worked together to make a plan to review the bylaws as a whole at the beginning of this fiscal year.
So far, the current bylaws have been reviewed by Directors, some managers, and Board Committee members. A draft of suggested changes has been put together and reviewed by the Board and the Co-op’s attorneys. The next step in this process is to present our first draft of potential bylaws revisions to you, the Owners.
A physical copy of the bylaws and suggested changes with reasons is included in this Reader on the following four pages (here). To get your feedback, we have scheduled six listening sessions: two at each retail site.
These sessions are scheduled for:
• Willy West: January 11, 2020; 12:30pm-2:00pm
• Willy East: January 16, 2020; 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Willy East: January 25, 2020; 10:00am-11:30am
• Goodwill Community Room (next to Willy North): January 28, 2020; 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Goodwill Community Room (next to Willy North): February 8, 2020; 10:30am-12:00pm
• Willy West: February 12, 2020; 6:00pm-7:30pm
Once we gather your feedback on the bylaws, the Policy Committee will review Owner suggestions and write a second draft of potential bylaws revisions. This will be forwarded to the Board of Directors for review and discussion, the General Manager for submission to attorneys, and then finally to Owners who will vote on the suggested changes in July.
It is extremely important to us that we hear your feedback. If you are unable to make one of the scheduled listening sessions, please contact us at www.willystreet.coop/contact-us with your feedback. We want to make sure that we hear everyone’s perspective before making final suggestions in July.
Answering questions
The Board has received questions from two media outlets in the past month. Both the Isthmus and Tone Madison requested comments. We were glad to respond to questions from the community regarding current events at the Co-op.
We have also been contacted by Owners with questions and comments, specifically with respect to staff unionization, the current attendance policy, and the cancellation of our December Board meeting. Thank you to everyone who reached out; we appreciate hearing from you!
Our December Board meeting was cancelled because we had just a few agenda items. With November and December being the Co-op’s busiest months, we decided to reroute our attention to more pressing matters.
The Board was excited to hear that the collective bargaining process is moving along. That said, our role in staff unionization and the current attendance policy is oversight. We do not make attendance policies, participate in collective bargaining, or have direct involvement in the day-to-day happenings at the Co-op. Our role is to ensure that the General Manager is abiding by the guidelines (policies) set by the Board.
It is also our job to represent you, the Owners. If you have questions or input about something that is going on at the Co-op or in our community, please let us know. Your input helps us set a strategic direction and reminds us of what our Owners care about. We can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our community. Cheers to you, our Owners, and the things we will accomplish together in 2020. (To see this in PDF format, please click this link and go to page 5.)